Homeschool Diaries: Numbers

I have recently learned that I work well with themes.  The thing about homeschooling is that you not only can adjust your lessons towards your children's strengths, but you can do the same for yourself.  The thought of being a parent-teacher can be so daunting.  I have known several women who do it so professionally, and with so many children that I just can't see myself fitting that role.

But that isn't my role to fit... we don't look alike, us homeschool moms.  We don't need to be carbon copies of each other.  Sure I want to provide my kids with the best education possible, but I can't do that if I am not both prepared and excited about teaching them.

I do not get excited about workbooks, and reviewing curriculum, and scheduling.  I do them anyway because I need to.  But when I found there was a way for me to do it, and want to... it really changed me as a teacher.

Once I gave myself the freedom to work in a way I enjoyed, our school time was much better. It was really through trial and error that I learned I enjoy themes.  I was randomly picking books at the library for the boys and making a big production of them with costumes and homemade puppets in our living room.  I was getting field guides about plants and birds and spending the day outdoors with binoculars and mason jars.  Then I thought... why am I not doing this with their school work?

Having a daily theme has helped me have more fun scheduling, and move smoother from one activity to the next. While preschool only takes about an hour a day in the Waggy house, I have to keep it entertaining so it doesn't melt into chaos, and I really have a hard time doing that if I am bored myself.

Right now, we do school five days a week with the themes of:

1)Numbers
2)Alphabet
3)Concept
4)Animal
5)Health and Fitness. 

I thought this week I would blog our work, for my own future benefit.

 

Youtube has great counting songs. I guess I never thought of youtube as a homeschool resource before, but in a vague attempt to google some music for today's lesson, I found a great variety. Annnnd... apparently several songs in a row will play. So I got a good 15 minute jam session of "Count to 20" songs.

I really recommend this little book, Infinity and Me. Not only did each page appeal to my artsy side, it really gave a good visual approach to the concept of infinity, and helped us stretch those counting muscles as we tried to wrap our brains around some big big numbers.

There was an opportunity here to combine tangible numbers with the more illusive concept of things that stretch on and on forever.  Bible verses: 1 Chron. 16:34, 1 Jn. 5:11, Job 11:7, Ps. 145:3 all point to infinite/eternal traits of God. 

Adding and subtracting using some buttons and a muffin tin.  Nothing fancy.

Lastly, comes tracing and writing.  These little workbooks are great, and you can find them pracitically anywhere. They have tracing exercizes, and matching games, etc. Nothing complicated, but helpful.

Today we covered: Art and Music, Story Time, New Word: Infinity, New Bible Verses, Review Concept: Forever/ Eternity, Writing, and Counting.

Homeschool Diaries: Favorites Books {momma's picks}

 

The Boy Who Drew Birds




A Nest Full of Eggs




What Makes a Bird a Bird



The Ugly Duckling



Horton Hatches the Egg



Even an Ostrich Needs a Nest

As Spring transitions to Summer, we have had a yard full of beautiful birds. This has molded my book choices lately.  I want the boys to not only take an interest in the world around them, but to have a decent amount of understanding about how that world works.  I have tried to balance my choices between fun and truly educational.  All of these books are really great, and I enjoyed them as much as the Jedi did {which is saying something, since I am seriously critical of the majority of children's books I find these days}

Making it real: feather art {nothing complex; just paper, glue, and a bag of feathers from the craft section}; bird watching binoculars & sketchbooks w/ colored pencils {we went to the park for this, because ducks are a little slower and easier to draw, but we did get some red and blue shapes in there too. :)}; observe the parts of an egg w/ hard boiled egg; make simple bird feeders with peanut butter, paper towel rolls and seeds, and set out a crate full of scraps of fabric and yarn for the birds to pick from for their nests {they actually do!!  I don't know why I was skeptical.}; we used the Birds of North America memory game for counting, and emphasized "bird words" when doing our letter work.  

**NOTE: All of the titles are hyperlinked to Amazon, if you are interested in adding any of them to your collection. :)

Homeschool Diaries: Favorite Books

Jayden's Picks:

{left top to bottom right} The Poky Little Puppy// Little Monster {learn to read book} //  Mater Tales Little Golden Books // Sesame Street: Grover Takes Care of Baby // The Berenstein Bears and The Messy Room // I Am a Bunny

Titus' Picks:

{left top to bottom right} The Golden Book Encyclopedia // Mr. Peabody's Apples //The Book of Australian Nursery Rhyme //Just One More Swim //Before I go to Sleep // Wreck it Ralph

 I think that the books they decided to share are such perfect examples of how they learn.  Jayden likes simple books... that are not too long.  His attention span is much shorter, but he does enjoy picking out letters and small words.  We have had to read "The Messy Room" book many times. ;)

Titus, on the other hand, likes to sit and read.  He really loves pictures, particularly of nature, trains, and engines.  But I can read him longer books, or more than one, without him getting bored.

One thing I found helped the interest level in reading for fun was finding books they had seen the movies of.  They get really excited about Disney cartoon books, because they already know the story and can pretend to read it on their own.

//

We have been spending a good hour most days simply tracing, writing, and painting. I have been keeping it simple just so that I don't get overwhelmed. I find creativity as a homeschool mom hits me in spurts, and when it hits I run with it. But when it's gone, I have a tendency to become despondent and not put the effort into teaching them that I should. Like most things, it is easy to view our children as a competition and we are trying to turn out the best "product". But truthfully, they are so much more than the sum of lessons learned. Even though some other mom out there has probably turned out a four-year-old who is reading Tolstoy while we're over here tracing circles... it is the time together practicing life essentials that is important to me. Each day I teach them something... their world becomes a little bigger, and they learn to trust me a little more. And I learn how to be more patient and gentle. We're growing together, always.  If anyone was to ask me what I personally thought was the most satisfying thing about having a family, I would say this is it.