Wednesday, August 3, 2016

TOPS Science: Radishes: A Review

So, we finished our 3.5 weeks of TOPS Radishes today!  I'm happy we did it and very happy to be done. 

Bee (7th grade) was able to do the activities independently.  Bug (3rd grade) needed a lot of help and sometimes seemed to find the projects stressful, even though I simplified things for him.  The fact that Dot is a busy toddler and constantly needs my attention probably factored into this. 

Overall, I was pleased with my purchase and felt it was a very good value.  We fit a lot of science into 3.5 weeks.  I was especially happy with the data collection and final graph that they made, a very good experience for both of them.  They are both really interested in plants now and are excited about planting a fall garden. 

As far disadvantages, some of the experiments were a little bit dry and boring, particularly for Bug at his age.  Also, our plants didn't have enough light, so I would recommend that anyone follow the instructions carefully make sure to find a very sunny window or use a fluorescent light. 

It was great doing science every day for a few weeks.  We really got a lot done.  With Bee's robotics and environmental science classes this fall, I feel like he probably doesn't need me to do more formal science with him.  For Bug, I'm going to look into some super fun science experiments for his age to do in addition to his robotics.  Maybe we'll continue with plant science since that is most interesting to me. 

Anyway, I do recommend TOPS Radishes! 

Saturday, July 30, 2016

Three Weeks of Spanish for You!

After 3 weeks of Spanish for You!, I am still very happy and impressed with the program.  It gives me the structure that I need, and it is easy to adapt and modify to my children's needs. 

Because Bug's age level moves more slowly than Bee's, my original plan was to supplement Bee and keep him at the same pace as Bug.  However, after three weeks, Bee has clearly mastered everything in lesson 1, so we are moving onto lesson 2, giving him more vocabulary and more practice with different verbs.  And we'll just keep moving him on. 

So, what I'm liking about Spanish for You! is the focus on constructing sentences and learning through play.  It is better to practice making sentences out of a few words than to learn a whole lot of words and not to be able to use them.  The latter is what I experienced in my language classes in school. 

What I am not liking is how cumbersome it is to go through the folders and files and print everything. 

Also, we heard the author say "listo" on one of the native speaker audio files, and Bee and I were quite honestly appalled at her pronunciation, which is far worse than mine (or Bee's).  I will not be using any of her non-native speaker audio files.  I'm sure that the author of this excellent series could improve her pronunciation with some lessons online .

Another thing I don't like is that this is Spain Spanish rather than Latin American Spanish. 

But let me qualify my complaints by saying that this is by far the absolute BEST curriculum for I have found so far for teaching my own children at home, and I'm extremely grateful for it, feel that my money was well spent, and I intend to buy more in this series.  It has given me the structure that I need to work with my children on Spanish at home. 

I do NOT think it is better than having them learn from a native speaker, but I just need a break from having so much of our day scheduled. 

Friday, July 15, 2016

First Week of School Done

My first week of school is over, and I am on my 4th blog entry of the day!  I think I'm just trying to organize my mind. 

So, overall, it was a very good week.  I got so bored this summer.  We still haven't made a lot of friends in our area, and I spent a lot of time sitting on the floor being with baby.  And it was wonderful in its way, but it actually got pretty boring by the end.  So, I am thankful to be facilitating some formal work for my children once again. 

So, this week we did Spanish (already blogged it), Science (already blogged it), handwriting, and grammar.  These were all subjects that I felt I wanted to give more attention to this year.  We did a minimum of grammar last year, which showed on their test results, and we did NO handwriting at all.  With a newborn in the house, it definitely wasn't a priority, compared to more core subjects. 

So, Bee dutifully did his cursive practice on his LeapFrog dry erase board each day.  I let him pick what letters/pages to work on.  He is fairly motivated to learn cursive, and certainly wants to be able to write his name well.  I think it's important that he know cursive well enough to read the writing of others, as well as historical documents, and to sign his name.  I guess I am not one who laments the "lost art" of cursive writing or penmanship in general.  Manuscript is easier to read and not any slower to write, or so I have read.  And as adults, my children will do most of their writing digitally, as I do.  They may type, or they may use dictation or touch screen techniques.  I'm not going to cry that they don't spend hours scribbling in cursive. 

