This House on Thursday: Homeschooling...
I love homeschooling! Here is one great reason...
9am: cuddling with the boys in our PJs reading about spiders. :)
It's so important for me to be organized with homeschooling. In fact it drives me bonkers when things get disorganized. And if you read my last post, you know that I'm a mental wreck this week while the remodeling takes place! ACK!!!
I like to lesson plan week by week. I do an overall survey of what needs to be learned for the school year by collecting scope and sequence charts from a variety of sources: homeschool curriculum, online teacher resources, public school charts, etc... I gather them all, compare and contrast, then compile my own scope and sequence for the year. I make a master list of things the kiddos need to learn for the year, then I create my lesson plans around this. I prefer the weekly lesson planning because if there is an area that Jeremiah masters quickly, we do not need to keep hounding it for another week or two. I will quiz him periodically over the next couple weeks to make sure it's still mastered but no sense in drilling the same info when we could be moving on, right? Weekly planning also allows me to take more time on a subject he is slow to master. If he needs more work in one area, we can take more time on it and not just move to the next because the book wants us to stay on track with it's time schedule for completion. Or maybe I do all this because I love control. lol
I planned to spend the first week reviewing last year's teachings. Jeremiah remembered everything! So we breezed through review and dove into this year's lessons. See where the perks of weekly planning come in to play? :) Here is some review of last year (he always has to doodle on his work and likes to check off his answers!)...
Joshua just turned three so he still has a ways to go before his formal training begins. In the meantime we're studying a letter a week and reviewing colors and shapes as well as numbers and counting. He's doing really well! This year he's more capable to do some things on his own (like tracing his letters) so I have more uninterrupted time to spend on Jeremiah's lessons. Last year, Joshua wanted to be a part of everything and usually ended up making a mess everywhere. This year is going much more smoothly! :)
(We're still working on proper pencil handling)
He's always so proud of himself! The first week, he kept acting like he didn't know how to write "A" and always wanted me to help. I knew he could do it so I bribed him with an M&M and he wrote it perfectly! Stinker. Later that day, he asked for paper to draw and I heard him cheering and clapping. I turned around to see several A's on his paper and he looked up at me with his proud little face and said "Candy?" Stinker. Rest assured, he now knows I'm on to him and no longer requires bribing.
Here are a few snapshots that tell that story. Joshua finally writing them on his own...
The motivation...
Practice makes perfect!
What he drew that afternoon, unprompted...
He's so cute.
When Daddy comes home for lunch (lunch with the principal is a big deal around here!), I usually have things for him to quiz Jeremiah. Joshua, not to be left out, will sometimes get all excited to draw his letter of the week for Daddy. Its the most wonderful thing for a little boy to be so happy to please his father. These boys love their daddy and they have a great one to love! I am so blessed!
