In a household of 8, there are things that simply make life easier. One such thing I used to take for granted was having early readers. Ease in homeschooling skyrockets for parents and children once the skill of fluent reading is mastered. Children can read directions for themselves and work more independently once they can confidently and fluently read.
My two oldest children learned to read pretty easily. This is despite the fact that the oldest started late (we adopted him at the age of 7 from a non-english speaking country, he was reading fluently before he hit nine with the use of alphapbet cards and McGuffey Revised readers. No phonics workbooks or other materials were needed. The same was true of his younger brother. At four we started the McGuffey Primer after the basic letter sounds were mastered. By first grade the Second Reader was finished and DS 2 was reading Alice in Wonderland and his Apologia Science book independently. I did not know this was not normal for most people. I taught two kids to read the same way and they were both excelling.
I started the McGuffey Primer with my third and fourth children but part way through (I think in the First Reader) my second child started flipping letters and entire words. This child read well, but seemed to begin really tripping up with writing and began flipping letters. I researched dyslexia and programs to correct and prevent reversals. I learned about Writing Road to Reading (WRTR) and bought the book. I read through it three times and became very frustrated with it. I couldn't figure out how to implement the philosophy of the book into a real life teaching scenario in my home. I liked what I was reading, but I became frustrated with the fact that what I was reading was useless if I couldn't figure out how to DO it. Then a friend told me about Spell to Write and Read (SWR). I looked it up online and bought it. After reading The Writing Road to Reading three times, Spell to Write and Read was a breeze. I dropped McGuffey and dove in with SWR. This is where I believe I went wrong. I should not have dropped the readers.
You see, SWR and WRTR type programs in general tell parents that students will learn to spell words first. After students learn to spell while learning rules of spelling and phonemic patters, the child will just pick up a book and start reading. Like a good ol' homeschooling mom with lots of kiddos I included DS 3 in with DS 2's spelling lessons. DS 4 was just too little, so he kept reading every day in McGuffey.
I learned the hard way that spelling to learn to read seriously retards a child's ability to be an early reader. My third child is frustrated with reading. He isn't just picking up books and reading as WRTR type programs say he will. He does and can read, but reading fluently in third grade is a serious struggle for him. He no longer enjoys it because he feels like he just can't understand what he's reading and he gets emotionally upset and ends up hating it. DS 4 (1 year younger than DS 3) loves to read and read as well as DS 2 in first grade. I see a pattern here. The only one who isn't thriving, had to spell to read while mom put his reader lessons on hold.
SWR is an excellent program for teaching spelling. I do plan on using it with my younger children, but I absolutely will not use it to teach reading. I will use it to teach spelling after a child is able to read.
Phonics vs. Sight Words
I would like to say a few humble words about this raging debate among educators about phonics versus sight methods of teaching reading. I have read and was sold in the beginning of a phonics only approach to teaching a child to read. The whole word approach to teaching reading has been painted by phonics proponents as the evil villan that will destroy children's ability to learn to read. However, many phonics programs will teach children sight words that seem to "break" the rules. Does this somehow undermine the argument of the phonics proponents that the sight word approach will mar a child's ability to have a command of the written word?
Why the fuss? As I have read noth sides of the debate online, I am coming to the conclusion that the Phonics vs. Sight Reading or Whole Language debate amounts to alot of political mumbo jumbo. Two groups of people want schools to follow their way at the expense of the other. The teaching materials in agreement with the current winner sell in mass, making big money for curriculum publishers.
What I find with my children is that they need both, never just one or the other. This has been true of all of them. My three year old can identify many sight words and he is learning his letters quite well. The goal is to get him reading fluently by first grade. If by the time he is five, he is needing further phonics instruction, I will give him thorough lessons in phonics. (Rod and Staff's first grade phonics lessons are great.) However, words like could, or though are more easily learned by sight for a little guy.
Early vs. Late Learning
I have heard many moms suggest to me in my early years of schooling that I should not push my kids to start official school too soon. Especially when boys are the students (I have all boys), it is assumed that boys just need more time before learning to read and do school in general. I will say in light of my above comments, that I am very against procrastinating a child's education. Children (yes, boys included) absorb huge amounts of information in their toddler years. Children are very capable of learning more than grown-ups think to give them credit for. Little boys are capable of learning to sit still in church or to obey their parents and how to read. My kids haven't learned more at early ages, becuase they are limited to the amount of information presented to them. Their abilities far exceed the limitations that "experts" place on them in educational literature.
