School Ponderings

Reading "The Lord of the Rings" to my sweet blessings after breakfast: We read "The Hobbit" and that was excellent--the book having nothing scary in it, unlike the terrifying and sometimes gruesome movie--but if LOTR gets too scary or mature at some point, John knows we're going to halt in our tracks.

What it often looks like to school three at these young ages: John finishing his math, Mary doing a dot-to-dot, and Margaret with a coloring book from the Dollar Store

How do you homeschooling mothers present the work to your children?

John's assignments laid out for the day

We were having a rough patch with behavior during school time, but it has been going very smoothly since I made a change which I think might have contributed: Previously, I had the list of that day's assignments and I told John one-by-one what he was doing next. Now I lay out the books and, for the most part, let him choose the order. I read our Bible story first because all the children gather around for that. But afterward, I ask John, "You see how many books are left on the shelf: which one do you want to do next?" At this age, he still needs my involvement in every assignment, but I hear that he will be able to do more assignments independently as his reading ability increases rapidly.

I am planning next year's curriculum for John and Mary and would like to use some kind of work box system. I have seen work box systems done with literal plastic bins (boxes), or with file folders, index cards, lists on white boards, or lists in school planning books. I need something that can work with multiple children: for next year, two children but maybe three too as Margaret will be 3-1/2 by next school year's end. How do you present the day's assignments to your child? What has worked and not worked? I'd very much like to hear from experienced mother-teachers.

My current draft routine for next year is below. It has worked very well this year for the children to have my entire morning basically devoted to their schooling and giving them attention (with me stepping away to wash dishes, switch laundry, etc.), then spend their afternoons in Quiet Time/Nap and then having outdoor play.

8:30        Circle Time (30 mins.)

                    Prayer  

                    Pledge of Allegiance

                    Warm-Up Game

                    Bible story read-aloud

               Individual School Time (1 hr.)

10:00     Snack (30 mins.)

                   Read saint of the day

               Circle Time #2 (30 mins.)

                    Song

                    Leading Little Ones to Mary

                    Nature read-aloud

              Individual School Time (30 mins.)

11:30     Lunch (30 mins.)

12:00     Quiet Time: Once weekly, use Quiet Time for John to do science experiments using TOPS Science.

John reading the final story

This one-minute video shows how far John's reading has come in a few months!

Grinning ear-to-ear because he finished All About Reading Level 1 today: Can't sing praises for this program highly enough!

A question about handwriting . . . 

Daily dictation from All About Spelling 1

I've heard from numerous experienced homeschooling mothers that teaching handwriting is important. I've heard that from mothers who have always done it, and I've heard it from mothers who failed to do it and realized a few years into schooling that their children had atrocious handwriting. So, I've been diligently having John write a page of handwriting from a Zaner-Bloser handwriting book each day. But sometimes I wonder if John is having to spend too much time on fine motor skills, which are still pretty tiring for the hands when one is six years old. In one school morning, often he will write spelling words from dictation (as above) and write out some math problems. Are three sessions with pencil and paper too much for a Kindergartener?


Bonus video of Margaret jumping on the trampoline and counting to five repeatedly: She remembers that sometimes I start our school day by having the children jump as many times as possible on the trampoline. Or I'll have John do five jumping jacks in between every page of his reading book. These techniques have really helped us change disruptive wiggle behavior into focused exercise and hearty laughter!