Golden Acorn Homeschool

This is just me posting about my general excitement with homeschooling.  (Yes, I am still excited about it.)

It seems like we have really hit a stride where the kids just know what to expect from the day and I don’t deal with very much resistance anymore.  I love that we have finally sunk into a good routine for the year.  I have realized that I CAN homeschool three kids, still manage to bathe them, wash some laundry, and put a meal on the table (that I cooked myself) nearly every night.  Yes, sometimes we eat out, or I let people fend for themselves.  No shame in that!

Adding Zoey into the mix as an “official” preschooler took some juggling.  Also having Sydni working in Ambleside Year 1 and Cole in Year 3, meant a lot more work and reading (for me) overall.  At this point, I have stopped trying to work with them at the same time.  I was reading/working with one child while another did independent work, but no more!  It worked for the past two years, but this year I was finding that I was being constantly interrupted by the “independently” working child and that everyone was losing focus and getting frustrated, too distracted, or just slipping through the cracks.

Now, I am starting the day with all three kids and doing the things we do together: Bible, hymn, artist study, composer study, Spanish (not everything, every day!).  After we complete the “circle time” session (as I call it), I choose a child to work with one at a time.  Zoey takes about 15-20 minutes a day, so I usually begin with her since she has a much shorter attention span anyway.  Then Cole and Sydni take turns on a daily basis over who works with me first, and who takes a play break first.  I get through all of their work quickly and efficiently, and then move on to the next kid.  We are still finishing up our school work most days by lunchtime or shortly after.

This does mean that for those hours we are doing schoolwork that I get almost nothing else done because I am literally moving from kid to kid to kid.  I used to be able to do some dishes or start a load of laundry while they were working on their own – not so much anymore, but that’s ok.  Cole is working his way to being independent much of the time, as his reading fluency continues to increase, along with his ability to digest more complicated readings.

I am also SUPER excited about some good things happening with the kids and their development and learning.  Sydni has already finished her first Pathway Reader for this school year, and at the rate she is going, will be moving on to the 2nd grade readers by the Spring.  I am also happy about a VERY long and detailed narration that Cole gave on the “Pecos Bill” tall tale.  I think I will type it up and share it this weekend.  The chapter was quite long and I stopped five times during the story and had him narrate.  He did a great job and remembered some really interesting details.

It’s also nice to see additions to our “Staircase of Time.”

(This was taken right after I finished drawing it, I should take a new one!)

Having a huge visual tool for tracking historical events is really helping things stick in the kids’ minds.  Sydni even drew little crowns over the names of Phillip the II of Macedon and Alexander the Great to help her remember they were kings.  CUTE!  Tell me how many 1st graders you know who even have an idea of who those people are?  :-D

Yeah, I really love homeschooling.  WOOT!

I am sure by now that anyone who reads this blog (or knows me in real life), knows how much I ADORE William Shakespeare.  I attribute this love of the bard to my high school AA English AND Shakespeare teacher, Mr. Heck.  In fact, I took his Shakespeare class twice because I loved it so much.  He loved Shakespeare and he was so funny and enthusiastic in teaching the topic that I embraced Will, too.

I really want my kids to be familiar with & love Shakespeare.  We have covered a number of plays over the last couple years, and we use paper dolls, toys, and Barbies to act out the scenes.  We have also done a rendition of “King Lear” by playing the parts ourselves.  Good times!

On the Ambleside Online mailing list, someone mentioned a set of great DVD’s called “Shakespeare: The Animated Tales.”  I looked it up on Netflix and I was hooked.  Now that we know about this great tool, we typically watch the play first (if available), and then read the play and act it out afterward (it’s a children’s version we read).  Shakespeare is performance art, so I feel that people – especially children – best learn to appreciate Will’s genius when they see it acted out.

I haven’t been able to justify the $72 price for buying the set when I can just get the disc I need from Netflix at any time, but I really, really want it.  Maybe some day soon.  I can see myself watching these 30 minutes animated tales over and over again.  They are well done, they pace nicely, and my kids can make out the major plot points.  What more can I ask for?

Someone has been putting them on youtube, so if you are interested in a little peek….enjoy!

(I especially enjoy the puppetry, so I chose Twelfth Night, one of my favorite plays!)

I am declaring summer 2009 as the official “Summer of Shakespeare” for the Golden Acorn Homeschool.  We have already moved to a more year round format with homeschooling (I think it’s beneficial), but at the same time,  I also think summer is the perfect time to lighten up a bit.  Even with a lighter load of academic work, I still want the kids to have a rich educational experience that doesn’t feel like an educational experience.

Granted, my kids do have some math to finish up from this year, and we will continue reading some great books, but I really want to focus on my main man, William Shakespeare.

