I've finally caved in.  We're trying a schedule.  After years of avoiding any such thing, I am now willing to try anything.  Distractions were taking over our school day and something had to change.  I ordered Managers of Their Homes and set about making my grid with tiny little squares and sticky-tac.  This was actually quite fun, although required a lot of thinking to get it all put together.

When I first mentioned to my oldest (dd10) that we were going to try a schedule, she cried.  Yep, cried.  This is the same child who always wants to know what we are doing next.  Go figure.  Then, the night before we were to begin the new schedule, I heard her talking to a sibling.  "I can't wait until tomorrow.  I'm so excited.  We start the new schedule."  Yes, the same child who cried.

I must say, we've done 3 days with the new schedule, and I am really liking it.  I only scheduled out the day from 9-3.  Plus, I wrote out a morning routine that must be done before 9.  But, when we get up is entirely up to us, as long as the morning routine is completed before 9.  I have two kids who sit in their rooms waiting for the clock to turn 7 so that they can come downstairs every morning.  One would sleep until 10 or so if allowed.  And one who gets up when she hears the two early birds.

It is nice to know what is coming next.  And, it is nice to know that if we stick to the plan, all of the important things will be covered.   I actually feel relieved having the schedule in place, which very much surprises me.   'Schedule' always sounded like a bad word to me.  lol!   Yet, it actually allows freedom.  Freedom from guilt because I know we're staying on track.  Freedom from stress because I can't seem to pull it all together.  Freedom from decision-making, because 'what comes next' has already been decided.

I'll let you know how it progresses.  I am commited to sticking with it. 

Last year's routine isn't working anymore!   I knew that having a baby would make school a bit more interesting.   I just hadn't anticipated how much more interesting it would be!     Aack!  Suddenly, school is taking a lot longer, and it seems we get less of it done!  I need to figure out a whole new way of getting schoolwork and housework done in the midst of nursing and caring for a new baby!

 

Another aspect that has changed is that I need to spend more time with dd10 on some areas in which she struggles and needs extra help.  One of the things recommended for her was to work through an intensive phonics program.  I have put her and dd8 in the same level, and expected to work with the two of them at the same time.   I quickly found out that this really needs to be done individually.  And, it is  time consuming.  Ds6 is working at level 1, which takes less time, but still needs to be done individually.

 

The other things we are adding for dd10 also take a bit more time, so that in itself would require an adjustment in routine.  But, having to stop mid-stream every couple of hours to feed the baby is really throwing me off-track.  Toss in meals/snacks, and regular household-type things that need to be done, and I'm finding myself spinning wheels and getting sidetracked way too much.

 

My plan for today is to sit down and chart out some possible ways of getting things done.  I'm thinking of a quasi-schedule that would give me a framework to follow, but one that is flexible/adaptable to the non-scheduled needs of a new baby. 

 

I've got to figure out a way of doing this that doesn't involve me having to get up any earlier than I already am, too.      I'm struggling with lack of sleep, and early morning seems to be the point at which the baby relaxes and really sleeps well.  Thusly, I sleep well in the morning, also! 

 

I've already whittled school down to the essentials for the time being.  My kids love science, but we aren't getting to that right now.  I figure we can slowly add these other things in as I adjust.  So, surrendering to the situation and doing the best I can seems to be in order.    

 

Forging ahead,

me

 

 

 

 

 

Ok, we have less than 10 days to go to hit the 180 day mark!     I'm not sure why that is such a relief, considering the fact that I'm going to keep going over the summer!  But, somehow, knowing we've at least made that goal mark is something I look forward to.  Once we hit that, we can continue on, and it doesn't feel like something we have to do.  Does that make any sense?

 

So, yes, we'll be done.  But, no, we won't be done!  We're going to keep up with math, the Earobics, and start into the phonics program.  Maybe finish up the Revolutionary War in history.  I'm not yet sure what the summer program will entail.  And will the continued school be extra for this year or the start of next?  Or both?  I haven't gotten that far in my thinking yet. 

 

We are expecting a new dd in August, so I want to have some school under our belt before we hit that big event.  Then we can take some time off to adjust to having a little one in the house again.      

