Dogwood Homeschool

Galloping through fall

Okay, I give up. Life is just not slowing down for me right now! I hope I am not the only one who feels like they just can't keep up. Laundry, homeschool, volunteer obligations, etc. I always fantasize about long walks with fall leaves crunching underneath, curling up to read books, baking, yummy smells, anticipation... well, guess what, that's what I've been up to, but with a 7 year old and a 5 year old, it really is sort of exhausting!

I feel like things are just a blur. We had a vacation, not one, but two. The beach and the mountains. And another possible one coming up, if vacation time works out for my husband. My house has been clean, my house has been trashed. We've been fairly dilligent with some aspects of homeschool, while others have fallen by the wayside. In a downside, my 5.5 year old has discovered playing on the computer, and let's just say my work is cut out for me because getting on the computer seems to be her primary goal in life. (I have been a bit lenient, allowing her to play more than is really good for her, in the hopes that I would be productive in other areas, but that has not worked out as I hoped!)

I'm trying to use Pinterest to come up with and keep track of good ideas for the girls to do while we are reading. They really both focus better when they have a quiet activity to do. Last week they both enjoyed creating sculptures out of marshmallows and toothpics (done beautifully here) though it was a bit more challenging than we thought it would be!

Both girls also loved experimenting with shaving cream (I let them add tempura paint and swirl it around). Also, we have created some Owl Dolls (by tracing an owl coloring page, coloring it in, and then I sewed pattern fabric to the back) and done a bit of hand embroidery. I always want to do more, but need to be thankful for what I manage to do!

And of course we've enjoyed our park days so much. Or at least I have, sadly it seems to be hit or miss with my oldest- she doesn't like parks that are too crowded, because then it cramps her style of play (big imaginary games) and she has suddenly decided that she doesn't like to make new friends at the park, and instead will talk about other times we've been with friends and wish that the friends were there with us. My 5 year old has entered a very friendly stage, and tells me that everyone she talks to is her friend, once she knows her name. And she tells them all about how she is on Jumpstart on the computer, and that she got Twinkle Toes, like she ALWAYS wanted. :) Isn't she cute! I wish I could balance like this. She's fairly high off the ground, on the edge of a waist-high sandbox.

I hope that by blogging some of this, I will actually remember this once it's all over! This is all going so fast!

Two months in... and homeschool organization/curriclum overview

Fall is always the busiest time of year for us! We've had quite the exciting past couple of months, including some travel... which is always enjoyable but does make it challenging to get a good rhythm or routine going. We keep trying, and I know that after Christmas we'll have months with not much going on. I plan to write a couple of posts about our vacation(s), some challenges we've had and what has been working for us to overcome them, thoughts on scaffolding a child with learning challenges, and hopefully a bigger post about organization and some pictures of our "learning" spaces.

Today I just wanted to share the latest in my ever-changing (and improving!) homeschool/art closet organization. I had started the year with two crates, one for each girl. I quickly realized that one of the downsides of that approach was that things lay flat, instead of upright as I had intended. So I kept losing things. One thing I have learned is that if it is not accessible, it (book, activity, game, whatever) will NOT get used. So enter Plan B. I bought 2 packs of cheap Magazine files from Ikea this past weekend, and then sorted/labeled our materials in them. I have them on the shelf in our closet that is next to the table where we do our schoolwork. I put the most regularly used in the middle, and the least used or referenced only by me to the sides. Behind the files (deep shelf!) I have tucked things I need accessible but not on hand always, like an art smock, extra notebooks, etc.

Here's the big view of the two main shelves... on the bottom we keep shoes, then the bottom shelf has our "messy" art supplies of tempera and watercolor paints, markers, glue, paintbrushes and a good old "junk drawer" where we keep miscellaneous items that the girls like to use to create.

The art shelf definitely gets messy and needs a lot of attention. But that means that we use everything, so that's good, right? :)

Here is the left side of our curriculum/books shelf... mostly what I use with Charlotte. In the middle we have the most important of ALL, our beloved Ambleside Readings and the checklist binder that I use. Then math, All About Spelling, and some random items that I grouped together that I don't use quite as often. Oh, the pink box is for All About Spelling (holds cards) and you can't really see it, but two jars are hiding in the wings- our Narration Jars, which I must confess we haven't used since we made them, but I hope to start using soon!

Charlotte's math box includes Singapore Math and Life of Fred: Apples. I recently caught on that handing her the workbook itself to do overwhelms her, but if I copy a page from the workbook and give it to her, that works better. So I need to add a file to store copies of math pages that I can pull out, and maybe some lesson plans. I feel like I'm moving toward using Singapore as a resource and bringing in more living math and games to supplement.

And here is Gwendolyn's side, though some of the handwriting stuff is for Charlotte as well.