I especially want to focus on these plays (which we were meant to do this year, but mostly skipped over for lack of time):

The Two Gentlemen of Verona

Romeo & Juliet

All’s Well that Ends Well

Cymbeline

Macbeth

&

The Comedy of Errors

The plan is to read a biography of William Shakespeare by Diane Stanley.  Then, as we are reading about him, we will begin reading each play (from Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare), and acting it out in some fashion over the period of a week or two.  We like to do the acting ourselves if we can, but we have been known to use Barbie dolls, paper dolls, and Legos before.  We go where the creativity takes us.

I also plan to play many games at the Folger Shakespeare Library website, and plan a field trip there in July.

I am on the hunt for a live performance in the DC area, which really tops my list of things to do this summer.  But if we can’t find a real performance, I have a list of movies and animated shorts we can enjoy.  Shakespeare the Animated Tales is fabulous and I get it from Netflix whenever I need to.  I would love my own copy…maybe some day!

I am thinking we might do a few fun crafts and art activities to round out the summer, and a stage of some sort is definitely in order.  Even if it’s just fabric and a few curtain rods.  We have a perfect doorway that will work, and I am imagining how it will all come together now.  Some shower curtain rods and a two cheap shower curtains…

I am SO excited!

I have been re-reading one of my favorite books – A Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola, along with sections of Charlotte Mason’s own writings over the last few days.  Sometimes we get into a school rut, and even though things seem to be Charlotte Mason-y on the surface, I know in my heart that the spirit of her method of education can sometimes lose its luster in the day to day.  This is especially true if we have been fighting illness or dealing with other issues that suck up my time and energy.  Although we are going through the motions, *I* don’t have the same level of joy that I need to have, and consequently, the kids joy in learning is diminished as well.  It helps me to pull out my books, or log onto Ambleside Online, and read writings from Charlotte herself and Karen, who inspires me a great deal.  I regain my joy of teaching, I refresh myself on CM philosophies, and it renews my purpose in homeschooling the kids.

So this week I have been reading up on narration, and it reminded me of why I chose this method in the first place.  Aside from reading amazing books and having the rich education that teaching with the CM  method provides, the real beauty in it (for me) is not testing, but narrating!  My kids can tell me what they know, and be confident in their knowledge.  They are learning to actively listen to a story (or a selection), and to summarize it, and collect the important ideas.  They have time to digest these ideas, and then share with me what they have learned.  This allows them to make personal and LASTING connections to the material, and consequently, to make connections with other material later.  This method of learning, absorbing, and telling is the most natural way there is to learn.  It’s really almost organic.  What do people (and especially children) do when they learn something new?  They SHARE it with someone.  All of us are eager to share what we know and what we have learned.  Most of this happens spontaneously, and it is tailored to the strengths and weaknesses of each child.  Karen Andreola says in her book:

Narration works wonderfully with both the bright, talkative child as well as the slower or more quiet child.  In learning to narrate, each child will adjust, progress and accomplish according to his own ability in a most natural, gradual manner.  Some children cannot be lured to learn by the proposed plan…There will be times of seeming stagnation, when they will need to be refreshed with some diversion or play.  There will be obvious learning explosions (growth spurts) when all of a sudden their interest is piqued and their understanding quick.  In a homeschool it is easy to sense fluctuations.

I love that this education can be tailored to each child and move at his or her pace.  It can be easy going when it needs to, and formal when they are in a spurt.  When it comes to narrations, I don’t always take formal narrations after reading, but I do record many of them with a voice recorder and type them up.  This gives us a paper record of what they are learning for the dreaded county reviews, but also, the kids can go back and read their own narrations, or use them as copywork.  However, the narrations I treasure the most are the ones that come later, sometimes weeks or months after we have read something.  Cole, or Sydni often make a connection to something new we have read, with something we read in the past.  These come out of nowhere, but they are like little road markers that tell me I am doing something right.

The most beautiful thing, perhaps, is the fact that this method of learning and teaching leads to self-education in the future.  A child who can read a book filled with rich images of far away places, of noble ideas and intriguing concepts (and then tell back the information in some fashion), is on the road to being a life-long learner.  Once a child has learned to process the information available in books, and make it work for him, the entire world has opened up.  Karen agrees:

The day a child begins using narration is the day he begins to become an independent learner.  With narration, the mind poses questions to itself.  It is independent of the questionnaire.

Excellent books are what drew me to Charlotte Mason, but narration is what keeps me excited, amazed, and awestruck by what my kids are learning.  Sometimes, it’s hard to see, but I feel as if I a making the ground fertile, and the books are planting the seeds.  I am confident that they will take root and grow.

(This is an old picture, but one of my favorites!)

