On the Go, Go, Go

One thing I've always felt to be pretty important when home schooling an only child is to get out and get involved in the community. Maybe some kiddos are generally content to be home-bodies. But this one here in my house is a social butterfly who thrives on interacting with others. But I believe even if you have a natural home-body, its important to get them involved regularly in a group setting. Get online and search out your local homeschool groups and go meet them. In addition there is sports, music, dance, 4H, scouts, volunteering, speech and debate . . .

You certainly do not have to go join everything that you find and have something scheduled every day of the week. Balance is important. I have been guilty of that - even as recently as this past holiday season. If you have a quiet kiddo who prefers to be at home, probably just one or two activities is sufficient. My kiddo wants to do everything. So its easy to find ourselves over-scheduled. This is probably why this blog has been so neglected.

I'll list some things we've been involved in - homeschool park days (an absolute must), sports (soccer, baseball, and now football), Cub Scouts (soon to be Boy Scouts), homeschool PE class, Krav Maga class, volunteering at our local food bank, church activities, music lessons, and other homeschool group activities...

Of course we don't do all these things at once. Many of these are seasonal or only done occasionally. Krav Maga has taken the place of the PE class for now. And I have to say, sometimes you have to go create opportunities. We have never gotten involved in martial arts, as much as he wanted to, because of the other activities already taking up our evenings. But another homeschool mom asked at a couple of different places if they'd be willing to offer a day-time class for homeschoolers, and now there is a Krav Maga class we can fit into our schedule. My husband has started a conversation with another studio closer to where we live that may be willing to do the same in the future. So if you don't find what you are looking for, start talking to people that may be able to open those doors.

I wanted to put this out there because I fear many folks may be hesitant to consider homeschooling an only child for fear they may be isolated and lonely. But that certainly does not have to be the case. Depending on where you live, it may be a bit more challenging to find group activities or even to find the other homeschoolers out there. But from what I'm seeing on the various online communities and in my own local community, home schooling is something more and more people are doing. So I know they are out there even in your smaller communities. And it is so worth it to make the effort to find them.

You can start with online groups and often from there you'll find people local to you that may lead you to some groups in your area. There are pages and groups on Facebook and Yahoo, and the SCM board I have mentioned before, that are good places to start if you haven't found local groups yet. And you may have to start with the traditional "after-school" activities and see if you find some fellow homeschoolers there. But don't let having an only child keep you from home schooling if that is something you feel may be best for them for whatever reason. There are plenty of opportunities out there in every community for socializing. The main thing is to be involved in community, and you're good to go.

Another Year Came and Went

Didn't I just wish everyone "Happy New Year" for 2013? Well, here it is, 2014 and I'm saying it again.

To be perfectly honest, it doesn't appear I really have any readers here, so have to admit that I have slacked off in writing - a whole year, actually. But I've decided to stick with it for a couple of reasons. One, I might help one person out there by pointing our a resource we have used that might be just what they need. And, two, this is a handy place to keep track of what we've used and how well things worked or didn't work.

So, I'm back at it. I'll do a write up on what we're using for Year 5 and then how plans are coming for those good old middle school years. Its hard to believe middle school is just on the horizon. These guys do grow up fast, don't they?

Happy New Year!

Whoa, it seems like I should have whip lash as the time is flying by so quickly. I cannot believe we are now halfway through Year 4. Happy New Year everyone!

After taking two weeks off for the holidays, we've started back to the routine this week. During the break I did much thinking about how the first half of the year has gone. Overall the kiddo is doing very well and I felt only a couple of changes were needed. We're nearly finished with the second grade readers, and I have a 3rd grade reader ready to go. That is fantastic considering it was the end of Year 3 before reading finally clicked for him. Another area that is moving right along, more quickly than I expected, is math. I had expected to spend the entire year on Professor B Book One, and we are nearly finished with it and I have Book Two ready to start in just a few weeks. Wow! I am so glad I found Professor B! He can't wait to start multiplication. How cool is that?

We are wrapping up our nutrition study this week with a viewing of Food, Inc. While the kiddo was only mildly interested in the subject, I think he has a better understanding of why Mom makes the choices she does regarding what we eat. He is very excited to begin chemistry next week. History has also been an enjoyable endeavor, as long as I don't try to tackle too many books on a subject (so many books, so little time!). TruthQuest History has been a great fit for us. We are looking forward to tackling some Texas history and the Civil War this semester.

So, what's not working? Spelling and Spanish. While Queen's Spelling Copywork was something that he could do independently, it didn't seem to do much for him actually remembering how to spell words he had studied. On the SCM board someone asked about Spelling Mechanics, which got me seriously looking at switching our spelling curriculum. There was much to like about Spelling Mechanics and I almost ordered it. But I decided to check out Cathy Duffy's reviews and look over some other programs. I did not like that SM had exercises requiring students to identify correctly spelled words among groups of misspelled words. I thought that may further confuse the kiddo. In looking around, I decided to try SpellWell. It appeared to have some of the aspects that I liked from SM, and hopefully still be something he can do independently. In the meantime, he is using an iPad app, while we wait for the SpellWell books to arrive.