Bug was pretty good about doing his handwriting of lower case letters.  He eschewed the dry erase activity, so I printed him worksheets.  He can be very perfectionist, so I tried to find worksheets that were mostly tracing, so it would be less stressful for him.  He has been pretty insistent about writing in all caps, but I told him that this year he needs to become more comfortable with lower case.  As an adult, of course, he'll be able to write in all caps if he wants.  My dad and grandma do.  Bug complained about how hard it was, but once he got started on his page, he was able to complete it quickly. 

Both boys have been told that they will do handwriting each day until they have mastered their objective. 

The grammar workbooks we are using aren't really textbooks, just exercises that cover the sorts of things that kids their age do in schools.  I need to do a little teaching and explaining for each of them, but that's fine.  Languages are my thing. 

So,  a good week, and now I am hanging out at the B&N cafe for a while, drinking a sugar free decaf frappuccino, blogging, doing some lesson plans, and just decompressing for a while without the kids. 

Spanish for you! one week in

So, I am using Spanish for you! conversaciones this year with Bee (7th grade) and Bug (3rd grade).  I have bought a couple of other Spanish programs in the past that have not worked out for us.  Bee has done very well in previous years with online Spanish lessons via Skype using Homeschool Spanish Academy, but we are taking a temporary break from that, in the interests of not having too much stuff scheduled.  I highly recommend the program though.

So, we went through Week 1 of our Spanish for You! program.  It was wonderful.  It has 4 days written for each week, which is perfect.  If I am able to do Spanish all five days in a week, I can easily add a game or enrichment activity on Friday.

Each day, I read aloud a short toddler-level book in Spanish.  I have a small library of Spanish toddler books for our homeschool.  I tried to pick ones that contained vocabulary appropriate to our unit.  We also sang "the eensy weensy spider" in Spanish each day.  Bee already knows this song well, and Bug learned it.  Dot loved watching it each day.  We'll continue singing it and add another one next week.

In the past I have always gone overboard, wanting to read multiple books a day.  I tried last year doing 3 songs a month, but learning them all at once.  I think it's much easier to learn one song a week and then review ones learned in the past.  If we learn a longer song, we might take multiple weeks to learn all verses.

I made some adaptations to the worksheets.  Bee filled one out completely, but another we did orally.  This is better practice in some ways anyway.  For Bug, we mostly did it orally.  I had him do some journal work where he illustrated Spanish sentences from his worksheet.  We also adapted the vocabulary games as needed.

Bee was capable of going through his vocabulary cards on his own.  Bug needs me to do it with him, and to do it in such a way that he doesn't feel pressured.  He can be very perfectionist.  The "te gusta" activity suggested by the program worked well.

One thing I didn't like is that the way I received the files was rather cumbersome, and I have all these folders of extracted files.  They are a bit annoying to go through.  But it works.

The 3rd and 4th grade level of our unit has 30 activities, while the 7th and 8th grade level moves a little faster, with 24 activities.  I think I will just extend Bee's program a little, so that he stays on the same chapter as his brother.  I have plenty of games, books, and activities at the house that can provide some enrichment for him.  This is not a complaint about the program, just an observation that a little adaptation may be needed when doing 2 levels at once. 

I am happy and excited about the unit we are doing "conversaciones."  I have even learned some playground words that I did not know.  Both Bee and Bug are retaining their new words, and I'm overall very impressed with the program.  I am a high-intermediate Spanish speaker, and it is working well for me.  I really like the structure and all of the ideas for fun activities. 

First Three Days

I thought I would do a little report on how our first few days of "school" went.  Or maybe I should say "first days of formal work for the school year."

Getting to this first day required a lot of flexibility.

First of all, our first day was actually supposed to be July 5 of last week.  However, the first week of July was messed up because we found out that a dear friend (age 35, father of 2) died suddenly and tragically.   So we decided drive many miles up the east coast to attend his memorial.  And then we visited friends in Virginia on the way back.

