Spelling tests and aliens.

Now we're starting to get it!
 Reese is catching on and loving the home program. His work ethic is improving faster than I had expected. The quality of work is improving, but there are still a few struggles. We'll keep pushing through and see where he is with fine motor skills in about a month - if there isn't an improvement, he'll be assessed by the O.T through the home school.

 We're still working on liquids and solids. It's hard to pace everything! I've now cut science down to 2-3 days a week in order to ensure we have enough of a program to continue until June. We have had a few extra experiments - after mixing various liquids to test density, Reese was curious about how other liquids not listed would respond. It's wonderful to see him showing such an interest, especially when it's unprompted! This is something we've hoped for, but up until now hadn't had. It's great!!

 We've gone back a bit with phonics/fine motor activities. Reese is doing very basic tracing pages - alphabet, shapes, numbers, etc.. He's also struggling with sounding out words. Again, part of that could just be laziness on his part, or maybe he wasn't taught in a way he can understand. We've been using our word wall often, he has a dictionary that he's able to write 'new to him' words in for reference. What blows my mind - the boy can spell big or complicated words, but struggles with "the".

 We are doing weekly spelling words - last week we used science related words, this week we chose compound words.  Spelling IS critical, and I take it very seriously.
 On Monday Reese is given a new list of words. I print out the initial list with him so he is able to watch me form the letters neatly. Afterwards, he reads the list to me and prints out each word beside  mine.
 On Tuesday evening, Reese sits down and reads the word to JP and Lauren. Reese then prints out the words to show Lauren how to print them properly.
 At the end of lessons on Wednesday we focus on the words again. Reese is asked to come up with a sentence of his own for each word. Often, he will be the one printing out the sentence. If he's had a struggle during lessons, I'll give him a break and do the printing - but he still has to form the sentence. By mid-February, he will have his own laptop for certain tasks, so he'll have the option to type out the sentences.
 Thursday night is Dad's night - again, they review the words verbally. Dad gives Reese a 'prep-test' - chooses the words in random order and Reese spells outloud.
 Friday is our spelling test. I read the words, Reese prints them out.
It sounds like SO much work, but it only takes about 10 minutes a day. When he was in school, we followed the same routines during the week for spelling tests, and I wanted to keep that going. :)

 Now, we're up to something fun in Language Arts. I wanted to focus on creative writing. I want Reese to realize that HE could make up stories that are just as good as the ones he reads.
Over the weekend we had a family project. The kids traced each other on Bristol Board. We were going to use real people, but the shapes were a bit rough. ;) We turned them into ALIENS!!

Lauren loved the idea. She named her alien Nerual.

Reese wasn't as excited about it - "Homework on a Saturday?!" was his response. He finally came around and had fun doing it. His alien has an upside down face.
He named his alien Eseer.








So these are the characters we're working with. For the next two weeks, our creative writing will focus on these aliens. We've already formed the basics - who they are, where they're from, age. Now we need to dig a bit deeper and turn that into a story.
 I'm going to make 3 generic pages for Reese to get him started- he'll fill in random blanks like he did with this alien's sign. But the last 7 pages of the 'book' will be his ideas. I'm hoping the end result will be a short story telling a bit more about Eseer - the who, what, where, when and why.
 We'll recycle this idea with different themes every so often until he gets the hang of it. 

 



  Now, I have to go print out our work for tomorrow!

Science, Organization and pictures.

 Wow! What a week. In science we've started covering liquids and solids. Reese decided to present a challenge to me - find something that could be a solid, a liquid, and then a solid again. I thought about using ice, but that wasn't tricky enough. So we went out and bought some glycerin (any excuse for a Michael's trip!). At first we simply melted it down and let it reform while we recorded our observations and discussed the process. Then we took it a step further and turned it into soap. We've made a few scents - Reese is showing off the cucumber lemon lime (green), strawberry vanilla (red), as well as the chocolate cinnamon.
When Lauren came home from school, he had a great time telling her how it was made, and did a great job explaining the process. Tomorrow, he's going to do the process with her and explain step by step so she can understand. Might make a video of that. The deal is, if he can properly explain things to Lauren, he won't have to do a written test about what we've covered so far.

 We've also been playing with a lot of liquids. I love these worksheets - so great for teaching him how to properly record his observations. This one in particular, we were testing solids in liquid. Reese was allowed to pick any three objects to see if it would dissolve. He chose Lego (to trick me), a candy and a piece of paper.