If I could give anyone only one piece of homeschooling advice it would be simple. Teach them to read as early as possible!
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Is your child ADD, or is he a Kinesthetic Learner?
There is a high occurrence of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) diagnosis among young boys in schools today. I notice that many children who are supposedly ADD are in the elementary years when they are first diagnosed. In most cases these children are put on psycotropic drugs akin to Speed in how they affect the body.
Many people close to me have been labled ADD. While some may truly have an autoimmune disorder that affects their brain's ability to focus properly, I am convinced that what many folks call ADD in the school system is a simple case of a kinesthetic learner being forced into a chair for much of the school day. The public or private school classroom is geared and biased toward the student who learns in an auditory and visual manner. Such children can sit and listen or watch their teacher talk and show pictures on a projector, a chalkboard or in a book and process the information. The kinesthetic learner, however, considers this environment a mild form of torture. Learning becomes associated with a desk and chalk board. School becomes a dread, and a distaste for learning may eventually be fostered.
The kinesthetic child does not fit in a traditional classroom. He is, in fact, a hindrance to a positive classroom environment. This child needs to handle and experience things like manipulatives and meaningful projects to learn. They need to be allowed to move around or doodle (whichever works best for the child) quietly during lecture. They need shorter sessions with frequent short breaks. Lectures that last half an hour don't work well with these students, especially when they are in their early primary years. If a kinesthetic child stood in the back of the classroom and paced back and forth quietly while listening to Mrs. Jones explain how to multiply he would likely be told to get back into his chair and listen. The problem is that he listens best when moving and thirty minutes of sitting still guarantees he will learn nothing more than that he hates "learning" (ie. sitting still). If he starts to tap his pencil later in an effort to fulfill the teacher's command to listen, his name may be written on the board or mom may get a call.
While we see the traditional classroom isn't an ideal learning environment for a kinesthetic learner, what about a homeschooling environment? Learning at home provides obvious potential to tailor a curriculum to a child's learning style, but juggling such a demand with more than two children who are all at different grade levels and abilities can be quite a challenge. The traditional classroom allows a teacher to focus on one subject for one age group all of the time. This teacher is a specialist. She gets to narrow her teaching to one area, year after year, to many students taking in the same information. The homeschooling teacher, however, teaches many subjects for multiple grade levels at the same time and the material to teach changes every year. This difference can make the job of the teacher mind numbing if one or more children in the home need hands on activity and movement as a means of learning. In a household with many children, mom often wants to encourage independent learning with children old enough to read and do an assignment on their own. This is a means of making a difficult task bearable. However, a kinesthetic learner is not likely to sit and read his assignments and write his answers on his own and retain much in the process. He needs activity to accompany his reading. Singing skip counting songs while clapping and bobbing his head to the music works wonderfully well. Tracing letters and number facts is also great. But such things take time and intense focus on the part of mom and the kinesthetic guy is not the only one who needs her attention.
I have found myself in this place as I have recently realized that one of my children is a very strong kinesthetic and specifically tactile learner. He draws pictures that are amazing for a child his age. I used to think he may be ADD, but he can sit and focus for three hours while drawing a picture and including incredible detail that requires intense focus for a first grader to not only notice but also remember to include in his picture. ADD children, those who are truly ADD, will never sit and focus on anything, for three hours. But my child can if his hands are busy keeping his mind focused. He loves to walk up to the chalk board to correct missing punctuation in sentences for grammar practice. He loves science projects if he gets to be the one doing them, and nature walks are a big hit.
So now I wonder, is my brother really ADD? My dad? My little cousin? My brother was put on Ritalin when we were kids. I think he was a thrid grader. He had trouble reading as well as his classmates and didn't do so well with novels or spelling. Third grade is the year when standardized testing begins in schools. Test scores are important for government funding to schools for their performance ratings. A child that is lagging behind due to a need to learn actively can be labeled ADD and considered a special education student. Special Education students are not considered in performance ratings. This means that the "ADD" kid won't mess up a school's funding opportunities. Is my brother really ADD, or is he merely a kinesthetic learner that failed to fit into the mold of the school system? I believe he is a kinesthetic learner. His love of working outdoors fixing fences, herding cattle, and dissceting things coupled with his insatiable need to stay busy at all times convinces me that he needed a learning environment that would allow him to move and stay active much of the day. My father is the same way. He loves to be outdoors and remain physically busy. For well over 20 years he was a firefighter and raised cattle on the side.
