Learning Will Happen

Today, my new baby is two weeks old. Today was also the first day I have been left to take care of my four little ones without help. I have been dreading this day and praying everything goes well, and that I can handle the messes, the cooking, the diapers, the nursing, the entertaining, and on top of it all the teaching of my babies. 

I have been blessed with the Lord's tender mercies today. Today has been such a great day despite my three older ones recovering from a stomach flu, it being a cold wet inside day, and having a nursing newborn that needs a lot of attention from me. 

This morning the boys got up and ate a few snacks while I finished nursing the baby. I finally was able to go downstairs and made breakfast. We were eating by 9am. While the kids finished eating I swept and cleaned up. While we ate we listened to scripture stories about Jesus Christs miracles and his apostles and it prompted some discussion about choosing the right. 

Lesson #1 patience, independence

Lesson #2 when we chose the right we are happy

We were gifted some madlibs for Christmas and my 6 year old LOVES them. We did about three today right after breakfast at the kitchen table. 

Lesson #3 nouns, adjectives, verbs, new vocabulary like "filthy" 

After the madlibs I put the baby in her baby wrap for a nap and headed upstairs to brush our teeth. My six year old made his bed and brushed his teeth, got dressed, and came over to tell me he was going to take out the clean laundry and put the wet clothes in the dryer too. He did that and then informed me he wanted to sort the clean laundry and put it away. He initiated this chore all on his own, and was happy to do it!  

Lesson # 4 personal hygiene, family responsibility, cooperation, organization,cleanliness

While upstairs putting laundry away the kids noticed some new books and they wanted me to read to them. By this time the baby needed to nurse. So I nursed the baby while we read four books on math concepts, and community helpers. 

Lesson #5 addition, all about police, paramedics, and fire men 

After our stories we had a snack and some free time. After a while my son came to me again to tell me he wanted to prepare lunch for everyone! So he put together a nice little lunch of an apple, blackberries, chips and salsa, and trail mix. 

Lesson #6 joy in service, putting together a healthy meal

After lunch the little girls napped while we played a dice game where we rolled the dice and wrote out addition problems on the white board. We played for over 30 minutes. The boys didn't want to stop! 

Lesson #7 writing addition problems 

The day wasn't exactly perfect, but it was the kind of day I needed to know that although I have a lot going on, and things may not be ideal always, there is so much to be learned from just living life! I know my Heavenly Father lives and knows me and my needs, desires, and worries. Today was just a confirmation to me that He is present in my life, and the life of my family. 

Learning will happen in our little home with the Lord's guiding hand. 

 

Our Curriculum

One of the things I have come to realize is that homeschooling can be very freeing and flexible. This is especially true here in Texas where the homeschooling laws are very flexible. I LOVE that because it gives us the freedom to adapt learning to each child's level and interests. 

  People sometimes ask me what curriculum we are using, and I often respond like this: 

First, I have read several books that have helped me realize my style and my kids style, for now. The beauty of homeschooling is that you can change approaches as often as you see fit for the needs of your individual child. That's why I say this is what works for us NOW. It may not be what works for other homeschoolers or what will work for us in the future. 

A couple of the books I mentioned that have helped me understand our homeschooling philosophy are Free To Learn by Peter Gray, and A Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver Demille. Both of these books have helped me realize my children need freedom to explore and cultivate their love of learning at this early stage in life. I don't follow the philosophies exactly, but we do our version that so far has worked well for us. 

My kids need variety. Because if this we have opted not to purchase a boxed curriculum. Plus, those can be super expensive! The ONLY curriculum we have purchased is our math curriculum. We hardly spend any money on curriculum! There is just so much out there that is free!

 Keep in mind my kids are 6 and under. I mostly focus on my six year old who just finished kindergarten. We like to do unit studies, which is where we pick a theme for a week or two and try to tie the theme in to as many subjects as possible. I like to interview my son and ask him what he wants to learn about every few months.  This is based on our kindergarten school year. The little ones sometimes tag along but I don't push it AT ALL, and surprisingly, they are also learning so much with no effort from me :)

Here are the resources we use for our homeschool by subject: 

READING: 

• Bob Books with free printables from several websites. A search on Pinterest has more! 
• The library! We love checking out books on our theme. We also sometimes check out read along books with CD's or audio books to listen to in the car. 
• Hoooked on Phonics readers- My sister found an AMAZING deal on the entire hooked on phonics kit at Goodwill! We mostly just do the readers for free reading time but in the future I can see us using more of the curriculum. 
• Chapter book read alouds. We purchased a whole set of Roald Dahl chapter books at Costco, and for a while we read several of the books for our read aloud time. We really enjoyed James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and The Fantastic Mr. Fox. We are planning on reading more chapter books like Peter Pan and Charlotte's Web. 

