Five in a Row ~ Miss Rumphius Day 3

Here we are, Day 3  with Miss Rumphius from Five in a Row .   Just after our family Bible reading was over, dd5 asked to read to us.  So she did:)  I love it.  She remembers most of what's happening on each page and tells the story (narration) as she shows us the pictures.  It's such a sweet minute in the morning.

Next we got started by reading our book, Miss Rumphius and learning about bushel and peck measurements.   She sure had a LOT of seeds to sow!  Since it isn't lupine planting season just yet, we 'planted' our own.  I used large packing paper (just because I had it from our recent move) and  each child used finger/thumb prints to creat lupines to scatter about their "lane".  There is a separate little hallway to the children's bedrooms, so they'll be able to enjoy their own work.

We also re-placed our story disk, this time letting our youngest do that.  And she remembered!  We did copywork from the story as well as discussion of deserts.  I have to do plenty of animal studies for my boys.  They love animals, especially snakes and such.  I couldn't just mention things that live in deserts or something about a desert where Miss Rumphius might have visited.  I have to go all the way.  For them. :) 

I have these little habitat books called, "One Small Square".  This one is about deserts.  LOTs and lots of cool info there for guys.  Here, at the end of the book is a matching page.  Nate is trying to find some creatures whose silhouettes must be matched with the actual picture in the 'one small square' that he read about.

We also did a few math word problems that go along with the story from the Homeschoolshare site.  We only did three of those today.  I will pick and choose a few per day, since we do our regular math text throught the week for 2nd grade.  My K student did the counting for us as we did the figures on those problems ;)

Yes, we add a little extra to FIAR.  Not a whole lot, just enough to expand and go a little further.  Honestly, we have to school for 4.5 hours here and it makes those  hours a little more fun!

Five in a Row ~ Miss Rumphius Day 2

Miss Rumphius, Day two was a hit!  We began with reading  the story.  We discussed personification.  We also did a little seed graph worksheet that I took from an Old, out of print teacher's science book of worksheets.  They loved coloring the seeds and graphing them.  It was very simple, and my 2nd grader did help out my K student.  He got a chance to lead/teach, too.

Also, we read through the page on plants and seeds from a text that we had around here.  I'm not a fan of texts for a whole lot.  I just did it because it had some cool pictures in it and it told the children to soak a few beans in water to see them sprout.  So they did.  They had to read and follow directions for themselves and they were all too happy to do so!. 

Then, we took a brief walk outside for a nature walk.  We discussed a few plants whose seeds spread by wind.  I am ashamed to say that I don't know what they are yet because we've only lived here a few months and we have yet to see a full bloom of all that is growing in our yard.  But we could see that the seeds would drop and fly away.  They also discussed that they had seen a few 'hitchhikers' on the dog the other day.  And of course, how birds  help to displace seeds as well. 

We checked our seeds that were planted but nothing has come up yet so patience will be the theme there. 

Most of these activities today had no paperwork involved.  FIAR really can be a simple way for your children to learn. 

Five in a Row ~ Miss Rumphius Day 1

We are FIARowing the book Miss Rumphius this week.  I chose this book since we are doing a lot with seeds and planting right now.  Spring has made an early arrival and we are down to business.

Day 1

Read book and discussed location of story disk.  Ds placed it and did well identifying directions.

We discussed routine and made and hung our charts to establish a good routine. Checked off today's activities so far....

Dd12 read Jack and the Beanstalk to youngers as I prepared lunch.(I like to add a little CM ~tales)

Ds took some time after lunch/play to explain plant life from the pages of  Usborne Science Encyclopedia.

I like to allow the older children to "teach" some things.  They get so excited to share with their siblings.  And opportunities for leadership, patience, understanding and caring abound.  Also, the youngers learn to learn from others.

This was one day's lessons using FIAR.  It is not the same for all families.

Bugs

They grow REALLY BIG down here.  What is this???

Family Meeting on Friday

As I posted earlier, I am trying to do a Family Meeting Friday.  This will also include Fine Arts.  I have yet to succeed at getting done what I want to get done on fridays for one reason or another.  I thought I would write it up and publish it and hope that helps me remain accountable ;)

*Present Memory Work progress
*Present guitar progress
*Read aloud (all reading children - non reader will "read" whatever story she wishes to present)
* Narrate spontaneously chosen subject from past week's readings and/or present past week's written narration
* Art ( as in this)
*Composer
*Poet
*Artist study

Sounds of Love

I cannot begin to describe the annoyance the creaking sound of this rocker makes.  Nervewracking, really.  No matter how tempted I am to involuntarily rock once my body relaxes in a rocker, I cannot force myself to do it in this one.  This rocker is not pretty.  No one in the house claims it as his favorite.  But the sounds that come from it come with love.

I sit and read to my littles in this chair, as many have done along the way.  As a child, I loved to twirl this rocker around in circles, knowing that my grandmother was going to get on to me-and good .  Many children have read and been read to in this chair.  My own children try to twirl it, but not so much anymore as it won't give much.

