1. Music, Its Powerful Influence
This past week, I published some resources for an individual or family discerning what music is good for their souls: "Music, Its Powerful Influence."2. Kindergarten with Joseph
I feel positive overall about Joseph's Kindergarten year with more than half of it behind us. Nothing in homeschooling is perfect and sometimes his schooling gets skipped because higher priority matters arise. That said, it is working well that I assign Mary (10) a daily 30 minutes teaching Joseph some assigned tasks, Margaret (7) teaches him on an ad-hoc basis, John (12) coaches him daily for piano practice, and then I teach him for 45 minutes about four days per week.Joseph's daily routine:
- Starts daily prayer and Baltimore Catechism with all of us
- Play break
- Mary (10) teaches him a variety of Bible, Penmanship, Science read-aloud, Music Theory
- Play break
- He joins us all for group History lesson.
- I teach him Math, Catechism (specifically for his age), and Phonics, I hope all three daily. If I'm scrambling and too busy, I assign Margaret (7) to teach him math. (Margaret has her own individual history assignments to read and I often assign her to read them aloud to Joseph, so I get more benefit for all the students involved.)
- Play break
- Piano practice with John (12) coaching him
- Lunch
- Quiet rest time
And that's how I do it! I couldn't provide him a good Kindergarten year anywhere near this good without his older siblings helping daily. I just love sharing this Kindergarten experience with my children and would never want to miss it by sending them to school!
I'm switching back to RightStart Math. For three children, I've taught RightStart in Kindergarten and first grade before launching the children in third grade into Teaching Textbooks (self-teaches, self-corrects, self-grades). This year, I was feeling overwhelmed so tried a workbook-based math program that uses no manipulatives for Joseph. After half a year, I can attest that he is not gaining numerical literacy anywhere near as well as his siblings did under RightStart, so I'm going back to it, even though it is teacher-intensive and involves pulling out all the math manipulatives each day!
 |
| Three boys using math manipulatives |
. . . and for then setting up a quiet battle with your brother while you listen to your catechism lesson!
 |
| Counting bears battle |
I continue to recommend "Chats with God's Little Ones" (Our Lady of Victory Press) for a Kindergarten catechism (even though it is advertised as for the First Holy Communion year). I love it!
Learning phonics is better while wearing a homemade beard. It just is.
3. Mary
Mary patiently let her adoring little brother Thomas sit on her lap quietly during her online composition class just because he needed a snuggle: homeschooling at its finest!
This week, she made up little feedback tickets for Joseph to rate her after she teaches him each day!
John is going to do a Catholic Quiz Bowl with friends this year, and sister Mary is quizzing him with our traddie trivia cards. Such fun!
4. Margaret
Last week, the kids were taught pointillism by their art teacher. I've introduced some assigned art history into Margaret's weekly lesson plan and she is one happy girl.
Like John, Margaret has been bitten by the weaving bug!
5. David
I'm a couple of weeks into the process of dropping his morning nap. It's helping his sleep tremendously, but sometimes he falls asleep at the start of lunchtime!
6. What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
The kids sure have been enjoying the spring zephyrs and temperatures in the 70s this week! Evening tennis class was so much more fun in these temperatures than in the temps even down into the 30s sometimes. I keep reminding them that it is still early February and we should anticipate cold weather returning.
 |
| Three-year-old on his bicycle |
7. Current Reading
I've got some new books I'm in the midst of reading, including a book I've read several times before (not pictured): "Wife, Mother, and Mystic: Blessed Anna-Maria Taigi."
For more 7 Quick Takes Friday, check out This Ain't the Lyceum.
I have been reading your blog for the better part of a year now and am so impressed at how you manage your household and with the content you pass on to your children. My oldest is in preschool and in Kindergarten next year. Reading this post about your Kindergartner made me wonder if you ever do consults? I’m sure you don’t have a lot of extra time, but I just would love someone like you to look at what I’m doing and let me know how I could improve.
ReplyDeleteI actually was just looking at math programs this week. I use the Mother of Divine Grace curriculum but I keep thinking maybe I should do a math program like Right Start or Saxon??? All of the options out there are a blessing but I quickly get overwhelmed.
Thank you for being an inspiration!
How nice to hear from you, Anonymous! I've enjoyed what I've seen from MODG and, in fact, I make my own curriculum using Laura Berquist's book, "Design Your Own Classical Curriculum." If you want to email you, I might be able to take a look-see at your planned curriculum. :)
DeleteOh thank you! How do I email you? I’m sure it’s on the blog but I can’t seem to find it!
DeleteAnd sorry for being “anonymous”, I just didn’t know how to comment without my email address being published! Though in my 30’s, I can be a dinosaur with technology.
In Christ, Rachel
Rachel, I'm a technological dinosaur also. My email is katherinetlauer at gmail dot com.
DeleteHi Katherine! I'm really enjoying your blog! I love connecting with other similar Catholic families. I've commented once before; my name is Jenny and my husband John and I, along with our 10 children, live in Maryland. I just received the Wife, Mother and Mystic book in the mail today. I can't wait to read it! I learned about it when listening to a talk on reginaprophetarum.org last weekend.
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to say hello and to thank you for your blog! My oldest child is 15 and my youngest is 4 months. Your posts inspire me!
Take care and God Bless! --Jenny
Dear Jenny, It humbles me that I could inspire a mother of ten in any way! Thank you for your kind words. I think you will really appreciate reading about Bl. Anna Maria Taigi. She is as close to a homeschooling mother saint that I know of and I am so impressed by the choices that made her a saint that are well within the grasp of our modest lives inside the home.
DeleteDear Katherine, You most definitely inspire me! I have many little children; 7 of our children are aged 9 and younger which can make homeschooling very trying. I find myself getting stressed easily! I get many ideas and tips from you! Over the years, I've begun to rely more on TV (Not cable--we got rid of that long ago) to keep the little ones occupied. You are inspiring me to bring out the puzzles and games more often, just to give one example.
DeleteIn this crazy world we live in, it is a comfort and a joy to have a peek into the lives of other families striving for holiness!
You are doing a fantastic job! The way you juggle extracurricular activities with a rich academic curriculum along with (most importantly) the teaching and living out of the faith is awesome!
Jenny
I have a 9 year old daughter and I am wanting to introduce a typing curriculum. Do you have any recommendations? Thank you, Natalie
ReplyDeleteNatalie, I have yet to find a typing program I love. For some years, I have used Keyboarding Without Tears. I sign up for online access at the start of each school year and it is something like $10 per student. It has worked very well for two children so far, but not for a third child. Is the program not working for that one child, or is that child going to struggle mightily to type no matter what? I have heard of a program called Typsey that is recommended and I plan to try it this summer. I just wish there was an old-fashioned teacher to hire, which is how I learned. I was taught typing in seventh grade by an elderly woman with a heavy accent from a European country. She put on blaringly loud classical music with a strong beat and would walk about the classroom shouting out letters to the beat, and we all typed along on our manual typewriters. It was an excellent education and by the end of high-school, I typed 100+ wpm with almost 100% accuracy, which landed me many jobs.
Delete