Prepare for a long rambling post!

I have been spending some time over the past week, amid hurricane preparation, cleaning the school room, reorganizing and utilizing our new cabinets and drawers.  Pictures soon, still charging camera batteries.  It has gotten me thinking about how I teach, and what I believe about teaching and learning.  I subscribe to many theories, though none fully.  I love the idea of Montessori teaching, letting students drive part of curriculum with their interests.  Though I believe the teacher has to have an important agenda as well as adapting to a child's needs and interests.  Otherwise they would simply avoid all the subjects they show no natural inclination for.  I think what I truly believe is in immersion learning.  When learning a new language the easiest way to learn is to go to that country and learn from them by being fully immersed in the culture, language, food and customs of that country.  This is also the best way to hold on to what you have learned.  I apply this idea to our lives.  We are living a homeschooling immersion.  There are constant opportunities to learn, and we have created an environment where learning is a priority, and wherever we are we are constantly asking and answering questions.  In addition my friends and family work with the kids too.  While staying with my cousin and my friend, his new wife,CJ asked my cousin what light is made of.  He explained to him about photons and electrons.  How awesome is that?  CJ keeps explaining to me that light is made of photons.  He knows that things are made of cells and atoms.  He asked if there are photons in our cells, and I said I don't think so because we don't create light.  So he made a hypothesis that glow worms and fireflies must have photons in their cells.  Now I have some research to do.  But this is a common occurrence.  No one dumbs down answers or tells the kids to stop asking questions.  Everyone in their lives tries to answer their questions and shows them how to find answers.  Immersion in learning.  I think CJ is reading so well because we have words, letters and books everywhere.  We read around our world.  We were in the car on the way to the library and passes a billboard.  It says "If you see something, say something."  It has the word something sitting on a bus seat.  As we passed CJ told me that the sign says something three times!  Indeed it did.  We then figured out the rest of the words while driving the rest of the way to the library.  We talk about sounds letters make in the car, as well as counting things we see outside.  We always ask the kids, how many toys is that altogether, or how many eggs do we have left if we use two for this recipe?  They are cranky if we don't keep their minds busy.  We take every opportunity to teach and learn.  Any new parents who have asked me about homeschooling, I have told the same thing, make your home a school, a lab, a library.  Make every place a place to learn.  Make it easy on yourself by setting up an environment conducive to learning and teaching.  Mostly this happens in how you interact with your kids.  It is a mindset and way of life, not just a place to go to do lessons.  We will stop what we are doing outside if we find some new insect or plant, and make observations, and I will tell them what I know about it, or go inside and get a book that can help us gain more information.  Sometimes I even bring out the laptop and google what they want to know.  The important thing is to make sure that their thirst for knowledge is quenched, but also that they learn that sometimes other things must take priority.  If I am in the middle of cleaning the bathroom, or making our dinner, they must hold on to their questions, and they will be answered when my task is complete.  When I am not doing anything important we stop and do it right them.  You need to find a balance between adult driven and child driven.  It should be child centered, not child driven.  Also set up routines and procedures that help learning and teaching go more smoothly.  Figure out what you want to accomplish, then make a plan on how to accomplish it.  Then break it down into small repeatable steps.  Let them learn a step completely before adding another.  I think this is where many people falter.  Children need structure, and support, but they also need independence, so you need to make sure activities are age appropriate and not too frustrating.  Give them a challenge sure, but give them the tools to meet it, and the constant support and encouragement they crave.  In addition, worry less about boosting their self esteem falsely.  Their esteem will grow with accomplishment and that is the way it is meant to be.  They shouldn't feel good about accomplishing nothing.  Nor should we as adults.  Not everyone should make the team.  Children should be encouraged to find out their strengths and relish them.  They should also be encouraged to find their weaknesses and to understand that they may not be great at everything, but the important thing is to try their best at whatever they do.  It is ok if they stink at kickball, maybe they will excel at tennis.  It is ok if they have trouble with multiplication, maybe they excel at writing poetry.  Find their strengths and exploit them, find their weaknesses and make them aware of them.  Give them a reason to work harder and to feel real accomplishment when they improve through hard work.  This long ramble to be continued, since the kiddos are awake and ready to start their day!  Thanks for listening. . .