This chair is upholstered in a itchy wool plaid fabric.  Itchiness worsening with age.  So, I happened upon some heavy duty denim and did my own job of recovering it so as to recover the lovely moments with my little blessings as it had given others.

There are chips, scrapes, scratches and the crookity-ness when it even tries to rock.  This is no sight to behold.

But,

The infants rocked in this chair....more than two handfuls, I believe...and entire generation.
The stories read in this chair.....classics repeated over and again.
The fabric of this chair.....handpicked to please the one who loved greatly from its fibers
The arms of this chair wrap my grandmother's love around me gently once again.
The rhythms of this chair rocking soothe like the beating of a mother's heart next to her baby's chest.
The sounds that come from this chair......love well.

More Math Tools

My first post on my simple math tools is here, if you want to see another nifty manipulative I use. 
I frequent my local Dollar Tree for little stuffs for my homeschool.  I try to think outside the box whenever I can.  Here, we use a simple chalkboard that came with some kit or another and some $1 dominoes.  This is what I did today, but you could work up to it if you are working with younger children than mine.
1.  Choose a domino (eyes closed, child or adult.
2. Child counts the dots on it.  (As they get older, they will be able to identify visually more quickly)
3.  Mom writes number on chalkboard-two or three times slowly-child watches.
4. Child traces Mom's writing.
5. Child creates own writing. 

* Same could be done with letter tiles/Scrabble pieces that are lying around or at yard sales, etc..

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Just Another Day at Homeschool

Another reason we love homeschooling....just hanging out together.   We are loving our new (to us) house.  It has been two months and we just love living out in the country.  Up these stairs is our little game room.  All living quarters are on one leve.  Upstairs is optional (my body is soo glad!)..and only for game time...or DATE NIGHT!  That's where we send the kiddos when we call a date night....and we have one coming up this weekend.  Woo Hooo!  We get excited about uninterrupted conversations around here :)

Math Tool

Math has always been one of my least favorite subjects...except for maybe geometry, since quilting is all about geometry...yes! geometry is math and I love it...but "other" math-not so much.  But, with three children already under my belt, I felt that I could easily skip out on "formal" math for K since I kinda know what to expect.  So, here is a peek at one of my new found tools :)

These small magnets are pretty strong and there are 50 or so in a pack. (Yes, they are a choking hazard!!)  I used them with an old baking pan to do various activities on the preschool level.  Sorting, colors, etc.  Now we do counting, using them to make numbers, patterns, etc...the possibilities are endless. AND!  They stay on the fridge so they don't need their own space in the learning room:) That's one of the best parts of all!

Here are some things that come to mind right off:
*Create letter shapes, eventually spell short words with them
*Use them for addition/subtraction problems (ex.:  two green plus two yellow and let them count it up).
*Create shapes
*Sort colors
*Fraction usage (using contrasting colors at first then moving toward all one color would be helpful in determining fractions)
*They could also make their own "star chart" if you use that type of thing for reward/motivational purposes.
*Create number shapes, counting exercises

There are endless possibilities with these little doo-dads! They are one of my favorite inexpensive teaching tools.

Writing Tool

My favorite and most reliable tool for teaching reading in our homeschool is Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.  I have used it with all four of my children.  While each child learns differently, this system has worked for all even if I needed to adapt it somewhat.  The writing sheets that are assigned with each lesson can be printed off from the Donna Young website but my five year-old is easing into the handwriting portion.  So, as an additional lesson,  I began using the Aqua Doodle mat for writing.  Really, the idea just struck me on a whim but has been an excellent tool.  The pens that come with this are wider than the old fashioned fat pencils that we used to use in lower elementary school, so it is easier for little hands to hold and control. The mat is easily drug around from place to place; or in this case, it is taken from sibling to sibling to read and write together.  The obvious is also a huge benefit: no chalk dust, no needing erasers and no unwanted marking on furniture, carpet, etc.    The Aqua Doodle is also very convenient and could be taken along to appointments and such to keep little ones busy.  You could also use it as a narration tool for little ones just learning to narrate so that they can draw a picture of the narration.  I am sure there are many other uses for the Aqua Doodle, including math and counting exercises as well.  It is a wonderful, inexpensive tool to add to your collection of manipulatives for learning.

Family Meeting on Friday - The Five Year Old

Yes, the Family Meeting does include Kip.

In a previous post, I mentioned that we went on a different journey this week with our lessons.  We usually pursue various unit studies together as a family.  This year, we were doing a world geography study.  We were doing well with it but seemed to need a bit of a change-up.  So last week, we went all-out CM.  Lots of independant reading, more tales and literature than usual, even music lessons every day.    It went great!!! 

For her part in the Family Meeting on Friday, the Five Year Old (and Kip) narrated, "The Tale of Peter Rabbit," " The Three Little Kittens, " and "The Three Little Pigs".  I do not know when she had that last one read to her, but she must have gotten an older sibling to indulge her.    She also took her turn playing guitar for us ;)

She wasn't feeling well by mid afternoon, so she participated in one game from our Family Math book and then had to head on to bed.  If she had felt up to it, she could have participated in other Fine Arts related activities; but she couldn't make it and had to have a nap.

