Monthly Newsletter for Our Family

So, I mentioned in another post recently that I would like to post through the process of writing a monthly newsletter from our family.  I am not committing to doing this every month of the year-I like to set myself up to succeed as many times as possible!  We had a lot of "stuff" going on in February and I thought it might give us lots of good material to write about.  Also, once the articles are composed and illustrated, I may work on a little desktop publishing with the two older children just to test the waters and see how they take to it. 
You can click on the picture and see our list..there was a move we helped Grandparents make,  an anniversary, special Valentine's breakfast and more!

Today, I used our time to recall events from the past month.  Tons of stuff to write about here!  I gave them a little bit of time to chew on it and then choose the article they wanted to write about.  Then, we brainstormed the topics that they chose. 

I hesitate to state just how far we will get tomorrow because I make lots of plans, but the Lord sometimes has His own plans for our school days!  But, tentatively, barring intervention, I plan to help them get through a rough draft.  My 3rd grader will probably only be required to compose about two paragraphs.  My 5th grader can come closer to one page.  My 1st grader will dictate to me while I type his out and the preschooler--well, she's a whole 'nother story!!

I'll let ya know how it goes :)

Part Two: Hands On Grammar

I guess I should have mentioned in my previous post on this method that reverse operations serve a purpose as well. :) 

What I mean is, I have taken a  pattern of cards and given them to the children and they produce a sentence (can be silly ) that correponds to the part of speec on the code cards.  It helps them to create as much as identify.  They present it to the group and disputes are welcome.  This is how they learn--working it out, proving themselves, building confidence in their skills.  It works for me!

Hands On Grammar

I do realize that the picture would be misleading since the title refers to Hands On Grammar.  However, I have one child who struggles with grammar and needs any sort of different approach I can possibly conjure up.  I looked all around for something that I thought would be a sure-fire hit for her, at a reasonable price.  For me, that means almost free.  I had invested in various language programs through the years and have been reluctant to shell out much for something that I thought we likely might have already tried, in essence at least.   So, I decided to go it alone on this one.  I am still trudging through Easy Grammar this year.  It's going. Slowly. I felt the need to continue appealing to different senses with her on this and can see that all of my students benefit.  This is what I came up with.

As I mentioned in this post, I used sentences from literature that we had read aloud (or you could use something that the child is familiar with or reading through independantly).  We took a few simple sentences and (for the ten thousandth time) explained what a subject and predicate is.  Review never hurts and we go by the trickle-down effect for the younger ones since we basically have a one-room schoolhouse.  Using the very simple sentences that you see here, (and a few others before I erased them to write these) I had each child decipher the subject and predicate and just mentioned that we were going to have to divide these two parts because they are different and they do different things in the sentence.  That, in my opinion, is the beginning of sentence diagramming lessons.

(These are laminated pieces of regular white printer paper and I use dry erase markers on them with a clipboard)

Next, we "code" them.  This is done with our homemade code cards.  They take one word at a time and decide what part of speech it is and place the corresponding card in order, so that sentences look more like this:

This lesson is done as a group.  Anyone can (respectfully) dispute the answer that another gives.  The discussion facilitates learning AND teaching.  The ones who are sure of their answers inevitably teach the others the correct answer and even how they got it, and looove to prove it!!! 

If a child is unsure, they can reference the back of a card and find the definition and examples of what that shape represents and from there he can decide if he is choosing correctly. If a child, in coding his assigned sentence(s), runs into a word(s) that they are unsure of or have not yet learned, they can simply put a black card there and move on.  That word will be up for discussion when we all have completed their coding and we open it up for input.  Each child only had  two sentences to code on this day.   The solid black cards are KEY for them, in my opinion.  It keeps a struggling student from getting burned out and feeling stuck.   It's their "get out of jail free" card.  They are all laminated for durability.

 Got any other cool ideas for making Grammar more fun?  If so, please share :)

More on Teeth

With all the snow we've been having, running otu to gather supplies was not on my list. So, I made my own play dough. That was actually kinda fun. A project--just for Me!
Anyway, I had the children to make models of their teeth when studying the anatomy of a tooth.

In Our Homeschool....Teeth and the Tooth Fairy

Now, I'm so sure that this must only be of interest to a very slight few……but we have had quite a few teeth flying around our house for the last, oh, say 5 years!! This was an easy and fun unit to do since we only had a few legitimate school days until we are done for the year.

Even taking plenty of snow breaks, we were able to finish it in about four days. We learned soo much about teeth and the customs that other countries hold with regard to children losing their teeth. It was very, very interesting. If you read the books in order and do the lessons in relatively close order of how they are presented, it comes together nicely. This study is FREE from Homeschool Share!

First, we started our days with Geography. There was sooo much geography involved that we had to break it up and do some map searches every day. I printed out these little clipart pieces and the children would hunt for the places I called out. For the 7 yr old, I provided the continent as well as the country. The olders had to search a bit before I would give them the continent.

We did the egg/vinegar/soda experiment. All through the day, the kids couldn't help but to walk by and touch or dunk the egg back down into the vinegar. :) The egg in the soda sank and stayed there. But the one in vinegar dipped and danced a little.