Let’s face it, there are days in every homeschool mama’s life when the washing machine is broken, someone is sick, the  “to do” list is a mile long, or you just need a little break.  But, you feel guilty because you want your kids to be learning something, right?  Well, there are days when *I* feel like that, but maybe I am alone.  ;-)

I have a list of internet resources for days like this when I know we won’t get to our books and do any substantial reading.

My current favorite is Free Rice (www.freerice.com).  This site supports a CM based education by exposing kids to a rich vocabulary, grammar, great artists, and geography.  It even has math (click subjects at the top and see all that is offered)!  Better than that, it donates rice to people in impoverished countries.  So, as your little darlings learn, they are helping someone who is hungry.  My kids compete against themselves to see how much rice they can donate.

Math-U-See (www.mathusee.com) gets my next vote.  We use the Math-U-See curriculum, but even if you don’t, there are FREE resources in the sidebar to make math worksheets, and there is an online drill.  Cole is struggling with the sixes in the multiplication table, so we have been doing a LOT of online drilling.  I can’t say enough good things about the MUS curriculum and website.

Next up is Classics for Kids (www.classicsforkids.com).  We love this site, and it is also CM based since you are learning about, and listening to, music from famous composers.  There are radio programs and quizzes galore!  Soothe the savage (hyper?) beasts in your house with a little music.

Using Ambleside Online?  Then if you don’t know about Librivox (www.librivox.org), you should!  Even if you don’t use AO, you will find lots of audio books of interest.  I can set my kids up on the computer with some headphones and still get a load of laundry done, and dinner started.

My other more recent favorite is Time 4 Learning (www.time4learning.com).  I started using this as a supplement this year to help me stay on top of things and juggle the two kids.  They love it, I love it, and they have learned a ton.  It’s not free, but I think it’s worth it if you can afford it.  We have tried Brain Pop in the past, and the kids just didn’t get into it as well, or take as much from it…although I am sure that is different for each family.

What are your favorite resources?  I am always looking for more!

We are very fortunate to live in a neighborhood with a major wooded park and creek running right through it.  On any given day, we can see deer, rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, raccoons, and an occasional fox or two (among other things).  I don’t mean in the woods either…literally in our suburban backyard!

The creek is across the street, and last week I took advantage of a sunny day to go “adventuring,” as the kids like to call it.

Obviously, they enjoy playing *in* the creek.  I shudder to think at what things might be in that water.  :-/

It was quite literally, a “field of clover.”

Deer bones!

Yeah, deer bones!

We brought them home to bleach and study.

And that, readers, is nature study close to home.  We are busy nearly every day trying to sort out what bones are what, and assembling as much of that deer as we could find.

:-)

Homeschooling three kids can be a challenge, under any circumstances. I know this may be taboo to say, but with all the reading involved with the CM method (and the many levels moms of multiples are dealing with), it can take longer than other methods or curriculum.

However, there are some time saving tips that I have figured out over the past two years, and tons that I have learned from other moms. You can teach 2, 3, 4+ kids at home, and still have time for other things. It just takes planning and preparation. Doesn’t everything?

1. Combine your efforts when possible.
What I mean by this, is to combine all the activities that the children can do together. Composer study, poetry, artist study, Bible, hymns, etc. can all be done together to save on time. This is an essential (and probably the most obvious) step in saving time.

2. Make the most of meal times.
In addition to combining the kids for activities, use meal times to tackle things that are not overtly “academic.” We frequently use breakfast time to do Bible, poetry and artist study. At lunch, I play selections from our composer study, or read a selection from our “free reading.”

3. Use the car!
We listen to many audio books and composer selections in the car while running errands. Life happens, sometimes learning has to happen on the run. Be flexible, and keep it fun. We also love to play thinking games like “20 questions,” & find rhyming words, synonyms, antonyms, and homophones. You can make a game out of drilling math facts while driving, or just have a conversation about the world around you. Opportunities are everywhere!

4. Read before bed.
This is a no-brainer, but use bedtime to continue to enrich your children’s minds by reading free selections, or catching up on regular selections from the day.

5. Turn your children into teachers.
This is a sneaky trick employed by many homeschoolers, but have your older child “teach” a lesson to another while you work with another child. My son, Cole, reads chapters from his Pathway Readers to his sisters to keep them occupied on a regular basis. It builds his reading skills and fluency, his sisters get to hear someone else read for a change, and the stories from those books are wholesome and fun! My middle daughter, Sydni, has been working with her little sister, Zoey, on letters of the alphabet and numbers too. Cole has been helping Sydni with her basic addition.

