Being Different has its Blessings!

One of the things I most love about homeschooling is the flexibility we can have!  At this point in our lives, we still do more of our structured schooling when Whitley is gone to work.  He works 12 hour shifts for 7 days and then gets 7 off.  During those 7 days off, they still get to learn a lot from their dad, but the learning is less at the table and more focused on other things that can be caught & taught.  A couple of days ago, Isaac learned about changing out the heating element in a dryer, for instance! Hmmm.... wonder why he had to learn that?!  Only because he is taking "shop" class, right?  Couldn't be because the dryer went out, could it?  HA!!  The kids are often in the thick middle of our home improvement jobs which gives them a chance to learn lots of things most kids don't get to.  We do take other breaks from school when we need them, especially right before and after I've had a baby.

All that being said, summer is a season that still involves school for us and it is definitely HERE!  Wow, it has been HOT the last couple of days.  During the hotter months, I try to let the kids take advantage of cooler mornings for their playtime outside.  I sent the older boys out this morning after their chores and told them I would call them in one at a time for their individual school-time.    I never know what type of boy I'm going to be calling in from their play!!  HAHA!  Today it was first a "Native American" that I called in to do his Singapore Math.  Sounds so funny to put it that way!!  Although I must admit that my knee-jerk reactive thought was to be annoyed with the mud-faced boy that I was bringing into my clean house, I quickly straightened up and realized that this was actually pretty inventive and genuinely awesome!  Thus I bit back those thoughts and took these awesome pictures instead.  Glad I chose the latter.... because these are really cute!  These two guys are really special!!

Once I got Isaac situated doing his assignment, I called in the fierce and brave cowboy!   

Celebrating the Difference,

Stations Everyone!!!

Abigail babysitting while

Timothy plays with his toys while 

Isaac does math while 

Andrew has a bit of alone time too...

Pictures of it all working!!!  I try to let everyone have some special time with one or two sibs every day, and a little alone time too.  This morning I paused and looked around, grabbed my camera, and took pictures from room to room.... because everyone was occupied and doing what they were supposed to!!! Don't worry, some time I will take pictures of the opposite (if I'm in the right mood and not so frustrated that I forget the hilarity of the moment), but moments like these make me so happy!!!

Just For Fun!

We went to Lake Amistad on the border recently and it fit right in with our unit on Mexico as we closed that out!  Plenty of cactus, although not the saguaro cactus we studied most about.  Nevertheless, we were as close to Mexico as most in their right mind would care to get these days!  

What my kids learned "outside the box" on our Amistad trip:
1) How to choose the best rocks for skipping
2) Why it is possible to skip a rock (did you know they actually built a "rock skipping machine" to determine that the best angle for skipping is 20 degrees?.... me either)
3) God even created deer to have a routine
4) My 11 year old got to cut with a radial saw and weld for the first time
5) How to enclose a porch
6) How to drive..... we love golf-carts ;)
7) How fossils form and that there are SO MANY to be found when the lake is low!
8) What a real, live, icky centipede looks like....shudder...
9) Cacti are better to stay away from and are best if NOT stepped on!
10) That being a homeschooled kid is awesome.... well, I'm not sure if they get it yet, but I SURE DO!

As a side note, thanks to my brother, we are HUGE fans of Smarter Everyday on youtube!!!  Here is a video he just released about skipping stones.  You will just love this family guy who teaches physics in such a way that young and old get something out of everything he talks about!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRvgGU8p8wE&feature=em-subs_digest

Right Brain, Left Brain...

Isaac doesn't always love a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but many times would prefer ham and cheese.  Even if there is no ham, he will slap some mayo and cheese on bread instead of choosing the pb&j.  The other day, we were having sandwiches for lunch and I didn't have his favorite kraft singles cheese.  So, I sliced him some cheese and placed it on his bread.  I didn't think about how I was putting the cheese on.... I just did it. The mayo wasn't even on there yet because he does all that himself.  In the flash of an eye, Isaac quickly rearranged the cheese slices I had placed on there and it cracked me up!  He had no idea why I was laughing, so I explained.  He and I are SO similar in our personalities, but when it comes to our thinking skills and just the simple ways we use our brains, we are very different.  In one brief moment, cheese on bread tells you how we think differently!  I recreated it very quickly and took a picture.  You might think that's weird and that this whole post is weird, but I cannot tell you how the whole thing tickled me!  Can you tell who is right-brained and who is left-brained dominant?????

My Artistic (without even thinking about being artistic) Arrangement:

Isaac's (I can't even stand how unsymmetrical that was Mom)  Arrangement:

HA!