This week I was actually supposed to visit family in Texas.  However, Dot got sick with a fever, and we had to cancel our reservations.  

So, we decided to go ahead with school this week, which involved a bit of frantic planning last night.  The shock of our friend's death, the travel, as well as a bad cold going through our family, had messed up all of my preparations.  But I do well at the last minute.

I don't think I've ever been as happy to start school as I was on Monday.  I needed a distraction from the grief and sadness.  Taking care of a 1-year-old is very demanding, but it is not mentally distracting.

So, Monday was interesting.  And I think the fact that I was so grateful to have something different to do helped to keep me calm. There was a lot of complaining and grumpiness from the boys.  Bee was mad about the grammar book.  Bug was mad about Spanish.

Bug also hated his dry erase handwriting book and insisted that he do handwriting with a paper and pencil.  I thought that was strange and very amusing.  Apparently, the Leap Frog K-1 print handwriting dry erase activity was so abhorrent to him that he will now do handwriting with paper and pencil.  I could care less--I'll save the dry erase activity for Dot.  I will just print him handwriting pages from this website:  http://www.activityvillage.co.uk.  Bee doesn't mind his cursive dry erase, even though he is in 7th grade, and his Leap Frog board is marked for grades 2-3. 

 We started our TOPS Radishes project on Monday.  I wasn't sure how it would go.  I haven't done a ton of hands-on science with Bee because the two of us typically can't work up enough enthusiasm to get motivated.  He has a very good general knowledge of science, though.  Bug LOVES science activities, however, so his enthusiasm carried us through.  This is good because Bee needs to do more science labs.  

Then on Tuesday we had to be out of the house for our monthly house cleaners to come (something that is extremely important to our family's well being!), so I took them to a water playground as a PE field trip.  I had originally hoped to do some schoolwork at a park before the water place opened, but Dot was napping, so it was just a field trip day.

Today (Wednesday) went pretty well.  We got off to a very late start.  Dot usually gets up at 7, but she slept until 9.  My husband got up at 7 and then collapsed asleep on the couch for 2 hours until Dot and I woke him up.  And Bee and Bug slept even longer.  It took my husband and I a while before we had enough energy to drag them out of bed.

We got through all that I had planned.  We did science, handwriting, grammar, Spanish, and they each practiced a little piano.  Then, they have PE (climbing) this evening.

Next week, they both have art camp for 3 hours a day, so that will be most of their school.  But we will also do Spanish and science in the afternoons, as well as PE (swimming or climbing).

We are working right now to prioritize those subjects which I feel I tend to neglect.  We will gradually add in the others (like math, which I have always been consistent about), taking care not to try to do too much on any one day. 

What I'm Spending Money On

I've always been of the opinion that a person does not have to spend money in order to homeschool well.  It can be done on a relatively low budget using a library card, computer, Internet access, printer and ink, and basic office supplies. 

I feel fortunate that we do have money that we can spend on our children's education, and I try to use it to reduce our family's stress level.  I spend very little on curriculum and spend the bulk of it on outside classes and activities.  This saves me time, and Bee and Bug have really come to enjoy their outside classes, which are very high quality and fun, one advantage to moving to the large metro area where we now live.  They were not happy when our coop ended for the school year. 

So, here is a list of what I spend money on: 

Classes:  Bee will be taking Lego robotics (FLL), stock market game, Diplomacy (the game with real world scenarios), philosophy, drama, math enrichment, and writing.  Bug will be taking Lego robotics (pre-FLL), drama, history, puppets, sewing, math enrichment, and a craft class. 

Activities:  Piano lessons and climbing class at the climbing gym.  (These count towards their "school," but I would obviously pay for activities if they went to traditional school as well). 

Workbooks:  I have bought 6 workbooks, math, grammar, and a writing prompt book, about $10 each.  I also bought the dry erase handwriting books, one of which is already shelved, and being saved for the 13-month-old. 