 

Apart from trying to finish up those remaining few 'official' days of school, spring activities have hit full force.  The calendar is really full this month, and it has been hard to squeeze school in the last couple of weeks.  Lots of appointments hitting at the same time further complicate things.   Makes it to easy to let a day slip by without getting our school work done. 

 

So close to the finish line, and yet it still looks far away!  I remember that feeling from my own school days.  It felt like that last day would never come.  Hmmm.... teachers must have felt the same way because I remember a lot of photocopied activity pages toward the end of the year - crosswords, etc.  Busywork maybe? 

 

Well, we'll just keep on running until we get there! 

Would that I had an endless supply of time to float around the computer collecting ideas and forming plans for our homeschool.  Perhaps I should schedule a day just for that purpose and call it a 'teacher inservice day'. 

 

Today I followed a recommendation someone had posted in a Notebooking group I subscribe to.  I checked out the link for Galloping the Globe - a geography guide.  (If anyone uses this, tell me what you think.  It looked interesting!)

 

Well, looking at the Galloping the Globe site got me started down the Notebooking train of thought!  I looked up a link someone had posted about student notebooks.  (For anyone interested, it was http://home.att.net/~bandcparker/parkerkids.html )

On this site, a family had posted several seasons worth of samples from their kids' notebooks.  It really got the juices flowing!

 

We've used notebooks on a limited basis for history and science.  We used to have a Bible notebook, where the kids would illustrate Bible passages as I read them.  From time to time, I think I would like to consider using this approach a little bit more, but I haven't really taken the time to delve into it.

 

My oldest daughter is very much of an auditory learner and struggles immensely with writing.  If you recall, it is one of the issues that is leading us to get some testing done for specific learning disabilities.  I don't know how she would do with notebooking, but I'm sure we could work around that issue by letting her dictate to me.  I could then print her oral narrations or descriptions that she wanted on her notebook page.  Our second daughter is very visual/artistic/creative and would probably thrive on using notebooks.

 

Does anyone use notebooking a lot in their house?  I'd love to hear how you use it, or any favorite resources you have for learning how to do it.  Thanks!

 

Now, back to work - as I don't have the liberty to sit and ponder school possibilities all day!  Too bad!

 

 

 

 

We are studying the Revolutionary War in history right now.  I must say that I never really enjoyed history when I was in school.  However, I am loving it the second time around.  I wish I had been able to learn history this way when I was a kid!

 

We are using the Truthquest History Guide titled American History for Young Students, volume 1.  The guides have running commentary as you move through history.  Then, Michelle Miller has listed wonderful 'living book' choices for each segment you work through.  The tough part is narrowing down which ones to read.  I have been able to find more than we can digest at our local library, so there is no need to spend extra money on books.

 

We have been reading about the tensions between the colonists and the British, leading to the Boston Massacre, and the Boston Tea Party.  Lately, we've been focused on Paul Revere and the battles at Lexington and Concord.  The kids are loving it!

 

We're making notebooks for this topic.  I'm blowing up timeline figures and typing up related to captions to create notebook page for the kids to color.  Sometimes, I am able to find a coloring page on the internet.  Sometimes, I scan a picture from a book we've read to jog their memory as they look through their notebooks.  When the notebooks are done, I'm going to take them to Office Depot and have them bound, so each child will have their own official 'book' about the American Revolution that they worked on themselves.  It really helps keep the sequence of events more clear in their minds.

 

Last night we watched a 30-minute video from the library called 'Johnny Tremain:  The Shot Heard Round the World'.  It is an old one from Disney, a spin-off from the Johnnny Tremain movie, I would guess.  It fit in perfectly with all we had been reading.  Again, the kids loved it!

 

Who knew history could be so much fun?

We are in the process of trying to decide where to go for testing to see if our dd9 has a learning disability.  This is a whole new area for us, and it looks like there is going to be much for us to learn as parents.  I have several books on hold at the library. (once again, I must say, I  love internet card catalogs! :-))  Figuring out where to go for the first step has been complicated enough - in and of itself.

