Easy Like Friday Morning

The truth is it isn't easy, not easy at all.  My love affair with dawn is long ended and clawing my way up to a reasonable consciousness that can not only motivate four children to get ready for the day but to go out for the day is a big deal.  It is even tougher because I'm teaching first hour this session, so I've got to have all my stuff and get there early enough to prep.  Is it worth it?  Completely.  We've all made wonderful friends.  I've had a chance to remember the pleasure of being part of something bigger than myself.  Oh, yeah, and we've learned a bunch of stuff.
Lake Michigan Home Schooling Cooperative is a wonderful organization that my friend, Julie DeBlanc--that's her in the picture--introduced me to.  At that time I was fiercely independent not wanting anyone's influence, but I like Julie and she came from a perspective that didn't encroach on mine at all.  I visited one Friday and I was hooked.  There were about 70 kids, all moving around in an orderly, purposeful manner.  There was a wide variety of topics in the classes and there were offerings for every age group so that I could really participate and know my kids were all OK.
I remembered how much I like teaching and I taught everything from a preschool class on vowels, to Learn to Write the Novel Way, to Medieval Women.
This session I'm teaching Medieval Monasticism to third through sixth graders.  My student are dream students, eager to learn and quick to remember.  I combined the information (gleaned from The Age of the Cloister, The Rule of St. Benedict, The Habit, A Medieval Monk, Life in a Medieval Monastery, The Working Life--A Medieval Monk, among others.) about life as a monk or nun in the medieval period with the lives of famous monks and nuns and a personal call to a life of work and prayer.  I lecture through the topic of the day--becoming a monk, the abbot, the Divine Hours, then we take a look at the saint of the day which I provide them with a short bio and a picture on a laminated card like sports cards.  We take a break for a song or an activity--Calced vs. Discalced Foot Race, etc.  Then we finish by taking on another level of responsibility on our work and prayer card.  I set up a laminated kids chore card with prayer time and simple, basic chores that we are taking on one step at a time.  This is my favorite class so far.  The enthusiasm of medieval monks is inspiring and the variety of its expression is fascinating.

Soft Wear

We ended our third week of homeschooling, and it's time to look at curriculum.  I'm loving it.  I may adjust Jimmy's work, but not until I give him a little longer to adapt to the Kindergarten work we're doing.  Everybody else seems to be on target.
The morning starts with Bible.  For a while I was in such a spin from all that had happened in my life I wasn't really sure what to teach the kids, but I'm settled in now.  The Big Picture Bible Time Line provides a coloring sheet while I read the kids a story out of the International Children's Bible.  We follow this up by learning prayers from the Catholic Prayer Book for Children.
Language A I divide and conquer.  My middles read books and write a summary of their reading in composition books.  Jimmy makes a stab at A Reason for Handwriting, while Peter and I work on his writing using Writing With Ease and First Language Lessons.  They are so simple and direct.  It makes our time together easy and fun.
Science alternates between Physics and Our Universe, a Teaching Company video, and experiments from Science in a Nutshell, Energy and Motion, from Delta Education  I have been shopping for the Science in a Nutshell kits since I was single, kindergarten teacher.  Kurt said this was the year, and he was so right!  When they say everything is in the kit, they mean everything including three great journals for the kids to record their observations in. Science has always been one of our favorites, but this year is a highlight.
Math A everyone is working on their own, except for Jimmy who will finish the sheet if I keep it moving.  He's also enjoying the manipulatives.  Peter is working through Horizons, but we put the girls on Switched On Schoolhouse for math.  They needed the immediate feedback and we needed the instant grading, so far it's a hit.
Lunch is my workout.  It leaves the treadmill free for Kurt in the evening and gives me an endorphin high to get through the afternoon.
History I have lost my Zuzu.  She is reading A History of the American People, which is one of my favorite general histories because the author is British and brings his British sense of humor to the task.  She is making a note at the end of each paragraph and seems to be understanding and enjoying the book.  The rest of us are plugging away at the third installment of Story of the World.  They are each writing a summary according to their ability, and I feel lucky if Jim will sit for the reading.  Thursday we all gather for our Early American History lecture from The Teaching Company.  Professor Linwood Thompson is terrific teaching the course in costume.  We can't wait for Thursday.  Teaching Company videos take some of the pressure off and I don't feel so alone.
Math B is more of Math A except for Jimmy who works on his Horizons Phonics with me.  Some of it he gets, some of it is way over his head, but every week he makes progress.
Language B is the middle's turn to be the center of attention.  We are using Write Source and enjoying the departure from the small publishers we usually purchase.  The curriculum is also used as a back up at Spring Lake Middle School which will hopefully ease their eventual transition.  Peter uses this time to read stories from vintage Open Court and to answer the questions in a comp book.
I end the day grading all the comp books and creating spelling lists.  I give individual feedback and keep track of who has homework, while they do their handwriting, from A Reason for Handwriting
I'm happy with this program.  It's something we can realistically expect to finish and to get good final results.