Curriculum:  I bought Spanish for You!  conversaciones, as well as TOPS Radishes.  I'm really happy with both of these programs.  Maybe I have finally figured out what I like in curriculums.  I may need to buy some additional All About Spelling supplies too, and I may buy more from TOPS.  I try to only buy these things when I need them and not buy too far in advance, since plans can change. 

Supplies:  I didn't have to get much, just some random things for the TOPS Radishes, like extra foil and plastic wrap, masking tape.  I bought a magnifying glass on Amazon.  I bought some slap bracelet rulers, which Bug is obsessed with, from Target.  I got a big pack of mechanical pencils, dry erase markers, a new small dry erase board, and some cardstock. 

I am going to buy the extra large tote bag from Land's End, as the large one (that I've had since my college days) isn't quite going to fit all of our stuff when I add in the spelling.  It has been very convenient having a big bag to put everything inside.  I like it a lot better than keeping things on the shelf. 

Cleaning Service:  This is worth absolutely every penny.  My wonderful husband set us up with a monthly cleaning service.  We have had three cleanings so far, and I cannot express how much stress this has taken off of both of us.  We feel comfortable having people over again.  Once a month, we do a major declutter, and then the cleaners take care of the rest.  We just have to do light cleaning in between.  So, I can focus on being a mom and a teacher, and he can focus on being a dad after work.  And we don't have to feel bad about failing at keeping up with the house.  I am very happy to admit that I cannot do it all. 

TOPS Radishes: 1 week


So we have finished week 1 of TOPS Radishes, and I've been very pleased.  It is for grades 3-8, and I am using it with a 3rd grader (Bug) and a 7th grader (Bee), while looking after a 13-month-old (Dot).  

The great thing about it is that it lasts 4 weeks, and you have to do it every weekday, or your experiments may get a little messed up.  So I have to keep it going, good structure for me.  We missed Tuesday, and I'm going to have to sprout another batch of seeds to do Monday's graph.  

I like that Bee can do the projects independently.  Bug needs a fair bit of assistance from me or Bee.  I don't think I would do this module with a 3rd grader alone, but it's awesome for a younger sibling to do with an older one.  I feel like it's really good experience for Bee, following the instructions.  In 2 years he will be in high school (still home schooled), and he'll need to do a lot of labs.  

I bought TOPS Radishes as a download, and I really like being able to print the activity sheets, much less annoying than making copies. The materials have been easy to find.  

I hopefully will review this again, as we get further into the module, but we've had such a good time with it, I was excited to write and share my cute picture.  We're doing science and having fun!  I'm so proud!  

Friday, June 17, 2016

I won't be giving the Iowa again...

So, last year, I took a week and gave the kids the Iowa Test of Basic Skills.  I blogged about it.  It went very smoothly.  They were happy and comfortable and got lots of breaks.  It was hard not to help them with anything, but I followed the rules.  I was pleased with how it went.  I used Seton Testing Company, and they were great to work with, and I was able to view the boys' results online soon after returning the test. 

This year, we still had a good experience with Seton, but administering the test was a nightmare.  It was totally different with a baby in the house.  It took a very long time to give all sections to both children, especially because Bug was taking the 2nd grade version, so I couldn't test them at the same time. 

Next year, they will be testing at our coop, which will cost slightly more, but I think it will be worth it.  This will give them practice testing in a group setting.  And I won't have to work around a busy toddler's schedule.

Looking for Planning System

So, I am in the process of searching for a homeschool planning system for this year.  There are certain things that I want us to stay accountable for. 

I've read lots of homeschool blog entries about how many great options there are out there.  Well, I consider myself to be a pretty tech-savvy person, and I have to say, that I don't think the options out there are that great.  My only theory about the good reviews is that a lot of people receive free software in exchange for writing positive product reviews and positive blog posts.  

I've tried two of the more expensive programs: Homeschool Planet and Homeschool Tracker, and I have to say that I found them both to be clunky, dated, and nonintuitive.  I'm just not impressed and not willing to invest my time or money in either of these. 

I've tried a number of free planners out there and other free trials for paid software and have not been especially impressed either. 