WRITING:

We try to make writing as natural and as fun as possible. At first we were just practicing writing letters and words on the chalkboard, white board, on the window, on a salt tray, etc. More recently for our writing we try to do the following:

• Copy work- to work on handwriting I write down a scripture and my son copies it. Usually it's just half a scripture and I try to encourage him to make it as neat as possible.
• Lists- I will give my son a paper and tell him to write four things he wants at the grocery store. I help him spell the words, but require his handwriting to be very neat so we can actually read it.
• Letters to friends and family. He is required to write at least one sentence by himself, and then he dictates the rest and I write it. Then he reads it back to me. 
• Lapbooks- A lapbook is a type of file folder report on a given theme with different activities inside on different subjects. The writing sections could include new words, labeling parts, making lists, writing about an experience, copying words etc. My son loves his lapbooks :)
• Writing Books- My son occasionally will ask to write a book. We staple pages together and he either illustrates the book, or cuts out pictures from a magazine, and then dictates while I write. I try to guide him sometimes to help his sentences make sense:) His books are usually pretty silly and random, but I LOVE that! It is just so funny to read them. 

MATH

• RightStart Mathematics- a very hands on curriculum with a ton of fun math games for practice. It's perfect for my son. We love it!
• Playing store with realistic money and cash register. Another favorite.
• free ipad apps for counting money, telling time, patterns, etc. 

SCIENCE

As the theme of the week allows, we do a lot of science! 

• Pinterest. There are always so many ideas on Pinterest. I LOVE pinterest. It has made homeschooling possible for us. 
• 20 minute science
• Education.com- lots of free printable and ideas
• Netflix- The Magic School Bus, Wild Kratts, nature and science documentaries
• Amazon Instant Video- Popular Mechanics for Kids, other nature and science documentaries
• Lapbooks- mentioned above. Some that we have done are Sharks, Penguins, Planets, and Desert Animals. I get all of the components free by searching on pinterest and on other websites. There are a lot of free ones at homeschoolshare.com 

MUSIC

• Church hymnbook and Primary Songbook
• Pandora radio

GOSPEL

• The Friend Magazine
• The Illustrated Scripture Stories
• Mormon Channel App
• and the Scriptures of course

ESPAÑOL

I like to come up with literacy activities when we do our reading time. For Spanish we do everything from little board games where we have to read the words, card games, manipulating plastic letters to make words, using education cubes,and sometimes I make up my own simple worksheets to practice syllables and vocabulary. There are not as many free resources I have found for teaching a bilingual child Spanish literacy, but I feel we're doing okay with what we have so far. Here are some of the little books we use.

• Tesoros De lectura 
• Libritos de fonetica Lectura- my friend passed me these little readers after she used then in her homeschool

 Our first grade themes will be based on a Magic School Bus elementary science lesson plans. We will probably change some themes around and put other ones in there. We also have a music curriculum we are looking at. We acquired it for free and it has information on basics of music as well as composers, and styles of music. I'm excited to give it a try. We will continue with all the other resources for our other subjects. We're having a great time with our homeschool, and we're looking forward to continuing on after a week of  a little break!

Number Three: Relax, and let some things go!

Above is a picture of our upstairs play area. This is what it looks like currently. This is actually better than it looked like at the beginning of the week. On Monday I had at least five loads of clean laundry and another couple baskets of dirty laundry strewn on the floor.

Life with three little kids ages 6 and under, and expecting number four, can be a bit hectic and MESSY! We get our fair share if illnesses that get passed around from one person to the other. To top it off, my husband works full time and is going to school for his MBA to a university an hour and a half away. Needless to say, he is not home with us very often so life can get even more tiring for this pregnant mom!

With all that said, one of the biggest lessons I have learned this first year if homeschooling is to relax and let some things go! This is a continual lesson for me, especially recently. If I had it my way, my house would be so organized, clean, and we would have full blown meals on the table every evening. I have learned that at this stage in our families life, that is pretty much impossible. 

Since I'm homeschooling I have learned what a blessing it is to be able to spend time with my kids and to really listen to them and enjoy their company. They require all my time and pretty much all my energy. I have come to realize that they need ME, and if that means the dishes need to pile up, the messes need to be strewn everywhere, the laundry will need to sit on the floor another day, then that's what needs to happen right now. We have had cherished moments when we enjoy reading books together, running outside in the pouring rain, or had a dance party in the living room. Those are moments that are WAY better than scrubbing dishes or mopping floors!!

Number Two: Learning Should Be FUN!!

The second thing I learned this year as a new homeschooling mom is this: 

Learning should be FUN!!!

When I first started teaching my son at the age of around 3 and a half, I would plan activities and print things out, and them my son would spend like two minutes on one activity and refuse to do anymore! I was frustrated. I have slowly come to realize that the way I was trying to teach my son was not the most effective way he was going to learn. I also have realized that children develop at their own pace. What my son may not be able to do now, he may be able to do in a month or two. At one point my son kept skipping the number four when he would count in Spanish. It seemed like weeks and weeks we would practice counting and he would just skip four. I was so frustrated, and he could sense that. He would just freeze and get so nervous. It wasn’t fun for him anymore. It was just me testing him and him realizing he wasn’t living up to my expectations. Once I decided to just relax and have fun, then that wall came down and he was able to learn better without so much stress.