In The Spotlight: Andrew- 6 yrs old

Some random thoughts and tidbits about writing instruction for Andrew:

1) He is left-handed.  This is challenging when it comes to teaching writing, but we are taking it slow on purpose.  I'm trying to get him to focus on pointing his pencil "up" instead of down.  He also has tended to have an awkward pencil-hold even without other lefty troubles added in.  He'll put his fingers in a funny position that doesn't at all look comfy!  He's improving on this a lot already this year.

2)  I don't generally do a lot with a pencil at first.  We write in corn meal, shaving cream, in the air, etc. while learning phonograms.  

2)  Over the last couple of months he has gone from getting physically tired of writing very soon, to doing entire sheets of exercises so I'm very pleased with his progress!  A year or so ago, I was having him attempt to write his name.  It was just too hard.  A pregnancy and a new baby later (= significant break from school), he is back to practicing this now that he is getting more steady with his hand.  -Just a developmental thing really.  I have a book that has tracing exercises (not letters, just exercises) that has contributed to his progress, so we are back to practicing his name!  Right now he is doing a combination of practicing those written phonograms in the shaving cream or corn meal, and then tracing his name.  I use this worksheet generator to print out his traceable name.

3)  He is also learning to put some phonograms together to make simple words.  He is unscrambling these little "word pockets" that Nana bought us years ago when Isaac was his age.

4)  He enjoys making up addition and subraction math "stories" and is getting better at writing his numbers too.  

5)  Andrew is also enjoying learning about countries & cultures in our "My Father's World" curriculum.  More and more he is doing the activities with his older siblings, including playing the geography game!  More on that another day!

Abigail's Story February 8, 2013

           Once upon a time, there was a girl named Manna, who was eleven years old. She lived in a small city. A very sad thing happened in her life. Her mother, brother, and father died in a bad hurricane. Thank goodness Manna was safe, but she had no family! On her own after the storm, she walked to another little village. She was so happy to meet some kind people. She saw a young kid pulling a donkey with another child riding it. The mother was standing near watching with another child. The mother introduced herself as Antia. Noticing the ragged clothes Manna was wearing, Antia asked, “Young lady, would you like some nice clothes to wear?” Manna replied, “Yes!” Manna rested with the family that evening. Antia gave her some hot tea to rest from her journey. She was happy to share her small amount of food with Manna too. Manna was able to eat only three small peas and one small carrot. Manna asked, “Isn't there anything else to eat?” Antia said, “No. There just isn't much food in this village.” Manna decided she needed to go out to find more food for that family. She walked into a jungle and gasped at what she found! She found lots of fruits and vegetables and brought some back to the family. After a good day, she went to sleep at Antia's house. The next morning Antia called her saying, “It's breakfast time!” While they were sitting and eating, a knock was heard on the door of the house. It was the queen of the village!!! The queen asked, “Where is the girl who helped the village find food to eat?” Manna raised her hand. Manna said, “I am new here and I found the food in the jungle.” The queen gave her a special gift. Manna got to be a princess! She got to wear beautiful clothes and a beautiful crown just like the queen. She got to meet the king too! Antia cried happy tears! She was so happy for Manna to have new parents! That night in the small castle, the queen tucked her in gently, even though Manna had already fallen asleep. Manna had sweet dreams that night about her life. She woke up at sunrise and had a banana to eat. She walked with a candle in her hand and said “Good morning!” to the king and queen, who were still resting. That day she played with her new wooden ball and drum. That evening she went upstairs and wrote a letter to Antia with ink, a quill, and a piece of paper. She finished the letter and went outside to pick apples for her new parents. Manna had a lovely life. She got to dance at the royal ball every year and lived happily ever after!

The End

Love my daughter's imagination!

Living is Learning...

The last couple of days have been challenging and school almost nonexistent.  Or... has it?  Living is made up of learning and learning is supposed to be what school is all about.  The kids had been coughing here and there, and Luke had actually been taking breathing treatments since last week.  The real roller coaster began on Monday.  Isaac had high blood sugars and high fever throughout the evening and night.  Luke began running fever the next day too.  My kids were pitiful!

Whitley's shift-work makes going to the doctor very challenging, but I am so thankful for some of the dearest friends and helpers.  Many offers for help and a house-call from our merciful & kind physician really helped!

Dr. Rakov explained to Isaac about what he was calling "horns" on his new model airplane. I had tried to correct him on his thinking, but what do I know?  He was convinced because of a picture he saw, and Dr. Rakov (who was a flight surgeon, by the way) knows tons about airplanes!  Visits between he and my kids are always educational in some way!  Many times, it is math related.  Oh... speaking of math...

The weather has been beautiful!  Here's a picture of Abigail doing her math in the only obvious place on a pretty day!

Learning has been mostly in a "caught more than taught" sort of way this week!  Life goes on...