6. Enlist Dad (and Grandma, Aunties, Friends…)
Let Dad read a story, or explain a concept for a change. Many Dads jump at the chance to teach something they are passionate about, so give them the chance! If Dad doesn’t like to read aloud, perhaps he can head up a science project, or take the kids on a field trip. Grandparents are unmatched resources for living history, aunties can pitch in with all kinds of projects, and so can friends. Who do you have in your life willing to help?

7. Join a co-op.
I know co-op’s are not for every family, but there are valuable classes, trips and activities in co-op’s that enrich your home education. Plus, having your child experience other teaching styles has tremendous benefits. Plus, I feel that it’s a VERY Charlotte inspired approach, because the parents in a co-op generally teach what they are passionate about, and that passion spills over to the children.

What time saving tips do you use? I am always looking for more!

With all this freed up time, you might just get that load of laundry folded after all!

I have a confession to make. Shhh! Don’t say this out loud, but I haven’t really enjoyed reading The Little Duke this year, and neither has my son, Cole. Oh, I know. I KNOW! It’s an Ambleside favorite and according to many of the mothers there, the children have all just loved this book.

Well, I haven’t! I have hated it most of the year, and I have dreaded reading it.

I feel MUCH better now that I have gotten that off my chest.  So, let me tell you why I am glad I continued to read it anyway, in spite of my prejudice.

Yes, it is a difficult book.

Yes, there are chapters that I found painfully slow, and boring.

Yes, I broke some cardinal CM rules by explaining what was happening in “regular English” so my dear son could understand the plot.

Wait, I am getting to the good part.

While reading this book, somewhere between Richard’s father dying, and Prince Lothaire trying to put a hawk’s eyes out, I began to respect the book.  It did have some admirable points, after all.

By the time the Little Duke escaped King Louis’ clutches, I kinda liked it…a little.

By the end, when Richard forgives his worst enemy, I loved it.

Cole got so much out of this book, and while it may not be his favorite, he took away what was intended.  This book expanded his vocabulary.  It got him interested in learning about France, and Normandy in particular, and as a result, he learned where several European countries are located.  He began thinking about the responsibility Richard took on at the age of eight, and most importantly, it taught him an invaluable lesson about forgiveness and character.

This is what Charlotte Mason wanted for her pupils, and for all children.  For them to be exposed to rich (and yes, even difficult) language, to form connections to things on their own, and to enhance their character with good and noble ideas.

Is there any doubt as to why I think this method is amazing??

I didn’t think so.

:-)

I am still alive!  Really, I am!

I know that for those of you who read this blog (but are not my facebook friends) it must have seemed as though I dropped off the planet.  My last post was MARCH 3rd!  I have never gone that long without blogging before; it’s disgraceful!  It’s just that I find facebook SO much easier to keep up with these days.  I have also been a notorious Google Reader “reader” for all the many blogs I love and subcribe to, and I haven’t left comments in what feels like years.

But, Spring is here, all things are new, and I feel ready to blog again.  My college endeavors have been going well (I still have a 4.0), but juggling that, along with educating my kids and running my home, has been keeping me hopping.  I think that might be an understatement, actually.  We have also recently renovated the laundry room and had numerous other little “life” things happening.  Life is what it is.

On the homeschooling front, we have been doing things a bit differently.  In light of what I am learning about Cole and dyslexia, we have made some changes to our curriculum and learning style.  We are still using Charlotte Mason methods as our foundation, but I am incorporating other things as well (to a greater extent, as I have always been a bit eclectic).  Time4Learning is one of those things.  Cole has really shown a great deal of enthusiasm for getting his school work done by cutting back on some of the AO readings, and adding in 20 minutes or so of computer learning.  It also helps me facilitate one-on-one time with Sydni.

In addition to incorporating Time4Learning (for both kids actually, Sydni started using it last week too), I am feeling more confident in my teaching abilities, and I have resorted to using Ambleside more as a reading list guide, than a strictly followed curriculum and schedule.  I love AO, I really, really do.  I just can’t use it exclusively and have it work for my family.  Of course, no one said I had to, other than me when I began this adventure!  Ambleside is invaluable as a resource list and for all things Charlotte Mason, and I will definitely continue using it, often!  We will still be reading most of the books offered there, just working them into our schedule a bit differently.  I am also going to move toward planning our history and science lessons to be combined on the same topic, but different levels.  I can’t juggle World History with one child, American History with the other, etc.  It’s too much for me right now.  I want to use a few books a guidelines, and then plan lessons appropriate for each level.  We continue to adore Math-U-See and Sequential Spelling just as they are.  By far, the best money I have spent!

When I first began, I was confident to a point, but it was daunting to carry the burden of my children’s education on my shoulders.  I am so glad I had tons of help and fabulous resources at my disposal.  I feel that now is the time to change gears and shake things up a bit – spread my homeschooling wings, if you will.  It is Spring, after all.  ;-)