So what is my point? My child is not ADD. He is not Special Ed. He is a child who learns in a way that requires activity and motion. He likes to stay active and use his hands. He needs to feel and do in order to process and retain information. This means that I will have to rearrange my way of thinking so I can teach him effectively. I will have to consider his way of learning when I curriculum shop. I will have to help him learn how to satisfy his need to remain active without distracting other people. I am glad we homeschool. It is more work for me, but it will allow my son to learn in ways that a traditional school setting cannot, will not satisfy. The effort is worth the time. Is your "ADD" child really a kinesthetic learner?
Many people close to me have been labled ADD. While some may truly have an autoimmune disorder that affects their brain's ability to focus properly, I am convinced that what many folks call ADD in the school system is a simple case of a kinesthetic learner being forced into a chair for much of the school day. The public or private school classroom is geared and biased toward the student who learns in an auditory and visual manner. Such children can sit and listen or watch their teacher talk and show pictures on a projector, a chalkboard or in a book and process the information. The kinesthetic learner, however, considers this environment a mild form of torture. Learning becomes associated with a desk and chalk board. School becomes a dread, and a distaste for learning may eventually be fostered.
The kinesthetic child does not fit in a traditional classroom. He is, in fact, a hindrance to a positive classroom environment. This child needs to handle and experience things like manipulatives and meaningful projects to learn. They need to be allowed to move around or doodle (whichever works best for the child) quietly during lecture. They need shorter sessions with frequent short breaks. Lectures that last half an hour don't work well with these students, especially when they are in their early primary years. If a kinesthetic child stood in the back of the classroom and paced back and forth quietly while listening to Mrs. Jones explain how to multiply he would likely be told to get back into his chair and listen. The problem is that he listens best when moving and thirty minutes of sitting still guarantees he will learn nothing more than that he hates "learning" (ie. sitting still). If he starts to tap his pencil later in an effort to fulfill the teacher's command to listen, his name may be written on the board or mom may get a call.
While we see the traditional classroom isn't an ideal learning environment for a kinesthetic learner, what about a homeschooling environment? Learning at home provides obvious potential to tailor a curriculum to a child's learning style, but juggling such a demand with more than two children who are all at different grade levels and abilities can be quite a challenge. The traditional classroom allows a teacher to focus on one subject for one age group all of the time. This teacher is a specialist. She gets to narrow her teaching to one area, year after year, to many students taking in the same information. The homeschooling teacher, however, teaches many subjects for multiple grade levels at the same time and the material to teach changes every year. This difference can make the job of the teacher mind numbing if one or more children in the home need hands on activity and movement as a means of learning. In a household with many children, mom often wants to encourage independent learning with children old enough to read and do an assignment on their own. This is a means of making a difficult task bearable. However, a kinesthetic learner is not likely to sit and read his assignments and write his answers on his own and retain much in the process. He needs activity to accompany his reading. Singing skip counting songs while clapping and bobbing his head to the music works wonderfully well. Tracing letters and number facts is also great. But such things take time and intense focus on the part of mom and the kinesthetic guy is not the only one who needs her attention.
I have found myself in this place as I have recently realized that one of my children is a very strong kinesthetic and specifically tactile learner. He draws pictures that are amazing for a child his age. I used to think he may be ADD, but he can sit and focus for three hours while drawing a picture and including incredible detail that requires intense focus for a first grader to not only notice but also remember to include in his picture. ADD children, those who are truly ADD, will never sit and focus on anything, for three hours. But my child can if his hands are busy keeping his mind focused. He loves to walk up to the chalk board to correct missing punctuation in sentences for grammar practice. He loves science projects if he gets to be the one doing them, and nature walks are a big hit.
