How we do Homeschool with Toddlers

One of my biggest concerns with homeschooling was how to include two toddlers in our day of learning.  I want them to be a part of our day not a nuisance that has to be dealt with.  I did some reading but still was unconvinced of how this would work for us.  I somehow thought that I would need to use all of my education and parenting experience to make this difficult situation work.  In reality it works without much effort.  Sometimes someone has to wait but that happens day in and day out school or no school.

The bulk of our school work happens in the morning.  First thing our oldest daughter takes the little ones outside in our "toddler play area" where they are fenced in and I can see them out the back door.  She sits on the swing and does her daily Bible reading.  The boys are also busy with Bible reading and I take thirty minutes to regroup and get organized for the school day.  Once Bible time is over, the big kids regather for individual Math assignments.  During this time our one year old takes a thirty minute nap.  Our two year old,  really is a very content child as long as she is around people.  She often sits at the table and quietly colors or plays light bright or other fine motor activities. 

Once baby wakes up from his nap they spend some time in "the green room."  This is a gated room just off the living/dining room where they can play near us but not be underfoot.  They usually enjoy watching Sesame Street during this time.  We break up baby's time with a little snack and sippy cup of milk at the table with us.  During this time the big kids are doing character Study, spelling, Writing, and reading assignments for the day.

Throughout the morning as the big kids finish and are waiting for others to be ready for the next thing, they join the little ones.  I am lucky that each of the big kids finds it a rewarding break to go play with the babies and no one complains.  The little ones love having their company and it really breaks up their time. 
Towards the end of the morning we usually do History/Geography or Science either outside or downstairs so that everyone can get a change of scenery.  Around 11 or 11:15 The big kids play outside or downstairs with the little ones. During this time I make lunch preparations and finish school clean up.  After lunch the kids have more independent assignments to work on (mostly silent reading and some computer work).  The house is quiet from 12:30-2:30.  The babies sleep and I catch up on chores around the house or relax a bit.  Around 2:30 the house becomes alive again with babies and activity but everyone seems very content to do whatever we plan during this time.
Before we know it our day is over.  Daddy is home and we eat and spend time as a family.  The babies seem happy throughout the day just to be together.  Of course all of us have our moments and sometimes a break is necessary to deal with behavior or to give extra needed attention. 
A couple of keys to our success have been moving them onto the next activity even when they are content so that they don't become to fussy, offering different toys during school time to offer variety and keep their interest longer,  and remaining flexible with our schedule.  The more relaxed our home school day becomes, the more they fit in.  Throughout the day the littles are never forgotten, they feel loved and cared for either by mommy or a willing sibling. 

*This winter will be more difficult.  Outside time has become a great stress reliever for us all.  We will have to be a bit more creative but I believe we have laid a good foundation for how our time and day will go.

Homeschool Wrap-Up July

This week I was told I was the best teacher my kids ever had.  They said that they were having fun and that I didn't yell as much as their teachers at school.  Not so sure about that, but I was flattered none the less.  Overall the school attitude has been great, even though it is summer for most, the kids are willing and excited to get their school stuff out each morning.  I don't think anyone feels like they are missing out on to much.  We try to work our schedule around school but friend activities are important as well so we make time for them.
My energy level has certainly been down as I have fought off a cold turned bronchitis.  With lots of encouragement the kids seem to be becoming more and more independent with much of their work.  There will always be days or subjects that require a lot more of me but the more independent each child becomes the easier it will be for me to concentrate with one child at a time. 
In History/Geography we have learned about the state of Connecticut.  Next week we hope to make Connecticut Clam Chowder.  Along with our group study, Bentley has also studied about the English, French and Spanish Explorers.

Math was probably the subject that I was most concerned about when we started.  The boys are using workbooks that are challenging but not so difficult that they get discouraged and shut down.  I am proud of their persistence to learn.  Bentley is doing a computer program and is also doing very well.  One aspect of homeschooling that I really appreciate is that mastery of each lesson is achievable.  We can take extra time needed to truly understand hard concepts without disrupting anyone else's learning.  We don't move on until we get it.
Reading has been mostly some silent reading for the kids and some read alouds.  Payton is now buzzing through chapter books much like Bentley.  They are both such strong readers.  Bentley is now well over half way through Little Women and is enjoying it.  The next book she plans to read is Invincible Louisa, which is the story of Louisa May Alcott, the author of Little Women.  Payton is reading Toliver's Secret, a historical novel, that tells the tale of a child traveling during the time of the Revolutionary War.  Conner is doing a Phonics Program called Rocket Phonics.  We backed up a bit for him and are working on laying a good foundation for reading through practicing concepts of rhyming, blending, and letter sound recognition.  His reading has improved rapidly once we reviewed, and sometimes learned for the first time, those important basic concepts.  I know we will never regret spending the time it takes now to help him become a better reader.