We have now posted charts for every single child and they have been diligently checking off when their dental duty is done!

Curriculum Review: Guest Hollow American History

Guest Hollow  is a free resource for History, adaptable for grades 2-6.  There are many resources scheduled which can be found in most public libraries.  There are a few other resources mentioned that would need to be purchased.  Science recommendations are included, as well as some notebooking elements and other fun stuff.  Some charts, maps and resources are linked within the download.  And, did I mention that it is Free!!???

I have been using it for a few weeks, after I mentioned that I needed to consider changing horses mid-stream.  Instead of sending each of my children on their own history expeditions, I opted for a group approach to history as we had done in the past.  I realize that 2 weeks is barely time to get a good grip on things, but honestly, it is very much working for us.   I have not been able to find every single book at the library, but I have been able to maintain the 'skeleton' of the program and my children are thoroughly enjoying it. I am using it with  1st , 3rd and 5th grade students.

The first several weeks focus on Native American studies.  We have not done a unit or indepth study of any kind on this topic, so my children are really running with these ideas.  But this did coincide with a recent field trip to a Native American museum nearby.  Posted below, you will find just a few pics of my children enjoying some of the suggested projects from the download and History Pockets .  I particularly enjoy that each day is scheduled in a grid format and I can 'check off the boxes'  and feel accomplished and still enjoy the living books approach.  Several maps and other resources are linked within the download which make it very easy to use. A workbook is  listed but I do not own it and feel that things are still going quite well with the library books , History Pockets, and other activities/resources mentioned.

Guest Hollow also offers other general resources as well as American History Year 2 and some Science goodies!

This is one little cutie!

We learned the steps from a youtube video and watched many videos then tried our own pow-wow. Too bad you can't hear the audio to all this hubbub.  It sounded like the real thing!

In the National Museum of the Native American Indian.  We spent most of the day and only got through two levels.

This Longhouse project was linked in the download.  We all worked on this one together.

Planning for Next Year - Part 3

 Hi! My name is Christi and I love planning.  I begin planning for school long before a new year is upon me. I love planning for school in general.  This is always a huge part of my looking ahead in the Spring and my gettin'-down-to-business-cause-it's-almost-time in the Summer.  I have four children, three of which are 'school age.'  So, I began with my resources and this will give you an idea of what I have planned for my Preschooler.  Now, it's on to my First Grader.

Plan:  Stay steady on the basics.  Everything else will happen.

I have never been one to stress that my young students get a full course load in the first few years.  I really emphasize getting the basics down.  When they have basic tools, the extras will come far more easily. 

These are the No Questions Asked, Gotta Be Done daily basics:

Math:  Abeka Math Text, lots of games (some printables from here as well as some I have made myself), and nothing can take the place of a deck of flashcards while carschooling to fill in the gaps!  We also use the Math-U-See blocks and methods to help reinforce, since I used it for quite a while.

Language Arts:  Abeka Phonics and Language, A Reason for Writing and lots of reading, reading and a smidge more reading (using Abeka readers).  These readers are perfect for this age and reinforce phonics.  Children love the colorful books and illustrations, too.  We just practice with these, nothing high stress. These are subject to being put aside in favor of audio books or group read-aloud time.  Narration is common (lots of CM tendencies here). This child needs a little practice on some of his letters so, we will have to be diligent on the writing efforts. I also have several manipulatives to help with sounding and spelling words.  Copywork could, at any time, replace a day's work in the writing workbook.  I don't feel bound by much of anything.  I go with my gut most of the time.

Extras

Science and History:  I have two very simple readers for these.  Both are from Christian Liberty Press and involve just reading to the child. These will probably be used for the older children to read to the 1st grader and nothing more.  Nature is the best teacher on this one and they pick up on so much that the other children are reading regarding history, so there is no concern at all there.

Art:  As a group, I will be using How to Teach Art to Children.  I have done several of the activities with them already and they were a hit.  He is also present for music that might be playing or be being played and can enjoy a little inspiration there.

He will also jump in and participate wherever and whenever things work out that way. 

He also has household chores and is involved in devotion discussions as a family.  He is asked to find Scriptures and read (where he is able) aloud, as appropriate with help. He has his own Bible journal and draws to go along with what we're discussing.

More Math

Practice and review.  Practice and review. They are my mantras around here for math.  I have children who "get" math and those who do not.  But, no one is exempt from a little practice and review.  One way I get my children to practice facts is with these foam blocks.  You can purchase them (mine were under $2.00 each at a teacher store)  with the domino-style dots already on them or, buy them completely blank.  I have done both.  On the blank blocks, I use a permanent pen/marker and label with the written numerals on all the sides.  Both ways are good practice!    Currently, I have a child who is learning addition facts.  So, he will take the blocks and toss/drop/shoot/pass (notice I said he) the blocks onto the floor.  Using the numbers facing upward, he is to add them and call out the answer.  Sometimes the child practicing will be assigned an older sibling to verify correct answers if I am helping another child.  Either way, it helps relieve a little of the sit-still-itchies for little ones who can always use a little practice and review in math.

Please, share some of the ways you make math a little more fun.