So now I wonder, is my brother really ADD? My dad? My little cousin? My brother was put on Ritalin when we were kids. I think he was a thrid grader. He had trouble reading as well as his classmates and didn't do so well with novels or spelling. Third grade is the year when standardized testing begins in schools. Test scores are important for government funding to schools for their performance ratings. A child that is lagging behind due to a need to learn actively can be labeled ADD and considered a special education student. Special Education students are not considered in performance ratings. This means that the "ADD" kid won't mess up a school's funding opportunities. Is my brother really ADD, or is he merely a kinesthetic learner that failed to fit into the mold of the school system? I believe he is a kinesthetic learner. His love of working outdoors fixing fences, herding cattle, and dissceting things coupled with his insatiable need to stay busy at all times convinces me that he needed a learning environment that would allow him to move and stay active much of the day. My father is the same way. He loves to be outdoors and remain physically busy. For well over 20 years he was a firefighter and raised cattle on the side.
So what is my point? My child is not ADD. He is not Special Ed. He is a child who learns in a way that requires activity and motion. He likes to stay active and use his hands. He needs to feel and do in order to process and retain information. This means that I will have to rearrange my way of thinking so I can teach him effectively. I will have to consider his way of learning when I curriculum shop. I will have to help him learn how to satisfy his need to remain active without distracting other people. I am glad we homeschool. It is more work for me, but it will allow my son to learn in ways that a traditional school setting cannot, will not satisfy. The effort is worth the time. Is your "ADD" child really a kinesthetic learner?
Monday, January 6, 2014
Free Excel Weekly Meal Planner
Are you someone who puts off making your menu and grocery list until the last minute because you just don't want to do it? You don't want to spend the time figuring out what you will make next week. What is already in the pantry and what else do you need? If you are like me, sometimes you may put it off until you can't anymore and then go to the store without a list. I know this is not an efficient way to shop, but I just don't want to spend the time racking my brain about next week's meals.
My least favorite chore is meal planning and grocery list making. Don't ask why. I'm not sure I can really give an answer. I just really hate doing it. I'd rather clean toilets. I had an idea about making a meal planner in an excel workbook that would allow me to click my meals for the week and then the recipe list for each meal would immediately go to a shopping list so I could simultaneously make a menu and shopping list in one with a few clicks of my mouse.
Well, my skills in Excel are limited and doing this would require me to first learn how to use it. Who has time for that with six kids and homeschooling? Not me. So I googled "Excel Weekly Meal Planner". Voila, I found one for free. Visit www.contextures.com/excel-weekly-meal-planner.html to download yours. You can use this workbook to enter meals and ingredient lists for meals you make from cookbooks and recipie cards but also with internet recipies by downloading them into the workbook! It is great. I'm in the data entry process with mine but will give an update when I have enough entered to use the system as it was meant to be used.
I'm on the road to enjoying meal planning...because Excel will be doing the work for me.
My least favorite chore is meal planning and grocery list making. Don't ask why. I'm not sure I can really give an answer. I just really hate doing it. I'd rather clean toilets. I had an idea about making a meal planner in an excel workbook that would allow me to click my meals for the week and then the recipe list for each meal would immediately go to a shopping list so I could simultaneously make a menu and shopping list in one with a few clicks of my mouse.
Well, my skills in Excel are limited and doing this would require me to first learn how to use it. Who has time for that with six kids and homeschooling? Not me. So I googled "Excel Weekly Meal Planner". Voila, I found one for free. Visit www.contextures.com/excel-weekly-meal-planner.html to download yours. You can use this workbook to enter meals and ingredient lists for meals you make from cookbooks and recipie cards but also with internet recipies by downloading them into the workbook! It is great. I'm in the data entry process with mine but will give an update when I have enough entered to use the system as it was meant to be used.
I'm on the road to enjoying meal planning...because Excel will be doing the work for me.
What do you do all day?
This is the question a well meaning neighbor asked me one evening in S. Texas. She was curious about some of my alternative life choices.
My husband and I were a military family when we first married. Very soon after marrying, we had a baby and then decided to adopt two Ethiopian boys. In the process of adopting I had a suprise pregnancy and had baby number two before our Ethiopian children moved in. We went from one child to four children in a period of four months! A month after our adoption was final, we moved from our duty station in Germany back home to South Texas. Two more children came in fast succession and we (really my husband) built two homes in a very rural area over the next four years. My husband is the ultimate do-it-yourselfer and did all of the work of building virtually alone on his days off as a firefighter.
