A Homeschool Update

After several weeks of our pre-homeschool co-op, Kim and I started to notice the enthusiasm draining (in both, us and our kids) and an increase in stress levels.  We realized that, as new homeschool teachers we've fallen into the assumption that we had to make this look like conventional preschool, robbing ourselves and the boys of the freedom, flexibility and creativity that homescooling offers.  After a few-month hiatus, we agreed to trade in our rigid structure and focus on our very different boys' very different interests on our own with plans to get together for occasion projects and crafts.

We don't have a scheduled time that we focus on school right now.  We just take the opportunities as they present themselves, whether we're preparing meals, playing with Ronin, running errands or sitting at a restaurant waiting for our food.  Here are some of the things we've been incorporating in school lately:

READING & SPELLING

Since Reid's still very enthusiastic about reading and spelling, we've been focusing on those subjects on our own.  We no longer wait for quiet, calm moments in the home.  Very informal, slightly structured lessons usually take place at the kitchen counter with our trusty dry-erase board in the midst of preparing meals, brewing the morning's coffee and, well, life.

Although he thinks he's just playing the "build-a-word" game, Reid is going through a book Colby's mom passed down to us called, "Alpha-Phonics - A Primer for Beginning Reader" which uses the same style I was already using to teach Reid to read.  He's learned blended letter sounds (such as, ck, sh, ch, th, tr, gl, 

ss & qu), and can now read words like "truck," "thick," "quick," "chick," "shock" and "glass".  Colby and I also like throwing in words like, "chump" and "thug," but then Reid always asks what it means after sounding it out, so we just answer with one of

Colby's friends' names (usually "Uncle" Craig).

With his reading skills developing so quickly, he's been reading some of the beginner books from the level 1 Animal Antics book set.  They're awesome and so encouraging for Reid because they have a lot of word repetition.  I recommend these to all of Reid's young friends who are on the road to learning to read.  

He's also learned to reverse his new skills and tell you how simple three- and four-letter words are spelled.

ART

We haven't done any cool crafts in a while, but since we play so much with the white board, my little Picasso's been doodling some really sweet stuff that just melts my heart.  In the first doodle below, he drew the guy on the left and I gave him an arm and hand, made the oval into a balloon and gave him a pal.  I can't wait to see his first drawing of our family!

 

MATH

Reid and I printed and cut out our own flash cards and take turns going through them with each other. =)  He's learned to count to 29, but usually skips 16.

WRITING

Reid's really into mazes now and always asks Colby and me to draw them for him.  They've become a great exercise to help him learn to control his hand to write and draw.  However, it usually takes me about five minutes to draw one up and him about five seconds to solve it and ask for another one!

Mister Smarty Pants can now trace his name well and is very close to writing it free-hand, although the letters are out of order and his "d" usually comes out like a "p".  

STATES

We've taken a break from playing with Reid's wooden states puzzle, however he still remembers where a handful of states are.

SPANISH

Lilibeth, our housemate and friend whom we're hosting from Ecuador speaks Spanish to Reid here and there.  He's picked up a lot of nouns (mostly food, like me!), colors, numbers and a few phrases.  

SCIENCE

He's really interested in learning about planets and dinosaurs, so maybe I'll teach him the names of them for now.

CHARACTER

This subject trumps all others.  We want our boys to grow into God-loving, others-centered, respectful, capable men, full of integrity.  I'm on the lookout for ways in addition to teaching by example to include this in our homeschooling.  I love this Character Qualities chart I found on the Duggars' family website.  Have any other ideas, suggestions or tools?  Send them my way, please!

It probably sounds like we're doing a ton, but we're actually only "doing school" for about 30 minutes a few mornings a week.  Other than that I try to incorporate learning in everyday life.  I'm constantly reminding myself to keep it light and fun as we navigate our way to a style that works for us for now.