We have been spending a lot of time deep cleaning the house, and putting new cabinets in the school room.  We have been organizing and getting rid of things in hopes of making the house less cluttered and easier to maintain.  Things are already starting to be easier on me and the kids.  I have piles of lessons and activities ready to grab and go.  Yesterday we started on identifying coins.  The kids easily identify pennies and quarters, still working on nickels and dimes.  We are using actual coins, pictures of coins and play coins.  We are also working on reading an analog clock.  They have totally mastered the digital clock.  Every day we spend time reading aloud, reading alone, dancing together, counting by ones, twos, fives and tens.  We talk about the date and day of the week every day.  We are going to the library once or twice a week, and watching less tv, reading more books.  We have reread every High Five magazine the kids ever got, and working together in the kitchen.  I am making the kids be more responsible for keeping themselves and their rooms clean, as well as loading their dishes in the dishwasher.  Spending a lot of time just working on daily routine, and making sure we all remember to brush our hair, brush our teeth and make our beds.  Each day we are getting more efficient and more able to spend time playing together, reading together and enjoying each other's company.  It makes life much more enjoyable.  Pictures of the garden and new schoolroom to come. 

Summer Review

The weather has been in the ninety degree range for awhile now, and I finally had to break down and have Rich put in the air conditioners, because we couldn't even focus long enough to do any sort of learning in a room that was 93 degrees hot.  Since the a/c's went in and the garden has started to flounder, thanks to an obnoxious and persistent woodchuck who loves leafy and cruciferous veggies, we have finally had some time to just sit together and do some real lessons.  CJ is reading all the time, though I am not pushing him when he has trouble, or when he really doesn't want to do it.  We want him to love to read of course.  We have been reviewing all the letter sounds, and the colors, and the shapes.  We have officially moved to identifying 3D shapes.  We have been spending time at the library and practicing counting.  Both kids can count to 100, by ones, twos, fives and tens.  They can consistently read a digital clock, since we practice that every day.  They have memorized the days of the week and months of the year.  They now know their birthdays, address, phone number and CJ knows Memere and Pepere's phone number.  One of the other things I have been focusing on is reading stories with all different cultures represented, looking at pictures of different ethnicities, and emphasizing that all people are the same in some ways even if they don't look the same.  I think this is something that they know instinctually, but I really feel it is important to reinforce it.  I have been spending their library class time looking through some homeschooling and lesson books at the library, finding some great preschool/kindergarten plans having to do with familiar nursery rhymes, and some great science combined with art projects that are age appropriate.  When I actually implement them I will post and add pictures.  I have simply been too tired and hot and cranky to want to post anything of substance, and I have been mostly disorganized and inconsistent this summer.  I am on the upswing though, getting back to normal, even though Rich now has a new work schedule.  He is home Tuesday, Wednesday Saturday, and works 10 hour days the rest of the week.  Hard to get used to, and the kids have been sleeping on a strange schedule.  My goal for August is to regulate the schedule and sleep patterns, as well as get back on my organizational track.  Also time to update learning centers and spend some time just playing word games and math games with the kiddos.  We all need it.  Their behavior is starting to show my lack of time and energy to spend with them.  So next month the goal is to make a new schedule that works for us and stick to it.  And read more together and play more together.  It will be a great month!

Two Parents, Two Kids, a Cat and a Chinchilla!

We are now the proud owners of an absolutely adorable chinchilla.  You have got to love Craig's List!  Free for the taking a few miles from our house was an animal that would cost us hundreds of dollars to buy, plus he came with all of his gear, cage, food and the like.  So we took a book about chinchillas out at the library the day we found out we would be getting him, and we learned all about these cool animals.  He is four years old, and the previous owners never named him.  We are thinking it is a him anyway, they didn't know the gender!  The kids named him Auryn Shelby Hansen, ASH for short.

And here he is!  He is so so soft!  We are learning so much about responsibility for pets with him.  He is far more maintenance than Logan, our cat.

And here she is, checking out Ash.  She hasn't gone after him a bit, and when Ash was rolling around in his ball while we cleaned the cage, they ended up napping together with Logan wrapped around Ash and his ball.

