I used to look forward to the Schoolhouse Rock episodes on Saturday mornings. I loved those songs and I really did learn a lot from the episodes. I recently rented Schoolhouse Rock from Netflix in preparation for some language work for Sean this week. He liked it, but not as much as I did. Too old school, I guess.
Today I presented some simple sentences and asked Sean to identify the noun and verb. We have been working on those off and on all school year. We used the grammar symbols and he placed those above the words.
Then I introduced the article symbol and explained what an article is.
He is very curious about the other symbols, but I'm going slow with it. I gave him the names for each of the symbols, but didn't want to introduce more than one today. The verb was a review for him, and the article was brand new.
I noticed he isn't wanting to write lately. When I pulled out the material to present it, he said, "I don't want to write." He was relieved when I said this work didn't require writing.
I expect he'll come around to another writing phase later on.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Play and Learn
Yesterday Sean had a free pass from "school" work. We had someone here working on our porch, replacing rails, etc. and he wanted to watch to learn about how to do those kinds of things. I completely agreed. There was measuring, sawing, drilling, and a lot of conversation. Sean is a talker.
After public school kids got home, his friend came over to play. They are getting to that wonderful little boy stage where they want to "talk." I call it the tree house/boy's club stage. They are only a few months apart in age.
In our neighborhood it's really only the two of them because the rest are teenagers, or babies.
After a while of playing in the front yard, running around, they moved into the back yard.
I worked and watched out the window as they climbed the Cherry tree in our back yard. Sean likes to climb very high into it, but his friend is afraid of heights. They climbed down a time or two, then back up and sat on the limbs talking. They were still in the tree when I called Sean in for dinner.
After public school kids got home, his friend came over to play. They are getting to that wonderful little boy stage where they want to "talk." I call it the tree house/boy's club stage. They are only a few months apart in age.
In our neighborhood it's really only the two of them because the rest are teenagers, or babies.
After a while of playing in the front yard, running around, they moved into the back yard.
I worked and watched out the window as they climbed the Cherry tree in our back yard. Sean likes to climb very high into it, but his friend is afraid of heights. They climbed down a time or two, then back up and sat on the limbs talking. They were still in the tree when I called Sean in for dinner.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Reconnecting with sounds
I am inspired by many things, and often by reading other homeschooling mommas' blogs. One of them I read said everything that I have been struggling with so far. My son and the 3-hour work period.
I've tried letting it go, and I've tried being a stickler for it, neither of which work out very well. The goal is to get the child to a point that they are so engrossed and focused on their work that they work for that time with the materials, and want to work longer. I see traces of that concentration as he works on certain materials, but not for three hours.
Neither of us enjoy my constantly saying, "You need to choose a work." I think I will stop saying it.
So today I decided we would both benefit from a totally different school environment. It was a beautiful day. The sun was out, the temperature was mild, and we went for a nature walk.
I suggested, before we headed out the door, that we listen carefully once we got outside. We weren't even out of our driveway and we both were so connected to the sounds around us. It was incredible. (It rains here a lot, so some days we just can't motivate ourselves to go out in it.)
We heard birds, then we listened closer to try to discern how many different birds we could hear. Sean decided it must be about 12. He could be right, I just know there were a lot, including a woodpecker.
We heard voices, a lawn mower, a dog barking, and traffic on the road that leads to our neighborhood.
He collected some really large fir cones and a leaf, found a spider and watched some tiny birds at a bird feeder. We also saw a bee along the way.
Then we walked to Grandma's house and watched a humming bird come to the feeder hanging outside her living room window.
We came home, ate lunch and watched a movie Sean has been wanting to share with me all week.
It was a grand day, and not once did I say, "You need to choose a work."
I've tried letting it go, and I've tried being a stickler for it, neither of which work out very well. The goal is to get the child to a point that they are so engrossed and focused on their work that they work for that time with the materials, and want to work longer. I see traces of that concentration as he works on certain materials, but not for three hours.
Neither of us enjoy my constantly saying, "You need to choose a work." I think I will stop saying it.
So today I decided we would both benefit from a totally different school environment. It was a beautiful day. The sun was out, the temperature was mild, and we went for a nature walk.
I suggested, before we headed out the door, that we listen carefully once we got outside. We weren't even out of our driveway and we both were so connected to the sounds around us. It was incredible. (It rains here a lot, so some days we just can't motivate ourselves to go out in it.)
We heard birds, then we listened closer to try to discern how many different birds we could hear. Sean decided it must be about 12. He could be right, I just know there were a lot, including a woodpecker.