The best thing I've found so far, I think, is not a software.  It is the free planner available at The Homeschool Mom.   It has PDF's that you print out.  There are a lot of good pages there to print.  I can make it "digital" by taking a picture of each week and sending it electronically to my kids.  I am interested in both the weekly assignments for the 8 months of the year that I plan to give them, as well as the unschooling record, for the 4 months of the year where I don't plan to give assignments. 


Thursday, May 19, 2016

Plans for Next Year (7th grade, 3rd grade, plus a toddler)

It really helps me to write out my plan for the year.  I know from experience that some of them will work out, and some of them won't, so I'm not terribly attached to it.  I would think that this might be helpful to a homeschooler interested in an eclectic plan.  I just piece together things based on what has worked for me and my children in the past.  Much of their learning is unplanned, of course.  


Overall:
  • I'm continuing to aim for efficiency and low stress for me.  My main job has to be taking care of my busy 1-year-old.   The boys are both taking 8 hours per week of classes at a coop.  
  • I'm considering trying Homeschool Planet or Scholaric for lesson planning and record keeping.  That way I can set it up in advance, and the boys can log in and see what they need to do.  I think that will make it easier for me to hold them accountable.  And less for me to remember.  I just have to take care that I choose their assignments carefully and don't assign too much. 
  • We are going to enjoy this year!  I am going to save one day per week for a fun outing, preferably somewhere outside.  My precious Bee only has 2 more school years until high school.  
  • I want to keep most of our school supplies in a big tote bag.  I'd love to do more school at the park, and then enjoy the day there.  That is something I've always wanted to do but haven't yet. 
  • For the formal work we do at home, we will be starting our year in July and taking May and June off, as well as November and December.  (The boys will continue coop classes for part of May, all of November, and part of December, and we will do fun outings and field trips too).  I think this will give me the rest I need, as well as the time to plan. 


For Bee (7th Grade): 

  • Reading:  We will listen to audiobooks in the car.  I will also keep a large ziplock bag with books that I think he might like to read, to pull out at times that he is bored.  This is in addition to the reading that he does on his own. 
  • Writing:  Bee will be taking a writing class at our coop with a teacher that I think does an excellent job!  It is very student centered, and there is a presentation at the end of each 8-week session, so there is a purpose to their writing.  
  • Spelling:  We will continue All About Spelling.  I made the difficult decision today to discontinue the sentence dictation, even though I think it is so valuable.  It just has to do with my time and energy and the fact that we will have a crazy toddler running around.  But I would like to continue aspects of the program.  
  • Language Mechanics:  We are going to try a different workbook, one from the Basic Not Boring series.  
  • Math:  We'll continue with Khan Academy.  Bee will be taking an enrichment class at his coop, as well.  
  • Science:  We have plans to do the TOPS Radishes kit, and we'll see how that goes.  Maybe we'll do more kits.  Bee is doing FLL (lego robotics) again.  
  • Social Studies:  Bee will be doing stock market team again through our coop.  He'll also be taking a class that centers around the game Diplomacy.  I hope to listen to more of Joy Hakim's US History series in the car.  And I'd like to do something on American government, with the election coming up--I just don't know exactly what.  I think we may try Crash Course Government, for one thing.
  • Spanish:  We are going to try Spanish for You! and see how it goes.  I would love to continue with Homeschool Spanish Academy, but I also want to keep our schedule more open. 
  • Music:  Bee will continue piano lessons.  
  • Art:  Bee will take pottery camps this summer.  
  • Drama:  Bee will participate in a drama class this fall.  
  • PE:  Bee will continue class at the climbing gym.  And we'll do our normal family stuff of hiking, biking, park days, skate park, etc.  
Bug (3rd grade):  