For Science we have been learning about Animal Classification and flight, specifically related to birds.  We ended this week on an experiment involving two gliders with two different types of wings, one had long narrow wings while the other had shorter wide wings.  The kids had been looking forward to our experiment all week.  I really appreciate our science curriculum (Apologia Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day) as it really brings together God's plans and designs with the science of why it works the way it does.

Our Bible Reading is going well although I am not sure that we will achieve the entire Bible this year but we will get there.  We are currently reading the book of Mark.  Character study has been about honesty which is a much needed character to be addressed in our home.  I have enjoyed watching each child's "aha moments" as we read scriptures and Bible Stories about how dishonesty affects us, God, and those around us.
So that's it in a nutshell.  We are all having fun and learning lots (even mommy)!

Train up a child in the way he should go,
And when he is old he will not depart from it

Proverbs 22:6.

Life Becomes Learning and Learning Becomes Life

In one of my last home school posts I talked about the desire for life to just become learning and learning to become life.  Well today it happened.  We had a science lesson late in the day.  We are doing Apologia Zoology 1: Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day.  It was an introduction today with lots of reading.  There will be tons of exciting hands on lessons and experiments but today just wasn't one of those days.  Kind of boring or so I thought.  As the children were putting away their school books I hear "hey guys lets..." (this is always where I listen in because you never know what plan they will have next).  "Hey guys lets be zoologists and sort all of our animals into classifications.  Seriously!  So this is what "unsocialized" home school kids do in the afternoons.  I AM SO IN! 

Animal Kingdom
(Notice Cee Cee top right :)

Phylum Chordata
(vertebrates)

 Class (Mammalia)

Order (Primates)

Order (Carnivors)

Families (Canine and Feline)

Genus (Domestic and Jungle)

Species (Calico)
*Although Payton would like to be, he is not part of the Feline family or Calico Species.

The best home-school plans today were not my own.  The children decided what they wanted to do and how they wanted to learn.  They did it during playtime because learning was fun!  Mission accomplished, Memories Made, Lessons Learned!!

PB, Chocolate Chip, M&M, Oatmeal Goodness

The original recipe for these cookies came from my dear friend Karla.  She brought them over one evening along with fruit salad for fun conversation and a yummy desert.  They have become a family favorite for us ever since.  This afternoon Bentley and I decided to make them with added yumminess...M&Ms. 

PEANUT BUTTER, CHOCOLATE CHIP, OATMEAL, M&M COOKIES

1 Cup Butter (softened)

1 Cup Sugar

2/3 Cup Brown Sugar

(Cream First Three Ingredients)

2 eggs

2tsp Vanilla

1 Cup Peanut Butter

(Beat Together)

(Mix Dry Ingredients in Med Bowl)

2 Cup Flour

1 Cup Oatmeal

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

(Mix dry ingredients with creamed mixture)

Add

1 Cup Chocolate Chips

3/4 Cup M&Ms

Bake at 350 degrees for 12-13 minutes

(makes 3 1/2-4 dozen)

ENJOY!!

Blessed

This evening I watch Gracen fresh and clean from his bath as he toddles across the floor with a smile from ear to ear.  He recently learned to walk and he is so proud of his newest and greatest achievement in his short life.  As parents, it is amazing to us as well to watch God's miracle walk across the room.  All of our children have done it yet we still look on in awe and wonderment of this little being that God created.  Gracen is at my very most favorite stage.  He is becoming his own little person yet he still needs his mother's cuddles to reassure him that all is right with the world.  I hold these moments dear.  I know from experience that all too soon these milestones will become a cherished memory. 
Gracen has taught us much about the Grace of God.  He was the child that we longed for seven long years but God said no.  God knew that if he gave this precious child to us to soon our family would miss out on even more of his wonderful blessings.  If we had been given Gracen when we first asked and longed for him we would have never experienced the joy of adoption and we would have never known Conner and Veah.  God saved this blessing for the perfect time and in the process he blessed us not only once but three times over.
We don't always know or understand why God blesses us when he does.  Sometimes our journey is full of sorrow and deep pain as we wait and watch others be blessed.  Why not us?  Why not now?  Sometimes, most often years later, we can see the plans God had for us.  Other times we can never make sense of it all.  In these moments of darkness and discomfort God reminds us that this is not our home.  We long for the contentment that this world in those moments cannot offer.
Gracen reminds us every day of God's deep love for us and of his plans to bless us in His time.  In those moments of darkness we could have never even dreamed of the wonderful plans that God had for our family.  Because of Gracen, we wait patiently with anticipation to see what God has in store for us next.  We are learning that God's plans are so much better than our own and we are truly blessed.

