Structure and Organization- 4 Week Check-up

Well, we just finished week number four of our new structured and organized schooling. I am happy to report that we all still like it (for the most part).

Here is a recap of the last few weeks in photos. Enjoy!

School work in bed.

Reading about the Sphinx while drawing birds

Planning out some hieroglyphs.

Planning out her cuneiform

 

Finished (but drying) cuneiform

Finished hieroglyphic scroll.

Horse Lessons!

She is finally learning that not all horses are stubborn and difficult. 

Learning about linking verbs

Learning about arachnids from homeschool co-op.

More linking verbs

Learning a lesson about frustration...

...determination...

...perseverance... 

...and triumph! 

Oh, also learning that when you ask Da for a push on the swings, 

he doesn't mess around!

Also learning that Da is silly, 

and so is Mama.

Learning more about riding- this time with a major headwind and on dirt.

(she is wearing a helmet, it's under her hood- that headwind was chilly!)

She has learned that sometimes what seems like meanness (forcing her to keep trying with those pedels) from her parents, can actually turn out to be pretty "asum." 

Learning that swim lessons are awesome, but even better with a friend. 

Learning about symmetry. 

https://flic.kr/p/n5RGML

And, last but not least, that memorization isn't awful.  

Despite the four inches of snow we got yesterday, it looks like Spring might finally have arrived! I hope Spring is showing up for you as well. 

Am I Smart Enough?

Being more structured with our homeschooling has a lot of advantages. Here are the three biggest (in my opinion).

Each morning, Emma sits down at the kitchen table to get her school work done. 

Transcribing her monthly story

While she works on that, I manage to get the dishes washed and lots of food prep done. 

Homemade Chicken Broth

We get some sort of physical activity every day. 

A walk around the block

And I feel like I spend more quality time with Emma. 

Emma and Mama playing Mancala

I've noticed a few downsides as well. Most of them are minor (sometimes Emma is cranky in the morning and isn't super excited about 'school'), but there is one that I seem to be struggling with lately. 

Am I really smart enough to homeschool my child? 

Most days I am learning right along with Emma. Let's take grammar as an example. I think I have forgotten more of the rules than I remember. Lucky for me, Jared seems to have retained a lot of the grammar lessons he learned in school (and at home!).

Another great resource for learning grammar is the T.V. I LOVE The Electric Company on pbs.org. Aside from the fact that the show is full of awesome music (beatboxing anyone?), the entire show teaches about grammar, as well as moral principles, teamwork, and a list of other awesome things. My favorite episode is the one about the silent 'e.' 

"Silent 'e' is a ninja." Awesome. 

So, no, I may not be knowledgeable enough about grammar to teach her on my own, but thankfully she and I don't live in a bubble. 

How about math? I hated math for most of my life. I grew up thinking I was stupid at math, that I didn't have a math brain, that I couldn't do math. Notice I said MOST of my life. A few years ago I had a radical brain transplant and now I enjoy math. 

O.k., I did have a brain transplant, but I did change my way of thinking. It actually started with drawing. Well, no. It actually started with being a good mom. I had noticed that Emma was full of "I Can't!"s. Trying to figure out where that was coming from, I realized it was from me. 

E- "Mama, can you draw me a horse?"

M- "I can't draw horses."

That's just one example. So, I made a decision. I. CAN. DRAW. I can draw, maybe not at a stellar level, but the more I practice the better I get. 

If I can all of a sudden draw, why can't I all of a sudden do math? From that day forward, I made a conscience effort to do public math (without getting flustered and just guessing). I don't run screaming when presented with a math problem in my life, but I try to tackle in head on (mostly with my phone's calculator). Sometimes I get the correct answer on the first try, sometimes it takes a try or two to remember the correct way to figure out the price per ounce. 

I am still not even close to being a math genius, but I am happy with my progress. Besides, there are books and T.V. shows to help me there as well. One of our favorites is Cyberchase (also on pbs.org). Two other enormously helpful things when it comes to math is that 1. Jared is really good at math, and 2. Emma LOVES numbers. 

Now, if you are starting to think that Emma learns everything from T.V., I wouldn't argue too much. Does ALL of her education come from the T.V.? Of course not. Do we use the T.V as an educational tool? Absolutely. 

The T.V., if used correctly, can be a wonderful way to add a different dimension to Emma's learning. For example, this week I had her fill out a state geography sheet about California. When she finished that, she located California on the map. When that was done, we watched a movie from Netflix about California's Big Sur so that she could actually "see" some of California. 

Anyway, back to the original question. Am I smart enough to homeschool my child?

If we lived in a bubble, no. 

Thankfully we have the world as our classroom and it's chock full of inspiration, education, and guidance. All we have to do is want to learn and learning will happen. 

In the Mood to Learn- Emma's Portfolio

Today was a wonderful lazy stay home day.

A bit of cleaning and organizing. Games are now next to the kitchen table for easier access.

Occasionally I feel that I should be doing more "structured" educational activities with Emma, as opposed to the random fun activities (like oobleck, magnetic dolls, barbie clothes, scrabble slam, I think you get the picture)  that happen to be educational. Of course, if we want to get technical, every moment of every day is educational. 

My latest project is updating Emma's portfolio. When Jared graduates, we have no idea where we will end up. Our hope is to be in a state (or area) where homeschooling laws are pretty low. On the off chance we end up somewhere that homeschooling laws are strict, I figure having a portfolio is a good idea. 

Of course having this blog will probably help as well. I would consider it documentation. 

Aside from putting Emma's work into the portfolio, I also use it to hold worksheets and such that I think she might like to do. As long as she is in the mood. I sat down with Emma today to explain the portfolio to her. I want her to be an active keep of her portfolio, so I explained what types of things go into it, and how it is organized. As we flipped through the math section, she noticed some math work sheets. "What do you do on this one?"

Counting dots on lady bugs and adding them. 

She went through this pretty quick (once the distraction of the camera was gone). 

I want the portfolio to be functional, but fun to look through as well. I thought that maybe a artsy cover and dividers would help jazz things up. 

Bubble letters- Printout with words, freezer paper, puffy fabric paint. The letters can be peeled off the paper once dry and glued down where we want them. I am think of doing some collage on cereal boxes for the dividers, and gluing the letters on. 

"Emma's Awesome Portfolio" 

Emma worked on the cover while I worked on the words for the dividers. 

Eventually the desire to paint herself took over, so I switched her to acrylics. 

Just as I was about to snap a cute photo of her engrossed in her work, she turned this face to me. Stinker. 

I finished working on the words for the dividers while Emma painted herself. 

Then I did some goofing around with the puffy paints. Before getting distracted, Emma did manage to finish one full word. 

I think that should work just fine.