Homeschool Mother's Journal: March 8, 2013

In my life this week:

After our recent Disneyland vacation, we have been trying to get back to our normal routines. Before the official "work week" started, we bowled two games at our local bowling alley. During the week, Aidyn updated his P.E. and karate classmates and teachers on his fun vacation. We slowly cycled back into homeschooling and began an Indiana Jones/Adventureland unit study.

In our homeschool this week:

We started a new chapter book read-aloud: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom by Suzanne Weyn and learned about the seven continents using our maps, some worksheets and videos. Because much of Temple of Doom takes place in India, we are focusing our unit of "exotic locales" in that beautiful country. Therefore, we watched a favorite, Kipling-based animated short film, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi.

We still have been reviewing short vowels sounds in Sadlier Phonics, learning doubles in California Math, and speeding through Victory Drills.

Because our current unit study is largely social studies-based, our morning exercises have been as well. Here, I labeled his board "My Expanding World" and made three columns with the headers of home, neighborhood and state (California). We brainstormed objects we would find in each place and watched as our world expanded.

At his art class, which his dad took him to, he made a fire ant and began a bald eagle project. I'm excited to see how he will finish it next week.

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share...
  
We had a bit of a rough day on Wednesday when Aidyn was just not connecting math patterns he was learning with new types of problems. I learned two things that day: to resist forcing him to see and use patterns in math before he finds them and understands them himself and to not take so personally his struggles. One thing that I dislike about this math book we are using is that it seems to force learners to see math patterns and put them into practice immediately. I would like to do more hands-on activities to help him see patterns on his own.

Places we're going and people we're seeing...

Aidyn is happy to be among his best pals after our long trip. He has spent nearly every afternoon this week outside with his troupe of buddies, riding bikes, playing with the Galactic Ooze he bought himself, running races, and playing games. His cousin came over one day, and he brought her out and introduced her to his friends. Besides the bowling alley and his extra classes, we have stayed pretty close to home in comparison to last week!

My favorite thing this week was...

This. 
My kiddo's favorite thing this week...

Our neighbor has a relative who works for Disney, and he brought all the neighborhood kids a copy of the new Wreck-It Ralph, which Aidyn has watched three times already. He loves it!

Things I'm working on...

I'm still trying to slow down and just enjoy what we do. But sometimes being the planner, the organizer, and the motivator makes this difficult. I need to always remind myself that we are all learners.

I'm cooking...

More meals from Miserly Moms! I made her Taco Soup, which was delicious, Mushroom-Onion Chicken (again because it's a hit!), and Homemade Chicken Soup. Every meal was cost-efficient, nutritious and delicious!

...and I promise I get absolutely no compensation for stating so.

I'm grateful for... 

The opportunities we have to learn and grow in this world. 

I'm hoping for...

The continued energy and ability to partake on adventures of all kinds.

I rewarded my kid this week by...

For some reason, Aidyn was exceptionally responsible this week, so I "bragged" about him to his dad and grandma (within his earshot) so that he knew how much I appreciated and admired his choices.

Something I am ogling or have my eye on...

A photo, link, or a quote to share...

:)

  








   

Homeschool Mother's Journal: March 1, 2013.

In my life this week…
What a fun week! Our family visited the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. We left on early Monday morning and arrived around 10am. For the next few days, we traversed both Disneyland and Disney California Adventure and returned to our hotel each night with sore and tired legs. We had many exciting firsts on this trip:

• Aidyn's first ride on Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye

 

• Grandma's first ride on the new Star Tours: The Adventure Continues.
• David was the Rebel Spy on Star Tours.
• Then I was the Rebel Spy on another ride on Star Tours!
• Aidyn and Grandma's first time seeing The World of Color show at California Adventures.
• Our first ride on the new Matterhorn bobsleds (individual seating now!).

• Aidyn and Grandma's first ride on Goofy's Sky School. Grandma hated it, while Aidyn rode it about seven times, over and over.
• Grandma's first time on Jumpin' Jellyfish at California Adventure.

• Grandma's first time seeing the Aladdin show at California Adventure.
• Aidyn participated in the Jedi Training Academy show at Tomorrowland Terrace in Disneyland.

 

In our homeschool this week…
We put all our Disneyland-related unit studies to use while visiting the park! We still have more to enjoy, but our learning adventures brought Tomorrowland to life! Every night, Aidyn practiced his writing skills by penning his favorite moments of the day on Disneyland postcards. He also was in charge of his own camera and took pictures of his experience, both of which we will use for his Spring Festival Project.

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…
Memory-making is such an important part of learning. Education is not only about math drills or scrawling our way through phonics books but being out there together, enjoying each other and creating fond memories.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…
We've "been" everywhere this week! From the primeval world of the dinosaurs (aboard the Disneyland Railroad) to the once-secret underwater world of the Gungans (on Star Tours), to 1920s California, parasailing over California, bobsledding on the Matterhorn, plunging to deep recesses of the Caribbean, to the Hundred Acre Wood, among other places, I feel like we have seen it all!