First Day of Home School 2012-2013

Today we start our first day of home school.  No school room, no desks, no bus, no shiny new tennis shoes.  Our home and our world becomes our classroom.  We will all learn many new things in many new ways.  I began the year with excitement and a little bit of fear.  Fear mostly of the unknown and my own short comings.  But from what I have read my children will learn in spite of me and they will become as much my teachers as I am theirs.

We have decided to school year round.  Our schedule doesn't have to change with the seasons.  For some of our children, me included, the transition is difficult.  There is comfort in the familiar.  We never take a break from learning.  Our schedule may become a bit more relaxed during the summer and P.E. may include pool time but learning just becomes life and life becomes learning.  My favorite part of learning year round is that we are taking Mondays off from formal school work.  Mondays become an extension of our weekend, a day to catch up, regroup and start the week ahead instead of behind.  We will learn life skills :) (laundry, cleaning, cooking, yard work, grocery shopping etc. etc. etc.).

We will not try to re-create a school classroom in our home.  Our home is our classroom.  Learning will happen on the porch swing, the couch, at the kitchen table.  Where we live is where we will learn. 

Many things went well today.  We learned.  We got in a bit of Bible reading, math, spelling, History/Geography, and more reading. The kids were well behaved and look forward to school tomorrow.  Oh, and we made our clipboards look fun with Mod Podge! 

Some things did not go as well.  Most of school was at the kitchen table.  I will need to work hard at making school less school like and much more relaxed and home like.  We did not get through everything I planned to get through today and my lesson plans were not as organized as I wish they would have been.  I want to be and feel more relaxed so that learning does not become a chore for any of us but instead is fun for all of us (at least most of the time).  Oh yes and lunch was late (sorry honey).

Looking forward I can see success is all in the attitude.  Most days perfection will not be achieved.  The sooner I am able to let go of perfection the better I will feel about our day.  We WILL learn and tomorrow we will try again.  For now we are together and we are where God is asking US to be.

To read about why we decided to home school click here.

"Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." Deuteronomy 11:19 

Toddler Jail

When Vaeh first came to us she was an awesome sleeper.  She took long naps and slept through the night consistently at three months old.  She almost never woke during the night and went to sleep easily on her own.  Until a few months ago...  Vaeh decided she no longer needs sleep.  She has chosen both nap and bedtime to practice her singing (at the top of her lungs) and her superior climbing skills (and her early intervention teachers were worried about her motor skills...if they could see her now)!  She can jump the crib in a single bound and land on her feet.  She uses the crib springs as her trampoline and jumps and jumps and jumps and jumps.  If there were toddler Olympics this summer I am confident that she would come home with the GOLD.  This often goes on for hours.
It has become exhausting.  We run up and down and up and down the stairs at first asking her nicely to stay in her bed and lay down.  Nice eventually turns to not so nice (some days sooner than others).  Last night we even got a visit in the wee hours of the morning from a toddler screaming down the stairs and running about the house.
I thought that I could work with her, train her to stay in her bed.  But I was sorely mistaken. So we did the unthinkable...we locked her in toddler jail.  This morning we cleaned out the little purple room that is a someday turn into a bathroom project (it is pretty much the only space left).  We set up a toddler bed over the plumbing that is under the carpet.  We got out a pretty Winnie the Pooh Blanket and we purchased two...yes two gates to stack one on top of the other.  We plugged all of the outlets and stripped the room bare besides a few pillows, blankets and stuffed animals.  Today at nap time I read to her and cuddled with her.  She was so proud of her big girl bed she actually layed in it for a moment.  Then she began again to dance, sing, holler, and jump.  But this time I don't have to keep putting her back in her bed becoming more and more frustrated eventually yelling and feeling guilty and mean.  She is safe in Toddler jail (for now) until she figures out how to push or pull or jump or climb the gates. BUT...we will deal with that as it comes.
"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself Each day has enough trouble of its own." Mathew 6:34