We heard voices, a lawn mower, a dog barking, and traffic on the road that leads to our neighborhood.
He collected some really large fir cones and a leaf, found a spider and watched some tiny birds at a bird feeder. We also saw a bee along the way.
Then we walked to Grandma's house and watched a humming bird come to the feeder hanging outside her living room window.
We came home, ate lunch and watched a movie Sean has been wanting to share with me all week.
It was a grand day, and not once did I say, "You need to choose a work."
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Spanish
I regret that I don't have a camera right now. Some of the work Sean did today was very colorful and fun. When he was in school at the Montessori school he had Spanish class twice a week. He was there for three years, so he has been exposed to Spanish for a while.
Unfortunately, I'm not fluent in Spanish and my only class was in high school. I haven't worked with him at all on Spanish this year. But we have a book that his Nanna bought for him a few years ago called, "My first 100 Spanish Words." (I also regret that I don't have experience with Mandarin, and he took that class as an extra curricular class at the school.)
Yesterday we pulled out the Spanish words book and went through each page. The words are simple, and each page has a theme, such as The Beach, The Playground, Going to the Store, My Family, etc. At the back are lists of colors, numbers, days of the week, etc.
Today I wrote up some cards with the names of the colors on them, then pulled out items that were those colors and Sean placed the cards next to the appropriate colors. I forgot white, and when I came back into the room he had found a white envelope and had the work completed.
During our exercise yesterday I would say the day of the week in Spanish and he would tell me something special we do on each day. For example, Domingo is church day, Sabado is his favorite day because he is free to watch TV or do his work, whichever he chooses.
Today I made labels with the days of the week and he matched them to the control sheet.
His friend across the street is in public school, and comes to visit after school most days. I like to watch them interact when Sean has his work out. They enjoy talking about it, and today Sean gave the boy some new Spanish words.
Unfortunately, I'm not fluent in Spanish and my only class was in high school. I haven't worked with him at all on Spanish this year. But we have a book that his Nanna bought for him a few years ago called, "My first 100 Spanish Words." (I also regret that I don't have experience with Mandarin, and he took that class as an extra curricular class at the school.)
Yesterday we pulled out the Spanish words book and went through each page. The words are simple, and each page has a theme, such as The Beach, The Playground, Going to the Store, My Family, etc. At the back are lists of colors, numbers, days of the week, etc.
Today I wrote up some cards with the names of the colors on them, then pulled out items that were those colors and Sean placed the cards next to the appropriate colors. I forgot white, and when I came back into the room he had found a white envelope and had the work completed.
During our exercise yesterday I would say the day of the week in Spanish and he would tell me something special we do on each day. For example, Domingo is church day, Sabado is his favorite day because he is free to watch TV or do his work, whichever he chooses.
Today I made labels with the days of the week and he matched them to the control sheet.
His friend across the street is in public school, and comes to visit after school most days. I like to watch them interact when Sean has his work out. They enjoy talking about it, and today Sean gave the boy some new Spanish words.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Little bit of Bible, little bit of Dinosaurs
Yesterday I wasn't feeling great, and though I tried to get ready in time to make it to church, we missed it. I looked at the clock and had about 2 minutes to get us ready and in the car. Yeah, it wasn't going to happen.
So instead I told Sean we would read the Bible and spend the day together doing family type things.
We snuggled on the couch and read from his Beginners Bible and he was engrossed in the Old Testament stories. He recognizes the Old Testament vs. New Testament stories, and I am so pleased with how much knowledge he has about the Bible.
Today also started with a book. Sean chose it last night, way past an acceptable time to be reading a book. He has had some insomnia lately. So I asked him to put it in the work area and we would read it today.
"Brontosaurus" is the name of the book. My mom was always picking up one thing or another at thrift stores, and I'm pretty sure this book was one of those items. She always chose educational materials instead of cartoon character books, etc.
A few months ago we went shopping at the Goodwill. We were just looking around and picked up a few books, and Sean always likes to shop in the toy section. While we were there I spied some dinosaurs. I scooped up all I could find, and they were about $1 each. Some of them seem like nice ones and have the name of the dinosaur on the bottom. When I got them home, I put them on the shelf I have for materials that aren't being used at the moment, and knew he would enjoy them with a lesson eventually.
Today was the day to bring those out. We first read the book, and talked about the different dinosaurs in the book, and the differences between them. That book was all about Brontosaurs, so we tried to figure out what the others were in the pictures.
Then I brought out the bag of dinosaurs. He LOVED them. He started to talk about which ones were meat eaters and which ones were plant eaters. As long as he's interested, I'm going to encourage him to keep researching about each one and during what period they lived.