I have been a homeschooling mom through all of this, which is the context my neighbor asked her question. How do you answer a question like this? I mean really, do people honestly think that homeschooling moms are at a loss of finding something to do? Is there really a picture in the people's minds that we homeschooling moms sit around sipping coffee all day while doing little to nothing but baking and cooking and painting our nails? No, I don't think my neighbor really thought this way. I think that she honestly has no concept of what homeschooling actually is and she just didn't know how to word her question. She was not being disrespectful. After talking with her, I believe that what she really wanted to know was this: "What is a day in your home like?" She really just didn't have a clue and wanted to know.
So, here it goes. The day in the life of this homeschooling family...
I wake up anywhere between 5:30am and 7:00am. The goal is closer to 5:30am, but it seldom happens. I make and drink my coffee. This is key to beginning a good day in a good mood. Laundry is thrown in the machine and this is the first of two loads a day. (We have a lot of kids.) A breakfast shake is made by either myself or a kid. We do clean up chores for breakfast, quick cleaning in rooms, teeth brushed, get dressed, etc. Then it is time for devotions (Teaching Hearts Training Minds) and then school begins. From about 8am to noon we have school. Two middle children need lots of attention right now. They are 6 & 7 years old and are not yet working independently. One of them has reading struggles. Then Monday,Wednesday and Friday Nana comes to teach the 4 year old to read. This is a huge help since I'm so busy with the 6 & 7 year olds. The two year old makes messes and distractions throughout the day. I'm trying to figure out how to keep him occupied in a good way so he doesn't drive me nuts during school time. The two oldest are independent and fluent readers, so they work independently and I check on them to make sure everything gets done. Around noon school is done and we make lunch, eat and cleanup. Then we do chores and I do prep for supper if necessary (sometimes supper prep begins in the morning if I have to soak beans, rice, etc.). Kids play. Any undone school work gets done now. Supper is started around 4:30-5:00 depending on the meal. Eat supper at 5:30-6:30 depending on our schedule. Cleanup after supper, clean rooms, etc. We do baths, devotion and bedtime around 8:30pm in the winter and 9:00 pm in the summer. If the kids are being extra wild and are driving me nuts, I may make 8:00 pm bedtime to keep my sanity.
My husband and I were a military family when we first married. Very soon after marrying, we had a baby and then decided to adopt two Ethiopian boys. In the process of adopting I had a suprise pregnancy and had baby number two before our Ethiopian children moved in. We went from one child to four children in a period of four months! A month after our adoption was final, we moved from our duty station in Germany back home to South Texas. Two more children came in fast succession and we (really my husband) built two homes in a very rural area over the next four years. My husband is the ultimate do-it-yourselfer and did all of the work of building virtually alone on his days off as a firefighter.
I have been a homeschooling mom through all of this, which is the context my neighbor asked her question. How do you answer a question like this? I mean really, do people honestly think that homeschooling moms are at a loss of finding something to do? Is there really a picture in the people's minds that we homeschooling moms sit around sipping coffee all day while doing little to nothing but baking and cooking and painting our nails? No, I don't think my neighbor really thought this way. I think that she honestly has no concept of what homeschooling actually is and she just didn't know how to word her question. She was not being disrespectful. After talking with her, I believe that what she really wanted to know was this: "What is a day in your home like?" She really just didn't have a clue and wanted to know.
So, here it goes. The day in the life of this homeschooling family...
I wake up anywhere between 5:30am and 7:00am. The goal is closer to 5:30am, but it seldom happens. I make and drink my coffee. This is key to beginning a good day in a good mood. Laundry is thrown in the machine and this is the first of two loads a day. (We have a lot of kids.) A breakfast shake is made by either myself or a kid. We do clean up chores for breakfast, quick cleaning in rooms, teeth brushed, get dressed, etc. Then it is time for devotions (Teaching Hearts Training Minds) and then school begins. From about 8am to noon we have school. Two middle children need lots of attention right now. They are 6 & 7 years old and are not yet working independently. One of them has reading struggles. Then Monday,Wednesday and Friday Nana comes to teach the 4 year old to read. This is a huge help since I'm so busy with the 6 & 7 year olds. The two year old makes messes and distractions throughout the day. I'm trying to figure out how to keep him occupied in a good way so he doesn't drive me nuts during school time. The two oldest are independent and fluent readers, so they work independently and I check on them to make sure everything gets done. Around noon school is done and we make lunch, eat and cleanup. Then we do chores and I do prep for supper if necessary (sometimes supper prep begins in the morning if I have to soak beans, rice, etc.). Kids play. Any undone school work gets done now. Supper is started around 4:30-5:00 depending on the meal. Eat supper at 5:30-6:30 depending on our schedule. Cleanup after supper, clean rooms, etc. We do baths, devotion and bedtime around 8:30pm in the winter and 9:00 pm in the summer. If the kids are being extra wild and are driving me nuts, I may make 8:00 pm bedtime to keep my sanity.
