So Far So Good...

OK, so we've been at this for about a week and a half and it's been going very well. I think it definitely helps that I don't have the usual stress of a homeschooler yet (i.e. comparing other kids in school to yours, they SHOULD be at this level, etc.). That will come in time. So far, it's really helped to curb the summer boredom. I have anywhere from 3-5 things in my brain to do today, and when Ethan starts teasing, or Sean gets whiny, or Jenna gets on a destroying rampage, I just break out the activity. I've even been using the prep work for each lesson, as a time killing activity (like cutting, glueing, etc). It's not as pretty as I would do it, but oh well.

We've been doing our science projects--seeds and caterpillars--but we've also been learning about continents. Last week we talked about Asia. We made origami butterflies (super easy), and now they can point out China and Korea (where Caleb is going on his mission) on a map. We started Europe this week, and we've mostly been talking about Norway, since that's where Seth's anscestors are from. I couldn't find a good book on England at the library, so we'll save that for another time. We learned today that Northern Norway has places that don't see the sun from September until March. Depressing!

Caterpillar Update

We have been keeping a close eye on this guy. In fact, Seth calls him my fourth child because I have been paying just as much attention to him (or more) than I have my kids! Up until now, he's stayed on the same plant, but yesterday he ventured out and started going crazy looking for a place to cocoon. After about three hours of exploring all our plants (from all the sticks I put up for him to crawl around on) he finally settled on our plant holder and has been there for about 12 hours. You can see the silk he's spun to stick himself on while he makes the transition. Ethan measured him and he's squished down to 2 1/2 cm.

Seedlings

Our topic for science this week has been seeds. I checked out several books on the life cycle of plants, and I found this activity to do that is a huge hit. We planted pea seeds right next to the saran wrap, so just the very next day after planting, we started to see activity. The roots put down first and then we watched the stalk being pushed to the top. It finally emerged yesterday. In our nature journals, I sectioned one page so the boys are drawing each stage of what we see.

Pet Caterpillar

We found this little guy while weeding the carrot in our garden. At first I thought it was a monarch caterpillar, but I didn't think monarchs ate carrot plants. So after a little research, I found out he will be a Black Swallowtail Butterfly and that they also like parsley. I just happen to have a parsley plant on my windowsill that is getting a little overgrown, so that is now where he lives.

The kids keep a pretty close eye on him and inform me of everything he's doing. Yesterday, after dinner, he was hanging upside down on one of the stalks and we thought he was building his cocoon. But it turned out he was just molting his skin, which was just as cool. In the last day or so he has grown a full centimeter. Ethan is in charge of measuring him. Jenna is especially fascinated by him, asking all the time to see the "capillas." She likes to blow on him.

School Starts

I've decided, rather than post our homeschooling exploits on my personal blog, I'd just create a new one. That way, I can get into more details on what we're doing, what works for me, and just about homeschooling in general without worrying about my audience.

We officially started kindergarten this week for my oldest, Ethan. Sean, who is 4, participates in our lessons and gets almost as much out of them as Ethan does. I also have a two year old, and I'm expecting my fourth baby this September, so I thought I'd get a head start. Plus, I tend to work better when I'm not under pressure, so starting early will give me time to get creative and hammer out a workable schedule for our schooldays.

I am working out of the book "What your Kindergartner Needs to Know" from the Core Knowledge Series. I am planning on moving through the History/Geography and the Science sections, focusing on a new topic each week. I like that the book mostly gives just the information the kids need to know, and I can create activities that work to my kids' level of knowledge. I put books on hold from our local library pertaining to our subject for the week, and we will pick them up on Mondays.

For Math, we have the Saxon math for Kindergartners (which seems to be more on Sean's level), but I elaborate on it and make the activities a little more challenging. I also have the first grade curriculum, and since we do a lesson almost every day, I expect to get through a good portion of that before our school year is over.

Reading is less structured, but I try to weave it into all our subjects. We have "Bob Books" that we read occasionally, and they both do writing workbooks everyday. Both of my kids are on an advanced level for their age, but resist the sit down "reading lessons," so I think at this point, I'm going to let them dictate how much or little reading they want to do. I'm finding ways to work it in that they respond to--we have plenty of reading and phonics games.

More on our projects to come!