He is quite the interesting addition to our family, and the kids adore him.  Logan seems to like having another animal in the house.  We just can't believe our luck.  Even after this animal suffered through neglect he seems very happy and well adjusted.  We take him out and groom his fur nightly (since he is nocturnal) and let him exercise in his ball through the house.  Each night he gets a raisin for a treat, and he seems to love being around the kids.  He lets them pet his head and he even tries petting himself on their hands.  He isn't skittish, but is quite energetic.  We cleaned his cage really well, which I am sure hadn't been done in months at least.  We got him a wheel large enough for him, and a few other little things.  Dust for his dust bath, and a pumice stone for him to chew on and stand on.  He is so much fun to watch and we are all enjoying this new learning experience.

 Don't those faces just say it all?

Month of Crazy

So between gardening, heat, thunderstorms, school finishing for Mason's mom, and all the other million things, this month sort of got away from me.  We have been doing so much learning, but without much rhyme reason or organization.  Today we spent some time on patterns.  First with breakfast, we ate our fruit salad in a pattern, first melon, then cherry then apple.  We made patterns with sidewalk chalk outside.  We did a few worksheets identifying patterns, which CJ told me how to do it and all the correct answers before I even got the crayons out!  They did some more practice with the tweezers, and some scissor practice.  Tomorrow they told me that they want to do more school in the school room.  So I have some stuff planned.  We never did finish all the stuff for N and 14, so that will be on the agenda for tomorrow, and of course lots of reading.  CJ is coming along so quickly with the reading that it boggles my mind.  We can't even spell things to each other because he is able to figure almost any word out.  We are going to have to learn a new language to keep secrets from them!  I would really like to finish the alphabet by fall and to start on letter blends and more in depth decoding and phonics.  Their interest in learning amazes me, and I hope to get in some really great science activities soon.  Rich is going to start a new schedule, where he works 4 10 hour shifts and has Saturday, Tuesday and Wednesday off.  He is going to be helping me with science, since it is his biggest interest.  I can't wait!

100th Post Today!!!

Today is my hundredth post.  Thank you all for reading all 100 long-winded and oft times convoluted ramblings.  I love chronicling what we do and how the kids are growing and learning.  This week we are back to "official" lessons, the letter N, number 14, Newt, Narwhal, and feelings.  We are also focusing on fine motor skills, using child friendly tweezers, lacing bead onto shoelaces, and other activities that encourage fine motor coordination, patience, and appropriate pencil holding.  Tomorrow we will spend a fair bit of time making feelings puppets and using them with our puppet theater.  In between cooling off outside in the sprinkler and baby pool, of course.  I am sure the kids will also be sneaking some of the bountiful berries growing in the garden!  Pictures to come.  Again thanks for helping me write 100 entries!

Belated Birthday Pics

It occurs to me that I never finished posting pictures of CJ's and Eliza's birthday party.  I was having computer issues, and then whoops it just slipped my mind.  Well I will remedy that right now.

 These would be the cakes I spent hours making.  Eliza wanted a butterfly, and CJ wanted a rainbow.  So I made both.  From scratch.  I know not my brightest idea ever.  But they were adorable, and the kids were thrilled.  That little white pile of frosting was supposed to be a cloud, and I used edible glitter on it.  It was generally decided to look more like unicorn poo than a cloud.  :)

 CJ and Eliza loved their new trikes though only now are able to start using them without a lot of help.  Our friends are so great playing with the kids, and helping them.

 All the kids crowded around when it was gift time, and everyone who came knows the kids so well, that they got perfect gifts.  They received several outdoor games and gardening tools, books, clothes and awesome stuff.  CJ was particularly excited for the Amazon gift cards they received, because it meant he could "go shopping on the computer."

And the ever proud grandparents, who can't stand to be away from them for more than a day or two.  They adore them, but sometimes that isn't so easy. 











And now pictures of CJ's actual birthday.

 Here he is blowing out the candles.  I would show you his birthday dinner, but it literally was the exact same thing that we had for Eliza's, as that was what he asked for. 

We went to an Easter Egg hunt at a local nursery on CJ's birthday (shortly before Easter) and the kids loved getting to hunt in the plants and meeting the Easter Bunny.  It was a pretty great day all around, good weather, and lots of good family time.  Who can ask for more than that?