So instead I told Sean we would read the Bible and spend the day together doing family type things.
We snuggled on the couch and read from his Beginners Bible and he was engrossed in the Old Testament stories. He recognizes the Old Testament vs. New Testament stories, and I am so pleased with how much knowledge he has about the Bible.
Today also started with a book. Sean chose it last night, way past an acceptable time to be reading a book. He has had some insomnia lately. So I asked him to put it in the work area and we would read it today.
"Brontosaurus" is the name of the book. My mom was always picking up one thing or another at thrift stores, and I'm pretty sure this book was one of those items. She always chose educational materials instead of cartoon character books, etc.
A few months ago we went shopping at the Goodwill. We were just looking around and picked up a few books, and Sean always likes to shop in the toy section. While we were there I spied some dinosaurs. I scooped up all I could find, and they were about $1 each. Some of them seem like nice ones and have the name of the dinosaur on the bottom. When I got them home, I put them on the shelf I have for materials that aren't being used at the moment, and knew he would enjoy them with a lesson eventually.
Today was the day to bring those out. We first read the book, and talked about the different dinosaurs in the book, and the differences between them. That book was all about Brontosaurs, so we tried to figure out what the others were in the pictures.
Then I brought out the bag of dinosaurs. He LOVED them. He started to talk about which ones were meat eaters and which ones were plant eaters. As long as he's interested, I'm going to encourage him to keep researching about each one and during what period they lived.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Finding our way
I am struggling with homeschooling right now. Sean doesn't seem interested in doing any work unless I am right there in the room, and I am frustrated. I can't be in the room all the time. I have to work. So he wanders aimlessly, picking up a toy, or a cat or turning on the TV while I frantically work on deadline. In those moments (days on end) I cannot be two people, so I have to focus on my work. I have tried and tried to encourage him to work on his own, to choose a work that he really finds interesting and wants to learn. He has interests, but he isn't motivated to do the work unless I'm there.
Sometimes I really wish I had a lot of money. I'd hire a Montessori certified teacher as a nanny.
The past two weeks have been very hard. I was writing and editing and putting out fires and on deadline, and he wasn't working.
We did get the cursive sandpaper letters, so he was interested in that and worked on it for a few days. He was able to practice the o, u and e.
Yesterday was a lighter work day for me, so we began with some practical things, like making his bed, putting away some clothes, and then we played a game.
Last week he mentioned the stamp game and that he has forgotten how to play it. So yesterday I had the time to look at the presentation and I said I would bring it out and present a lesson on it. He wouldn't cooperate. He wanted to watch from the couch, which meant he was looking at everything across the room-and upside down. So I asked him to please sit beside me, but he wanted to stand across the room, on the same side this time, but not beside me.
I felt myself getting frustrated. I spent two weeks working, him doing practically nothing, and me stressing and worrying that he isn't really gaining anything from doing this at home. Then when I am able to spend the time in the room, he isn't cooperative.
I said, "I'm going to put the stamp game away, and when you're ready for me to give you the lesson you can come ask me."
We went for a walk and when we got back he looked through a children's dictionary and a nature book. Those totally count, and I was happy that he chose those on his own. He learned about a turtle that can climb trees, and he was looking at the various types of drums in the dictionary.
I'm still waiting for him to come to me about the stamp game. I think I will move it to a more prominent place on the shelf and maybe it will become too tempting for him to ignore.
Sometimes I really wish I had a lot of money. I'd hire a Montessori certified teacher as a nanny.
The past two weeks have been very hard. I was writing and editing and putting out fires and on deadline, and he wasn't working.
We did get the cursive sandpaper letters, so he was interested in that and worked on it for a few days. He was able to practice the o, u and e.
Yesterday was a lighter work day for me, so we began with some practical things, like making his bed, putting away some clothes, and then we played a game.
Last week he mentioned the stamp game and that he has forgotten how to play it. So yesterday I had the time to look at the presentation and I said I would bring it out and present a lesson on it. He wouldn't cooperate. He wanted to watch from the couch, which meant he was looking at everything across the room-and upside down. So I asked him to please sit beside me, but he wanted to stand across the room, on the same side this time, but not beside me.
I felt myself getting frustrated. I spent two weeks working, him doing practically nothing, and me stressing and worrying that he isn't really gaining anything from doing this at home. Then when I am able to spend the time in the room, he isn't cooperative.
I said, "I'm going to put the stamp game away, and when you're ready for me to give you the lesson you can come ask me."
