Adventures in Homeschooling the Craven Crew!
Thursday, August 14, 2014
So yeah.... 2 years later.
I'm hoping this time around will be a little bit better. :)
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Week Six.... A few days late
Thursday we attended a fundraiser for a local homeschool Co Op. (Not ours). The kids watched the Lego movie on Jericho and loved it. Then the kids split up in different rooms for Lego building competitions.
Each team received a story from the Bible to build during a set amount of time.
The boys were given the Bible story on Paul & Silas in prison during the Earthquake to build.
The kids had a blast and it was something a little different after a stressful week.
Until next week- Keep Calm & Homeschool On
Val
Friday, September 14, 2012
Week Five... Lots of changes!
Then the plates started shifting, moving the plates around.
Finally they took Lego boats all around the room exploring the different continents and islands to see how some had the same vegetation and animals (same colored blocks) and how they might have once connected. I would like to add that this all still fits inside of our Biblical Worldview. The science book they are using is really fun! It is called Christian Kids Explore Earth & Space. Everything is backed up with scripture and laid out easy for parents to teach.
(Rhys moved his island far away from everyone else. )
P.E. this week involved learning about Hurdles. We constructed a hurdle out of PVC pipe and a pool noodle.
The kids LOVED the hurdles. After Co Op, they completely dismantled them and started creating other things with the PVC pipe and connectors. Ninja weapons, Grenade Launchers, Guns... I lost count of all the things that were made up. It ended up being the best $10.00 I've ever spent.
Early in the week we had a break through with Rhys' writing. Every day has been a fight to get 4 sentences out of him. Oh the moaning and groaning and flopping around on the couch like he is mortally wounded.... Painful I tell ya.. I tried changing the writing prompts to things that he loves ( What is your favorite NINJAGO episode) but it didn't help. We sat down and learned how to brainstorm key words and use them in writing. He went from taking an hour to write 4 sentences to less than 10 minutes. Afterwards he looked at me and said "Mom, that was really easy!". I walked around for days so proud! I was this Homeschool Ninja Mom. Yeah, thats me. I'm awesome. My 7 year old LOVES writing.. This lasted until today. Today we were back to tears and the "ButMomIcan'tdoit!!".
Finally to show just how tired we are this week... Here's SamTastic during his nap today. Come on, I know you wish you looked that cool during naps. This kid has style I tell ya'! ;)
Friday, September 7, 2012
Week Four - The best laid plans? and Disaster!!
See, sometimes they like each other.
The hiking trail
The teenager
After such a phenomenal start to the week, I decided to take it easy on Tuesday. I'm debating switching up some curriculum and just wanted a nice easy day. The plan was for the day to end with us watching our favorite cheerleader at her football game. Instead it ended with my mother in law rushing us to an urgent care clinic so that I could have my right hand stitched up. Cooking dinner at my house is dangerous... I promise I won't post pictures.
His new homeschool shirt
Jump!
Thursday and Friday was very minimal as far as book work goes. I was exhausted, kids were cranky and we just needed a break. So we worked on practical things like how to wash dishes, sweep, be nicer to our siblings.. you know, all the things that keeps a house running smoothly.
Next week we will have some catch up but nothing too bad. I'm going to try out some new ways of getting our work done and see if it makes things easier.
**Val**
Friday, August 31, 2012
Week Three
This was a challenging and rewarding week. We've settled into math nicely. I was worried after the first day with one child but we are on track. Both boys seem to enjoy math and will do it gladly.
It's the writing practice that is K.I.L.L.I.N.G. me! This is my big fight everyday with both boys. Today I actually had both of them rolling around on the couch like they were in pain clutching their notebooks. It took one child 40 minutes to write 7 sentences and the other spent a FULL hour writing 4 (yes, four) sentences. Thankfully, it was Friday and I was ready for it. I didn't become frustrated or angry, just reminded them of the writing prompt, gave them some suggestions which they didn't hear because of the writhing in pain and let them waste the morning. We still have a set amount of work to do. When they drag their feet, it cuts into play time. I don't think they have fully learned that lesson yet but we are getting there.
In happier news, we had many fun things happen this week as well. We had a field trip that I blogged about here. They also had a blast at Co Op as always.
Monday, August 27, 2012
TCBY Field Trip!
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Week Two Review
Science CO Op was tons of fun again this week. It was my turn to teach grades K-2nd and we reviewed the continents and oceans. After Science, the boys did their weekly PE class. For the rest of the calendar year they are learning different sports that are featured in the Olympics. This week was gymnastics. They had many different stations all across the room to try out different activities. Watching all the kids tumbling, rolling and balancing across the room was quite funny!
We also attended a "Not Back To School" party with other local homeschoolers. A local business called Jump Zone gave us a great deal on admission and we had 102 children running and jumping on the indoor bounce houses. The boys LOVED this and it gave them a chance to meet other homeschool kids in our area.
Things the kids learned this week: Continents, Oceans, Latitude, Longitude, Prepositional Phrases, Review of last years math, Started different world religions (Hinduism, Animism & Buddhism)
Things Mommy learned this week: One child can not work at all when there are sounds & distractions around him. Solution? Headphones and my iPod while he does his math test. Also, we may have to scrap our LA curriculm and go in a different direction. One child is NO WHERE near as far along as I thought he was. We will be backing up and relearning what he should have learned last year in public school but obviously didn't. Heavy Sigh....