I have talked to someone who spoke at our local homeschool support group earlier in the fall.  She works as a special education consultant for the schools.  After describing the things I have been observing, she felt strongly that we need to have her tested.  She said the struggles I describe were classic for a child with learning disabilities.

Giving my dd sample achievement-test style tests (I had checked out from the library) really shone the spotlight on the whole situation.  She is very bright.  She loves the subjects in which I do read-alouds.  She retains details from things she has listened to - books on tape, learning songs, etc.  She also loves to read - now. 

Her struggles in spelling and math I simply attributed to 'needing more time'.  But there were other things.  Her hadwriting is large and words all run together.  Attempts at writing sentences frustrate her, and her sentences are still very short and basic.  While she loves to read, she did poorly on the language arts portion of the practice tests.  In the vocabulary section, she had trouble even recognizing the words when given out of context.  And she also got confused on the reading comprehension section, something which really surprised me. 

The other day, she had some questions in her Wordly Wise book based on a 1-page article in her workbook.  She was to answer the questions in sentence-format.  She got completely flustered and upset.  Thinking of what I had been reading, I picked up her workbook and asked her the questions out loud.  She answered every one, showing that not only had she read and understood the section, but also that she could interpret the implications of the facts as well.

 I 'happened' to check out a book at the library last month by Christine Field called "Homeschooling the Challenging Child".  I was looking for strategies for spelling, etc.  But, there was a section on learning disabilities in the book.  She listed several common disabilities, and had a checklist of signs for each of them.  As I read the one for Visual Processing Disorder, my eyes grew wide, as I realized this WAS my daughter.  I realized there may be real reasons why she has so many struggles.

That got me looking into things further, and I started writing down the places where I noticed she was having difficulty.  I can tell this is going to be a long process.  First, to identify what specifically are the underlying reasons for her struggles.  And secondly, to figure out ways to best help her learn in the midst of those learning differences.

I would love to read comments from anyone else who is on this road.  I'm sure I will be posting on this topic regularly.

On a periodic basis, I begin to debate myself on this topic.  Does grade level matter?  Do we need to adjust it?  Should this even be an issue?  Why do these questions surface in my mind to begin with?  Let me give you a little background.

I started homeschooling my oldest when she was 5.  She has a birthday that would have just missed the school system cutoff had we been putting her in kindergarten.  Had we been putting her in school, we probably would have held off another year.  But, since she was home, and I was ready to get started on this adventure, we just started in!

Today, this daughter is 9.  She struggles in many areas.  We switched to Math-U-See last year, and backed her up to basic addition/subtraction in the Alpha level.   She was very shaky in basic math facts, and had been frustrated to the point of daily tears the previous year.  Math went so much better last year.  Yes, we had backed up a bit, but laying a strong foundation in basics, and overcoming the dread of math was well worth it.  As we speak, she is just completing the Beta level, which took her through multiple digit addition, carrying, subtraction of multiple digit numbers, and borrowing. 

Spelling is another area of struggle.  She simply can't seem to retain the proper spelling of even the simplest of words.  We're working with Spelling Power this year, adapting it to give her HUGE amounts of review, but still her retention is poor.  This, of course, is a huge factor in her dislike of writing, as well.  Although, she is an avid reader - much to our delight!  She also readily retains information from books that are read aloud to her - making history a favorite subject for her.

When friends and family ask what grade she's in, we say fourth.  That is where she's at strictly on a chronological basis.  But, in the back of my mind, I find myself thinking that she really isn't doing work at a fourth grade level.   Are we giving an inaccurate picture of where she's really at?

As homeschooling allows us to adjust the pace to each of our children, do 'grade levels' really matter?   The pace at which they learn can vary.  Perhaps, given time, things will begin to 'click' for her and she make up lost ground quickly.  

I still haven't figured out where my thoughts land on this, but usually my husband convinces me not to worry about it.  Just keep working with her where she's at, and don't worry about grade levels.

We do think we want her to take a standardized test this spring, just to give her some experience in test-taking.  We are thinking of testing her at the third grade level, where we think she will feel less frustration over things she has not yet mastered.

Is this something anyone else has wrestled?  I would love to hear some different perspectives on this topic.  Please post a comment!