We went for a walk and when we got back he looked through a children's dictionary and a nature book. Those totally count, and I was happy that he chose those on his own. He learned about a turtle that can climb trees, and he was looking at the various types of drums in the dictionary.
I'm still waiting for him to come to me about the stamp game. I think I will move it to a more prominent place on the shelf and maybe it will become too tempting for him to ignore.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
A surprise package and some review
We got a package on our doorstep yesterday. It was from my oldest son, who is 24. When he was a little boy he loved helicopters and machines, and always wanted to learn how things worked.
Inside the box were books from his boyhood all about flight, helicopters, science, machines and things he loved to learn about as a boy.
Sean has been devouring them one by one. For now, he is all about the helicopters. These books have taken his reading to a new level. As a typical child of the information age, he first reads the book, then takes the book and has it beside him as he conducts Google searches for the same aircraft. He compares and contrasts the various features of the different helicopters. He was shocked by the size of the Apache helicopter today when he saw a picture of a soldier standing beside one.
I haven't been feeling well at all since Saturday. Strange symptoms and I can't identify the cause.
So homeschool has been on the back burner, since work does not slow down for me and I must plug away even if I don't feel like doing it.
Each day I encourage him to work, but I haven't had the energy to stay on top of it. Today I encouraged him to work, and he brought out his box of place value numbers. I can't remember what this is really called in Montessori speak, but it's a little box that has numbers painted on small wooden "cards" for the units, tens, hundreds and thousands numbers to 9000.
Yesterday he had these out and created a really huge number (more than trillions) and asked me what it was. My head was throbbing and there was just no way I could figure it out.
It is one of the math lessons I've worried that he would lose, the place value. He doesn't choose math work very much anymore, and I try not to worry, but I do. He can tell me the value of the numbers in the box of numbers. I ask him to construct numbers for me with those, so I'll ask for 8,543. He brings out the 8000 card, the 500 card, the 40 card and the 3. Then we slide it together and see that it makes 8,543. But I wanted to see if he could recognize a number without the box. So I wrote a number on our dry erase board today (only thousands) and asked him to tell me each place value. He had forgotten about them, but quickly remembered.
He has hit that stage that I heard about during one of my parent ed hours at his Montessori school. The disorganized stage. (I think I've been in that stage since birth.) They said it hits sometime in the lower elementary age. It's here.
More and more things are left out, pencils strewn on the table, work left on the floor, etc.
But one day last week, maybe it was Friday, I saw that old Montessori orderliness kick in. He seemed so happy, calm, quiet and purposeful in his work as he accomplished his tasks and moved across the room. I love to watch that happen.
Inside the box were books from his boyhood all about flight, helicopters, science, machines and things he loved to learn about as a boy.
Sean has been devouring them one by one. For now, he is all about the helicopters. These books have taken his reading to a new level. As a typical child of the information age, he first reads the book, then takes the book and has it beside him as he conducts Google searches for the same aircraft. He compares and contrasts the various features of the different helicopters. He was shocked by the size of the Apache helicopter today when he saw a picture of a soldier standing beside one.
I haven't been feeling well at all since Saturday. Strange symptoms and I can't identify the cause.
So homeschool has been on the back burner, since work does not slow down for me and I must plug away even if I don't feel like doing it.
Each day I encourage him to work, but I haven't had the energy to stay on top of it. Today I encouraged him to work, and he brought out his box of place value numbers. I can't remember what this is really called in Montessori speak, but it's a little box that has numbers painted on small wooden "cards" for the units, tens, hundreds and thousands numbers to 9000.
Yesterday he had these out and created a really huge number (more than trillions) and asked me what it was. My head was throbbing and there was just no way I could figure it out.
It is one of the math lessons I've worried that he would lose, the place value. He doesn't choose math work very much anymore, and I try not to worry, but I do. He can tell me the value of the numbers in the box of numbers. I ask him to construct numbers for me with those, so I'll ask for 8,543. He brings out the 8000 card, the 500 card, the 40 card and the 3. Then we slide it together and see that it makes 8,543. But I wanted to see if he could recognize a number without the box. So I wrote a number on our dry erase board today (only thousands) and asked him to tell me each place value. He had forgotten about them, but quickly remembered.
He has hit that stage that I heard about during one of my parent ed hours at his Montessori school. The disorganized stage. (I think I've been in that stage since birth.) They said it hits sometime in the lower elementary age. It's here.
More and more things are left out, pencils strewn on the table, work left on the floor, etc.
But one day last week, maybe it was Friday, I saw that old Montessori orderliness kick in. He seemed so happy, calm, quiet and purposeful in his work as he accomplished his tasks and moved across the room. I love to watch that happen.
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