We've been playing around with Spanish since Kindergarten, and the kiddo is just not interested in learning to speak it. We've talked about learning sign language for a while, and he's very interested in that. So, I decided to take a break from the Spanish and dive into ASL. I am not giving up on Spanish and am still hopeful that he will realize the importance of learning it and have more motivation down the road. But for now, we'll work on a language he wants to learn. Since I am hard of hearing and its only going to get worse, I figure we'd better start learning to sign sooner rather than later. If sign language is something you think your kids would be interested in, check out ASLU - a great free course to get you started.

I am very pleased with how this year is going so far, and we're both looking forward to our studies for this second half. How are things going for the rest of you? I hope that your efforts are proving successful more often than not. I would love to hear what is working for your kiddos and what you are changing as we enter the new year.

First Day of School

Well, I took an unintentional break from blogging, it seems. Summer got pretty busy there. I did have a couple of posts come and go from my mind, but couldn't seem to get enough time to sit down and hash them out. I'll need to work on a routine for that. But here we are. Its the last week of August and we started back at the school work again today.

I wish I could say it went great. But, alas, I must speak the truth. Not that it was terrible. But the kiddo certainly did not have the attitude I would prefer toward the work. It started right off the bat with math. I really think he's going to enjoy the new approach when we get further along. But he was, shall we say, less than thrilled with the very basic place we started with today. Unfortunately, he also showed me, as he had to count for some of the facts, that is exactly where we needed to start. If we could just get past these facts I know he'll love math. He already does, actually. His complaint was that he wanted to do some harder problems that he saw further in the book. But because those facts are still not solid, those wind up not being as fun as he wants them to be - and we melt.

What we need is some focused attention. That is the character habit we want to work on this year. Last year we worked on diligence/work ethic in both schoolwork and chores. He's come a long way, but that lack of attention to work he really doesn't want to do gets in his way. It really goes hand in hand, don't you think? While he's come to realize that he just has to do it, and will. That lack of attention really affects the end results of the job. Either he can't remember later what was read or studied, or he'll miss  details of a chore, leaving a job poorly done. I believe this is why he still lacks rapid response or recall when it comes to those basic facts.

So, we persevere. Math facts and phonics rules it is - again. But, tomorrow is another day. And we get to do history and science tomorrow. We both enjoy those. And I must say he did fabulous on reading today. He actually told me that the Second grade reader we're using was too easy. Really??? Yes!

The schedule:
M-F at breakfast: Bible study and hymn
        walk, ride, exercise
M-Th about 9:30: Professor B Math, Learning to Spell through Copywork, Reading
        10 minute break
        Spanish
Mondays: geography, grammar, poetry
        Lunch, artist/picture study
        Piano
Tuesdays: history, science, typing
        Lunch
        Homeschool PE class
Wednesdays: history, grammar, composer study
        Lunch
        Park Day!
Thursdays: history, science, typing
        Lunch, personal development (Prudence and the Millers chapter)
        Piano
Fridays: math review as needed, oral spelling exam
        Project day, rotating Webelos projects, field trips, drawing, nature study, Spanish practice with a friend
        Grocery Cart Math when he accompanies me to the grocery store (Friday or Saturday)
        Piano

Piano!

I completely forgot about piano! This past year the kiddo has worked slowly through most of the first DVD from Simply Music. That was an enjoyable introduction to playing the piano without having to learn to read music. I believe it was a good way to go since reading was coming slower for him. We currently have it loaned out to another family, but will probably continue into the second DVD at a later time. It is an enjoyable way to get playing.

But, now that the idea of reading is starting to click, I'd like him to begin learning more about music. Unfortunately, we are not able to do private piano lessons or even buy another home-learning program. But, once again, someone on the SCM forum (I find many things that way) some time ago had recommended a website with free online piano lessons. After browsing around a bit, as far as free programs go, this one looks really good. So, we'll give it a try. It should be easy enough to remember: FreePianoLessons4Kids.com. I will let you know how it goes for us. If you've used it with your family, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Plans for Year 4 (AKA 4th grade)

All materials have been acquired and the guys went on a 3-day campout for Cub Scouts. So I've spent the last three days going over said materials and figuring out how we're going to use them. Aside from listing books we'll source from the library for history and science, planning is done! whew!