 Nothing quite like starting the day smelling different liquids. I wish coffee had been on the list! Reese was pretty bummed that I didn't have any rubbing alcohol - we'll have to grab some for tomorrow and finish that part up.

 Both of us enjoyed mixing different liquids. On Friday Reese is allowed to select what one 30 minute learning block will be. He's already told me we'll be spending that time mixing different liquids and recording our observations. I'm SO glad he's into science!

  Organizing an entire collection of work is difficult. I'll admit, I toss out most of what normally comes home from school. If it's decent, I take pictures and throw out the real copy. I only end up keeping about 5 real items per school year. Now I have to keep every.last.thing. Ahhh!
  At this point I've put various notebooks into binders. After we complete a lesson, I staple it in right away. It ensures everything is always in a proper place, and JP and I are able to take turns assessing Reese's work.

It's a bonus sorting everything this way. Reese does date every piece of work he's completed, but I also date and write what the topic was. I'm left with enough space to jot a few notes underneath about how the lesson was (ie: 'review again in a week', 'too easy', etc.). 

 The kid LOVES math. I don't know where he's getting that from, but math is for sure his favourite subject. Even above science.

 Everything was going to be completed in workbooks like this. Until I realized, when it comes time to review his portfolio, I'm carrying A LOT of random workbooks to meet with the teacher overseeing us. It felt too unorganized.

 The one thing I absolutely loved about 'real' school was the word wall. After the class added a new word (via spelling tests), it would be added to the word wall for easy review. It's something that I absolutely wanted to carry into home. This isn't the final product, this is what we've come up with for now. I want to make a better version, but I'm drawing a blank. Suggestions are always welcome. :)

Reese can tell time, but with the way homeschooling works, it's hard to estimate exact times (so far, at least). If I say "This lesson will only take 20 minutes" and it takes 40, I'd be facing a meltdown. If I say it takes 40 but really only takes 20, I'd have a kid wanting to have 20 minutes of free-time for no reason. That just doesn't fly. So instead of focusing on time, we're focusing on tasks. Again, this will be made to look prettier eventually - this was slapped together for fast results.
Each orange task has Velcro on it. It covers all of the basics. As we complete one task, his picture from the upper right moves on to where we were. Now he's able to see "Okay, we've completed spelling and math, so I have free-time next!". It's easier to focus on jobs than minutes at this point.

 The biggest problem I'm facing right now - Reese had A LOT of freedom at school. There didn't seem to be a real standard of 'acceptable' work. If he slapped some words on a piece of paper, that was good enough. Even if the words weren't legible. It's been a real shock to him, because I actually expect better results. I know he's capable of more. I have samples of his work from 3+ years ago, and his printing was clearer than it is now. I'm not sure HOW they let that happen, but it has. Now I have to undo three years of sloppy behaviors.
 Reese was also given a lot of free-time at school. He seems to expect a break after the smallest things. Printing your name and dating the paper does not require a break - your hand can't be sore after that! 

 Reese has handled the change WAY better than I thought. I was slightly worried he'd crack, or pull things like, "You're mom, you can't be my teacher!". In the past two weeks, he's only needed a few small reminders to keep on task. I think it helps that our classroom is on another level of the house - there's no need to go into that room except for work, and he's working really hard to respect that.

 Now, off to organize our tomorrow tasks. :)

-K

Here we go!

I never thought I'd say this, but I am officially the parent of a home educated child. I'm filled with happiness, and of course, fear! I must admit, I'm going to miss the quiet days with both kids at school.  However, nothing means more to me than the ability to be a part of my son's education...to be the one helping him learn and grow. Maybe if this works out well, the youngest will join us next year for grade one.

 Many factors led to our decision. But I've accepted that the 'how' or 'why' aren't important. This is where we are, this is how it is. The unknown is always an intimidating thing...but we're diving in together, as a family. :)

  R is a 7 year old, 2nd grade student. Developmentally he's on track - there are no delays or setbacks. The school claimed that there were behavioral concerns...though we haven't seen any at home for at least a year now. The biggest problem we face is whining when it's time to clean his room (is there such a thing as a 7 year old that enjoys chores?).

 The goal of this blog is to keep track of his work and progress. Photos of assignments may be posted. Sometimes our lesson plans will be posted as well. At times R will be posting videos - he might be discussing a topic we've covered, maybe reading a book, or maybe just to chat and work on speaking without apprehension.

 So, here we go!

-K.