From birth through about age 7, kids learn through play and experimentation. This is the stage when the LOVE of learning needs to be instilled in children. I have been enjoying reading books such as Free To Learn by Peter Gray and A Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver DeMille, where I have learned more about the importance of giving children the opportunities to play and instill a love for learning in order for them to be able to essentially educate themselves.

Children are naturally curious and excited to discover new ideas. I have also been very surprised by the times when my son randomly shows me that our fun and free approach has helped him make connections. After beginning our new math curriculum (which I love), called RightStart Mathematics, my son surprised me when he said “Mami, ten is two, two, two, two, two!” I was so surprised and excited to see his little mind at work on a car ride.

We have also loved doing what some may call unit studies. A unit study is where we chose a theme and study that theme in as many subjects as possible for a week or two. I have learned that if you have a plan in mind, but when it comes down to it, nobody is excited about it, then ask your child what he wants to learn! I did, and my son came up with so many fun ideas like racecar week, ocean week, shark week, weather week, desert week, and dinosaur week, just to name a few. He is excited because he WANTS to learn about these subjects, which makes me excited too.

I want to spark my child’s creativity and enthusiasm for learning. We plan on fostering an environment where he can play, explore, and learn. If it’s not FUN for both of us, we will reevaluate and revisit the task later if we need to. This is one of the things I have learned this year. 

Number One: I am NOT Patient

There were always some preconceived ideas I had about homeschooling. It was pretty foreign to me. I thought that in order to homeschool I had to be super patient, organized, great at keeping my house clean, and be very knowledgeable. Basically I thought you need to have all the answers and know exactly what to teach at each grade level and how to teach it before you even think about starting to homeschool. Well, I've learned many things this year. 

Number one: I am not patient! But like it or not, I have daily opportunities to practice. 
I am not PATIENT!! I think some people may see me and think I'm super patient. I am actually prone to get anxious and frustrated easily when things don't go my way or how I expected they would turn out. I am so very blessed to be a mother of three beautiful children. I love them, and think they are the greatest blessing that Heavenly Father has given our little family. I believe motherhood is a blessing, not only because of the joy you experience from your little ones, but also for the many opportunities for growth and learning that it gives me. I have the chance to practice my patience EVERY DAY with my babies. And I still have a lot more to learn. People say, "You must have a lot of patience to homeschool". Ha, ha, ha! NO WAY!! There is MUCH room for growth for me in that area. You don't need to be perfectly patient to be a mother, patience is a virtue you practice and develop in the the process of being a mother.

How we came to the decision

It has been one year this month since my husband and I made the final decision that homeschooling was the right path for our family. It was a long process of several years that brought us to the decision. Why did we decide to homeschool?  About four years ago when my oldest son was only about one and a half years old I started really thinking about his education and what the options would be for him. We had just moved to a brand new state and I really wanted to look into a bilingual education. I wasn't sure how it was going to work out.

A year after that we moved again  in the same city, and I met a family in our new ward at church who was a homeschooling family. I was intrigued. I asked questions and thought it would be very overwhelming to be a homeschooling mom. I thought the mom of that family was probably super mom homeschooling all four of her kids and I could never do that! But I still had a lot of respect for her and thought it was interesting.

When I was pregnant with baby number three I decided my son should go to preschool for two days a week. We sent him and it gave me a little break, but it was hard to be consistent with the things we were doing at home. It just didn't feel like it flowed. It was difficult to get a routine going. He would also come home cranky and very tired. I feel like the whole thing of me pushing school at home and at preschool was just working him too hard for a little four year old. I kept getting thoughts and feelings (that I now recognize as promptings from the Lord), about homeschooling. But I felt so very inadequate and unprepared!! How could I have the time and energy to homeschool my son with two other little babies at home?

I had so many doubts and questions. I had a lot of encouragement from my husband and my sister telling me that I COULD homeschool, and that everything would work out. I prayed, and prayed, and finally felt like the Lord answered my prayer. I think i knew all along, I just needed an extra push of motivation to make the decision to do it.

I feel homeschooling has been a tremendous blessing for us! I don't believe homeschooling is for everyone, but I do believe that if the Lord lets you know that homeschooling is the right path for your family He will give you the strength, energy, knowledge to do it. Homeschooling is like motherhood I believe. You can never prepare enough, you just have to do it! Once you dive in the Lord will give you the answers you seek and help you accomplish what he asks you to do. I am so glad we made the decision! This year has been wonderful! In another post I hope to write about all the many lessons I have learned as a newbie homeschooling mom this year.