We use (and love!) the All About Reading Level 1 program with Gwendolyn... she is still a "pre-reader" at 5.5, working on letter recognition for lower case letters now, and letter sounds. Her progress in reading really shows me every child is different- her sister was reading some by the same age, but I don't even plan to start an official reading curriculum for Gwen until she's 6. She LOVES the puppet, which is called "Ziggy" in the curriculum, but she renamed her "Skylight" and it is a GIRL Zebra, obviously. I have quite a lot of "math" resources for Gwendolyn, most of which I just pull out when she's needing something to occupy her while I'm working with her sister. She loves mazes, so we have a big book of mazes. Also a friend gave me Year 1 of MEP, which has been a good resource. Finally, we have our collection of handwriting and drawing resources. I have several volumes of Draw Write Now, which we all enjoy (even me!), Gwen's Handwriting without Tears workbooks, and a cursive book for Charlotte... I do not require that for her, but it is available if she becomes interested. And last but not least, my Five in a Row manuals. I also stash trays with "in progress" projects on top of the file holders, since I don't have a good place to keep them otherwise.

My challenge with this closet is always, always, always just maintaining it so it stays in good shape. I've accepted that once or twice a month I have to spend 20 or 30 minutes tidying it up, because it is heavily used. I wish it was a better, more beautiful space, but at least I can close the door!

I'm considering adding an over-the-door hanger for shoes to have the pockets to put things in, like scissors, glue sticks, stickers, extra supplies, etc. Just need to remember to shop for that!

Plans for this blog

This is the time of year that all homeschool moms know too well- planning season! I know that some of us are more on top of things, and have long since laid out plans. Some of us might have been a bit worn out from finishing up the last year, and decided to take a well-deserved summer break. And others... well, the planning gets done some how! I have been able to put myself in all three groups over time.

This will be my third "official" year of homeschooling, as my oldest daughter Miss C is now a rising second grader, and Miss G is now officially kindergarten-aged! I have spent much of the summer thinking, reading, researching and praying about our new school year. Last year brought some significant challenges that I hope to write about on this blog, as well as many moments of joy. My hope is that this blog will be both encouraging and realistic, as I share some "highlights" of our homeschool experience, and also some of the challenges we face (in a way that is respectful to my children) and how we are working through them.

My homeschool philosophy is developing over time, through life experience, reading and knowing my children and their learning styles. I am most influenced by Charlotte Mason, a pioneering and inspirational educator who advocated a deep and broad education for all children, anchored by "living books" and much time outdoors and engaged in real and relevant activities. The "core curriculum" for my older daughter is Ambleside Online, which is a free online Charlotte Mason curriculum. For my younger daughter I will be drawing on the wonderful Five in a Row Curriculum, which is not explicitly "Charlotte Mason" but I find it compatible. I plan to write another post about some of our curriculum choices, so I won't elaborate too much right now!

I do have some other topics that I'd love to blog about, related to learning at home and beyond. Here is some of what I hope to write about here:

Arts and Crafts: Child-led art and handicrafts (learning to do real things) are an important part of our daily life. The girls love our well-stocked art cabinet and never stop surprising me with the projects they come up with and what they want to learn to do! I hope to share some of our favorite projects and activities... I can't promise true originality, but I can promise you that they had fun and it was messy.

Nature Walks/Exploring: Charlotte Mason encouraged parents and teachers to facilitate hours and hours of outdoor time for children. This is an ongoing challenge for me, as we cope with weather extremes and my motivation to get them outside. My goal is to have a weekly "outdoor hour" of nature study as well as regular walks and time outside- not just at playgrounds, but also in more natural environments for my children to explore. I would really like to feature different local parks and nature areas that we explore.

Life at home: One of the challenges of homeschooling is that your children are with you, at home, for many hours each week. This can be both a blessing and a challenge. I know I'm not the only homeschool mom trying to figure out how to keep the house running while also facilitating learning! Sometimes it's messy, sometimes it's crazy... but we are always working toward a cleaner, more pleasant home, and the girls are a big part of that.

Out & About: We are on the go quite a bit (too much my husband says!) and sometimes I'm not quite sure why. Maybe if I blog about some of our on-the-go adventures and field trips it will help me remember what we did last week... and also help me make sure we're making good choices about what we spend our time away from home doing!

Curriculum: I don't think you can have a homeschool blog without writing about curriculum, can you? I am sure I will write about our curriculum choices and what's working and what's not.

Planning and organization: Nuts and bolts... What are we going to do, how are we going to do it, and how will we keep track of it all? I have hopes to develop a portfolio for each of my girls this year.

That's not an exhaustive listing... but that's what's on my mind in terms of what I'd love to blog about. It will be interesting (to me, at least!) to see if I really end up writing about!

And just a little trip down memory lane for me... Miss G painting when she was a bit younger!