Thank You, James.

I am trying to read all the Great Books, plus Eastern books of similar intent and wisdom.  It's a daunting task, especially for some one who even her hobbies are other kinds of work.  A few years ago, I had nearly given up and then Jimmy finished potty training and  personal space and time began trickling back to me.  I still can't seem to get more than fifteen minutes in a row to read, but before it was ten.  Every step he takes toward independence sets me free.  I've been looking at the sad side for far too long, but it's time to look at the new hope.  Someday I will have all the time in the world to linger over books, and man, am I looking forward to it.

Hard Wear

This time of year homeschooling is all-consuming.  I kicked the kids out of the basement a few weeks ago and hung curtains to disguise the new things I was doing to freshen the space.  Last year we studied the Medieval period and the Age of Exploration always feels like a let down to me.  Jimmy is joining the crew this year and teaching a child to read is one of the most time-consuming teaching tasks there is.  We needed to be ready and inspired.  That's a lot of work in prepping the classroom and the curriculum.  I thought about going into all of it, but it's too much for one post, so hardware now, software later.  This will give me the opportunity to have tested the software for more than two days anyway.

These are Jimmy's shelves.  He's four, so technically he's in preschool.  I'm doing Kindergarten curriculum because he is so darn ready in every way but motor skills.  Motor skills I can work around, but working on kindergarten work with a 4-year old means remembering his attention span is a bit shorter, so you have to have wiggle time of all kinds and sorts.  Lucky him he's the last of six, and I've learned some tricks.  A nice display of a reasonable amount of toys is always good for this age. They can decide what they want quickly and clean it up quickly--on good days. Coloring pages and educational computer games or apps are great too.  Never count out participating in the fun subjects like science and history.  Jimmy took his turn rolling the balls down the ramps with everybody else.

We are off on our voyage.  Oriental Trading Co. offered this wallpaper for 32 bucks.  It has set the mood.  Every chance they get my kids are grabbing a bean bag and taking off in their imagination.  The bean bags were from Wal-Mart and are great bang for the buck.  This kind of grand gesture lets my kids know that we love them and really care about their school work and making it fun. In this case it didn't cost that much either.

  This is my desk where I work with the kids either individually or in small groups.  It's just right for the job.  The new set of drawers is streamlining classroom communication and grading.  Each child has two drawers in their favorite colors.  The top one is for picking up materials I want them to use.  The bottom one is for turning in the work they've completed.  The last two are for me to store photocopies, worksheets, etc.  On the white desk I also put out four manipulative bins that are mostly geared toward Jim but do attract the interest of the others.

The bins are the kid's lockers.  I have files in them in their favorite colors, one for each subject.  They also have their pencil cases and crayons, etc. in the front.  Wal-mart had great clipboards with a storage space.  It's not the same as my blue thing, but close enough.  Years of watching Mom haul one around has them pre-sold on using theirs.  We watch videos from The Teaching Company, so a video corner is a necessity.  Okay, Okay, I'll admit the blue bin under the white desk houses vintage Nintendo games, but it's only for the weekend, really.  The table we picked up at a school auction and those mid-century modern designs just keep on going.

The rocking chair is the first piece of furniture I bought for myself.  Since I was still single I was a very focused young woman.  The shelves behind the chair have our second set of The Great Books--you can't have just one--and a selection of fun books.  I've since added bins of toys for older kids, and the upper shelves are for art materials.  The three exercise balls are my new way of helping my wigglers stay on track.  They can sit on a ball instead of a chair as long as they keep working.  Hasn't worked yet, but Pete keeps trying.

I love teaching my kids and I'm just about over the hump.  All those years of trying to manage an infant or toddler while trying to meaningfully engage with my older children has left me extra capacity for this second half.  It's going to be a great year, and I haven't even talked curriculum yet.