I think that most little ones love to be the center of attention and tell their stories.  This was a great opportunity for her to begin learning to narrate aloud and she really enjoyed it!

Lines (Art on Fine Arts Friday)

As I posted before, we tried something totally new recently. We set aside our regular unit study in favor of some more independance through the week and concluding the week with a Family Meeting. During the family meeting each child shared various things, which I will share in another post. This is the art project that we did on Fine Arts Friday (my own element of Family Meeting Friday;) ). I also tried to throw in a little composer study but my CD player is playing dead right now. So, I had to forego that and hope for next week.

This project was on lines. Skills with horizontal, vertical and horizontal lines. They were to divide their sheet into three sections that had to neither be equal nor even in any way. They all pretty much did it that way, though. I guess they get that from me. They then had to use each section to fill however they chose, using horizontal, vertical and horizontal lines. I thought they did a great job. Jenna even asked to do another round, which she did:)

Family Meeting on Friday

Over the last few weeks of doing our regular unit study, my older children have expressed a desire for more independant work.  So this week I threw them for a loop and worked out a whole new setup for our learning.  I put our unit study to the side and assigned them reading on various subjects.  Some of the reading was from free links on the internet, some from books downloaded to Kindle, and some from some resources that we already own.  I did my own spur-of-the-moment -let's-go-CM-alltheway event.  It turned out fairly nicely, I must say:)  And on Friday, we did a family meeting where each child presented several things that they studied, read, or learned during this week.  Narration has always been a side item here, but I think I am going to put it center stage for a while.  I noticed that a few of my students need a little more help and practice...and they will surely get it!

       One of the things my older two children shared was their guitar lesson this week.  They each played several little songs that they learned using the beginning chords that they have been taught.  No, I am not a guitar teacher.  I don't even play it and my children don't take professional lessons.  My sister, father-in-law and whomever else along the way who knows something has showed them a few chords to get started.  Then, Dana asked for a lesson book for Christmas.  And she got it!! It also includes DVD and CD that goes through each lesson.  She is sharing it with her brother and they are helping each other.  They never ask me if they're doing it right...they can just listen to the CD to find that out. 

P.S. I think the fuzzy leopard slippers give this gig just the right touch, don't you?? ;)

 

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Sometimes this is how it gets done. Love this little guy's free spirit.

Morning Find

An overnight few and heavy morning fog left this surprise on a bush in our yard today.

Five on a Row Ornament Exchange Tree

We didnt have am extra tree running around and weren't going to buy one since we just moved out to "the sticks". So we gathered some unique limbs from our woodline and made do:). These ornaments are what we have collected from our exchanges over the last 3 or 4 years. We just love our FIAR family!

Brother and Sister Fun

The Great Wall Project

Using Expedition Earth from Confessions of a Homeschooler. We did not glue it so that they could play with the bricks to build things for Lego men :)

Tie dye projects

We recently participated in an American Girl Co-Op with one of our local homeschool groups--at least the girls did--the boys were in misery.  The girl this time was Julie.  She was born in my era; however, I did not participate in activities such as the discos.  Of course, tie dye was all the rage during many of my growing up years.  I had never actually done it , though.  So, this was fun for us all.  The scarf on the left is Dana's and the one on the right was Jenna's.  They are now wearing them on their heads bandana style and it is soo cute.  Jenna is still just 5 and is not a full time participant in many of the activities but she was adamant  about doing this one.  They also made friendship bracelets, talked about women coming into equality in many arenas, a few more activities and  topped it off with butterfly cupcakes.  It was a fun time!

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Back to School Part 3: The Daily Line-up

Our homeschool is getting geared up for next school year. I am pleased to be fairly ready for next school year. I have a few more resources yet to be received but we are ready. I thought I would lay out what I have each child doing next year so that it is clear what I mean by things.
I mentioned in another post that each child has their own planning page in a weekly lineup that I can write on with dry erase pens where needed. My older children especially like the independence of being able to know what's expected and then just go do it. I'm still enjoying having our family together for some teachings/readings and we will continue with some of those things.


Here's the general plan:

Begin together:
Scripture/Praise/Prayer
Readings/Discussions from the Family Discussions section on harvestministry.com's unit study.
Unit study from Expedition Earth
Prayer wall, animal classification chart, missionary studies


Individually:
Math, Spelling, Grammar, Handwriting, Phonics for littles, reading assignments (mostly from harvestministry.com), memory work, writing assignments
There will be some weeks when there will be timeline entries, but not consistently.
Also, there are few things for the older children(not every single day, just sporadically): geography worksheets, critical thinking exercises, vocabulary worksheets


Together again:
Extras such as games, Spanish, geography experiments, music, etc Each week, I have a meal planned relative to the country we will be studying.


Some of these items only require a few minutes' time, but I list them to keep myself accountable.


I'd like to hear what you have planned for your homeschool next year. Leave me a comment!