Thursday, January 2, 2014
A Little Here, A Little There
Our homeschool uses a pretty eclectic approach to education. We don't rely on one die hard approach to school or one educational philosophy. We have an array of different curriculums and programs. Not to mention, much of what I use for one child does not always work so well for another. However, I do use and read lots of classical educational products and philosophies. I have enjoyed the Charlotte Mason approach to education with my early readers in the primary years. If I had to lable myself I would say I educate my children classically (for the most part), but that isn't really saying anything since classical means different things to different people.
So, what to we use for curriculum around here? In a nutshell, we use a little here and a little there.
I do use some textbooks like Rod and Staff Grammar, Horizon's Math 1-3, and Saxon Math 54 - Calculus (we've yet to reach Calculus, but this is my current plan). We use a mixture of living books and reading guides for History. Apologia and Christian Liberty Science Readers are our Science staples. Suffer the Little Ones, Show Me Thy Ways, The Children's Story Bible by Katherine Vos, and the Westminster Shorter Catechism are the core of our Christian Studies curriculum. We are looking at starting logic and foreign language studies next year. Language arts is a hodge podge with me. I love language arts and fall into the trap of wanting to use everyting to find the "best" there is. I always end up returning to McGuffey readers and SWR/WRTR methods for the little ones with lots of reading from good books. McGuffey Eclectic Readers have great pictures and have inspired beautiful copybooks and improved drawing skills in my home. The lack of color in the pictures allows the kiddos to focus on drawing the lines and shapes they see rather than focusing on bright colors. I love the poetry in them. I use them for my enjoyment as much as for the kids.
So, what to we use for curriculum around here? In a nutshell, we use a little here and a little there.
I do use some textbooks like Rod and Staff Grammar, Horizon's Math 1-3, and Saxon Math 54 - Calculus (we've yet to reach Calculus, but this is my current plan). We use a mixture of living books and reading guides for History. Apologia and Christian Liberty Science Readers are our Science staples. Suffer the Little Ones, Show Me Thy Ways, The Children's Story Bible by Katherine Vos, and the Westminster Shorter Catechism are the core of our Christian Studies curriculum. We are looking at starting logic and foreign language studies next year. Language arts is a hodge podge with me. I love language arts and fall into the trap of wanting to use everyting to find the "best" there is. I always end up returning to McGuffey readers and SWR/WRTR methods for the little ones with lots of reading from good books. McGuffey Eclectic Readers have great pictures and have inspired beautiful copybooks and improved drawing skills in my home. The lack of color in the pictures allows the kiddos to focus on drawing the lines and shapes they see rather than focusing on bright colors. I love the poetry in them. I use them for my enjoyment as much as for the kids.
Under Construction
This blog is in its infancy and will grow with time. It is a means of sharing my thoughts and seeking your thoughts about homeschooling curriculum, methods and life in the homeschooling community.
I plan to upload some language arts videos this summer using McGuffey Eclectic Readers for reading, spelling and enrichment grammar exercises using a Writing Road to Reading (WRTR) or Spell to Write and Read approach (SWR). Until then, you will get the confessions of a Homeschooling mother of 6 boys in Middle Georgia.
Happy New Year!
I plan to upload some language arts videos this summer using McGuffey Eclectic Readers for reading, spelling and enrichment grammar exercises using a Writing Road to Reading (WRTR) or Spell to Write and Read approach (SWR). Until then, you will get the confessions of a Homeschooling mother of 6 boys in Middle Georgia.
Happy New Year!
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