• Bible: we'll continue the Proverbs study at breakfast, and move to An Honorable Boy, studying the lives of various men in the Bible, both from Queen Homeschool.
• Math: thanks to the very helpful folks on the SCM forum, I think we've found something that will get us over the mental hurdle we've been struggling with - Proffessor B Math. I had initially thought we'd go with the computer-based version of the program. However, due to our current financial status, I decided to go with the book, used from Amazon. The book title is Mathematics Power Learning For Children.
• Spelling/Copywork: Queen Homeschool's Spelling Through Copywork, Book A. Later in the year I aim to start a book of mottoes for him to record things that he finds particularly interesting, inspiring, encouraging, etc.
• Reading: we'll continue reading practice with the CLE 2nd grade readers, Helping Hands and Happy Hearts. I acquired both of these by putting them on my wish-list at Paperback Swap. In addition, he'll read some of the books for history and science. He will also read something of his choosing in the afternoons for 20-30 minutes. 
• Spanish: I picked up Speedy Spanish Book 1 at a used curriculum sale, and purchased the CDs online. I plan to see if a friend of ours that is a native speaker will help us with practice speaking and may start a Spanish club later in the year, or next year.
• Geography: our history program will naturally include some geography. In addition, we'll read a chapter from Tree in the Trail by Holling C. Holling each Monday.
• Grammar: Monday and Wednesday, continue English for the Thoughtful Child orally, gradually adding in more writing (got this from Paperback Swap, too).
• History: Tuesday-Thursday TruthQuest American History for Young Students II (1800-1865), with the Map/Timeline/Report package. This will take us back to using living books as we had enjoyed before with SCM, overlapping just a bit with where we left off this past year.
• Science: Tuesday and Thursday, the first half of the year we'll study Real Food Nutrition for Kids, using Simple Kitchen Experiments, by Muriel Mandell, and Nourishing Traditions, by Sally Fallon, for experiments and cooking in the kitchen. We will also view videos from westonaprice.org and YouTube, as well as a documentary or two on Netflix. At the end we plan to visit a farmer's market and a farm or two.  For the second half of the year we'll work through Properties of Matter from the God's Design for Chemistry series. I found that at the used curriculum sale, too.
• Literature: reading books, of course. :) After Black Beauty, here's what's on my list: Understood Betsy, Heidi, The Wizard of Oz, Swiss Family Robinson, The Incredible Journey, Bambi, A Life in the Woods . . . We will also continue through Poems Every Child Should Know by Mary E. Burt.
• Character Study: reading a chapter of Prudence and the Millers each Thursday at lunch.
• Picture/Composer/Nature studies: I am determined NOT to let these fall through the cracks this year. Picture study is scheduled at lunch each Monday. Composer study is scheduled each Wednesday before heading to the park. If we have a CD we can even listen in the car. Nature study is part of our Friday rotations to happen one Friday each month. For picture study I'm going to try using an old book my mom found (1925) from Kansas and Nebraska public schools. I hope to find better images of the pictures as we go along. I'm going to see what we find in the library for composers. And for nature study, I plan to simply walk in our neighborhood or park and we'll each draw one thing in our notebooks. Simple enough. 
• Park and PE: We hope to re-join our local homeschool PE program, which will be Tuesday afternoons. And, of course we'll continue to attend park days each Wednesday with our local homeschool group.

I mentioned Friday rotations. Last year we tried a 4-day schedule with Fridays as game days. But Friday's wound up turning into Saturdays with dad being home. So this year, we'll continue the 4-day schedule, as that worked well. But Fridays will be project days instead, rotating field trips, Webelos projects, nature study and Spanish conversation practice. So there you have it, our plan for year 4. Now I can't wait for the end of August so we can get started.

Conflict Resolution

In a family with multiple children, the children naturally have frequent opportunities to learn how to handle the inevitable conflicts of life. And this with their siblings, who can't stop being their siblings. But how does the only child learn this valuable skill? When conflicts arise with his friends, of course. We are getting to an age now where I feel this is delicate ground, though. I'd hate to see the kiddo kill a good friendship by developing bad habits in conflict.

Recently we had this issue twice in the same week, with different sets of friends. The first incident involved hurt feelings, and feeling slighted. The second incident had him pouting over the friends not playing how he wanted. Well, we certainly don't want that to become a habit, do we? Its difficult enough, I think, handling tattling and squabbles between your own children. But I find it far less comfortable to handle these situations between my child and someone else's child.

I am currently looking for something to read, preferably with him, to walk us through handling a conflict with grace. Our church uses The Young Peacemaker materials for the 4th-6th grade Sunday school. But, they just did it this past year, so it will be a couple of seasons before they get around to it again. I'm hoping to find something else so that will not be old hat when his class does it. I'm looking at a couple of books. One is The Peacemaker Student Edition. Technically that is for teens. But I think if we read it together, it could get the message across. And I think I would prefer that over the cartoons of the younger version. The other book I saw recommended on a forum. It has a really lame title, but the content looks pretty good: Say Goodbye to Whining, Complaining and Bad Attitudes . . . in You and Your Kids. Sounds like it will cover many areas beyond just conflict with his friends.

We are currently studying Proverbs, and that certainly covers many of the character issues like humility and pride that are involved in relationships. We can also study other passages like Matthew 18. So I think we'll start there, before we pick up any more books. But the above do look promising. I'll let you know what we come up with down the road. But I'd sure welcome any recommendations.