  • Reading:  We will listen to audiobooks in the car.  I will also keep a large ziplock bag with books that I think he might like to read, to pull out at times that he is bored.  This is in addition to the reading that he does on his own. 
  • Writing:  Bug will be doing writing with me this year.  I haven't decided exactly how it will go, but we'll be doing lots of funny, silly prompts together.  I got some dry erase handwriting boards for Bug to practice his handwriting on. 
  • Spelling:  We will continue All About Spelling.  I made the difficult decision today to discontinue the sentence dictation, even though I think it is so valuable.  It just has to do with my time and energy and the fact that we will have a crazy toddler running around.  But I would like to continue aspects of the program.  
  • Language Mechanics:  We are going to try a different workbook this year. 
  • Math:  We'll continue with Khan Academy and a workbook called Math for the Gifted Student.  Bug will be taking an enrichment class at his coop, as well.  
  • Science:  We have plans to do the TOPS Radishes kit, and we'll see how that goes.  Maybe we'll do more kits.  Bug loves science.  He is also taking a class on lego robotics at our coop.
  • Social Studies:  Bug will be taking a class on both ancient and US history through our coop.  That is just how it worked out this year.  I hope to listen to more of Joy Hakim's US History series in the car.  And I'd like to do something on American government, with the election coming up--I just don't know exactly what.  
  • Spanish:  We are going to try Spanish for You! and see how it goes.  I would love to start Bug with Homeschool Spanish Academy, but I also want to keep our schedule more open.  
  • Music:  Bug will continue piano lessons.  
  • Art:  Bug will take an art camp this summer.  He will also continue with sewing. 
  • Drama:  Bug will participate in a drama class this fall, as well as a puppet class.  
  • PE:  Bug will continue class at the climbing gym.  And we'll do our normal family stuff of hiking, biking, park days, skate park, etc.  

Dot (toddler):  Board books, snuggles, songs, kisses, hugs, cuddles, playtime outdoors and indoors, funny toddler jokes, and more kisses.  

Monday, May 9, 2016

A Year of Homeschooling with a New Baby

So, I last posted in August.  It's been quite a year.  Adding a baby to the mix (right after an interstate move) was not easy in any way.  What got us through was our resources that involved a minimum of effort from me.  My boys took multiple outside classes.  Bee went back to taking writing from WriteGuide.  He kept up with Homeschool Spanish Academy for much of the year.  We used Khan Academy.  They took piano lessons.  Bee did robot team.  They read many books on their own and listened to hours of audiobooks.  They joined a rock climbing class.  They performed in a play.  Bug took two science classes, a writing class, a sewing class, and a puppet class. 

We did a weekly park day that I organized.  It helped us to make some new friends.  I'm not going to continue that park day, but I have networked enough to figure out what groups I want to be involved in.  Some of them are secret, invitation-only type things, which I find frustrating but understandable.  I have met dozens and dozens of people and networked my butt off.

My boys learned a lot this year, even if it wasn't exactly how I planned in the way I planned it.  In addition to their academics, they learned a lot about babies, which I think will help them immensely one day when they become fathers.

I held my baby, I snuggled my baby, I nursed my baby, and I gave her a million kisses each day.  My baby took her naps on my body. 

And my boys missed some things they might have done.  I would have liked to take them to more places.  Bug really needs to work on his handwriting, and Bee really needs to work on his language mechanics.  But we'll do that next school year. 

Now, baby Dot is about to turn one. She is much easier to take places, and we are able to be outside more, which is how I like it.  We're taking May and June off from any formal school that we do at home (although they are still taking some classes that end next week). 

What I would recommend to any homeschooling mom adding a baby to the mix: 
  • Outside classes, if you can afford them.  Get your kids out of the house and with a friendly homeschool teacher.   
  • Online classes, if you can afford them.  
  • Free online resources, like Khan Academy.  
  • Audio books.  See what you can borrow electronically from the library and consider an Audible subscription. (I wish we'd done more of this for the car). 
  • Documentaries.  Get some playlists ready for your kids.  (I wish I'd done this.)  
  • Buy some books ahead of time to read to your children.  Keeping up with library books ahead of time may be stressful (and expensive if they get lost!)
  • Friends.  Take advantage of any offers of help.  And don't move far away.  : (  
  • Generally find resources that will not require much planning and effort on your part.  Try to enjoy your children and minimize stress.