We met Goofy, in a sweet private moment near the Tomorrowland Railroad Station when the park was about to close, Darth Vader, as Aidyn battled him in the Jedi Training Academy show, Indiana Jones, who begged us for a way out of the Temple of the Forbidden Eye, friendly cast members and fun-loving park-goers.


My favorite thing this week was…
There were so many favorite moments this week that choosing is difficult. Riding Indiana Jones with our whole family, for the first time, ties with watching Aidyn get picked for and participating in the Jedi Training Academy.


My kiddo's favorite thing this week was…
I asked him a few times, and he usually said that riding Indiana Jones was his favorite moment.


Things I’m working on…
Definitely slowing down. We rushed, rushed, rushed every day, but I tried to slow down our time by taking pictures and resting on benches whenever possible.

I’m cooking…
I'm grateful that I didn't have to cook! We enjoyed food brought from home and Disneyland food. We especially enjoyed mint juleps in New Orleans Square, fresh popcorn, and enchiladas from Rancho del Zocalo in Frontierland.

I’m grateful for…
The kind of easy going, fun-loving family that I get to enjoy who genuinely loved every moment of our vacation, even the seemingly neverending car ride and long lines. 

I’m hoping for…
More local adventures now that we are not uber-saving for a Disneyland trip. I'm hoping for more day hikes, museum tours, roller-skating, and merry-making.

I rewarded my kid this week by…
Buying him an Indiana Jones fedora for "surviving" the ride. He also got a Mickey Mouse ice cream, galactic goop, among other toys, and lots of in-line cuddles and piggyback rides.

Something I am ogling or have my eye on…
As it sits in my wallet. : )

A photo, video, link, or quote to share (silly, serious or both!)…

Homeschool Mother's Journal: February 22, 2013.

In my life this week…
Disneyland excitement is currently pervading our household. Disney music fills our home and daily countdowns are performed. Aidyn, striving hard to reach the 46" requirement to ride Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye, has become mightily interested in all things Indy.

He's been watching The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones and even checked out an picture-encyclopedia all about Indy. Within the pages detailing Indiana Jones' uber-cool persona, we found that he was homeschooled, too! That little fact excited Aidyn about his new favorite hero.

In our homeschool this week…
We have had a busy week with six extracurricular activities outside the home. On Tuesday, he attended a heart-themed class, in which they learned how the heart works and how to keep it healthy. He also participated in his P.E. class, where they played a game of soccer, and karate as well as a character class on flexibility. He made an octopus craft and started on a fire ant project in his art class.

On the homefront, we have started Level B of Sadlier Phonics, which starts with lots of review, so he's breezing through it. With math, he's learning to add sums to 12. In the mornings, we use Evan Moor's Ten-Minute Activities to get our brains energized.

I came up with another morning exercise to help him with counting on called Rabbit Ears Math. This helps him count up by 2, and so at the end he makes rabbit ears with his fingers. The more he practiced, the quicker his rabbit ears perked up!

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…


Absorbing skills and facts and retaining them long-term happens best where excitement and emotion pervade. We remember best that which is new, exciting, and emotional. We usually remember special birthday celebrations and field trips but hardly anything about the day after. If we teach in funny, exciting and novel ways, the lessons are much more likely to be remembered.


Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…
We've had our friend Amanda and her son over for two days this week. I love (and need!) her company and enjoying talking things out with her and sharing vents about the world. She is also helping the time fly by this week as waiting for our vacation can make time drag.


 My favorite thing this week was…
Watching Aidyn's excitement over discovering a new hero, Indiana Jones. I love seeing new interests grow in him.


My kiddo's favorite thing this week was…
Definitely climbing trees yesterday. He came in, red-cheeked and glistening with sweat and excitement, and proudly proclaimed that he had climbed a tree all by himself (but with a little boost from a friend).


 Things I’m working on…
I'm still scrimping and saving for our Disneyland trip and finding new ways to cut costs where I can. Once we return, I'll be sharing money-saving tips and techniques here.


 I’m cooking…
Frugal meals from Miserly Moms.

Here is her Easy Mexican Casserole, which was easy to make and easy on the wallet. It cost me about $5 to prepare and fed us and a guest for dinner and lunch the next day.

 I’m grateful for…
My husband who works hard every day and even put in an extra day on Saturday. He deserves a vacation terribly, and I aim to make it enjoyable for him.

 I’m hoping for…
A way to slow time down just a bit so we can fully relax and enjoy our upcoming vacation.

 I rewarded my kid this week by…
Giving extra cuddles when he was upset and talking him through it. He rewarded me yesterday by picking me a new flower blossom from the tree he climbed.

 Something I am ogling or have my eye on…
Same thing as last week:

 A photo, video, link, or quote to share (silly, serious or both!)…
 I love TED Talks, but this one had me tears-- the good kind! This 13-year-old "hackschooler" passionately follows his interests and helps me remember why I choose to homeschool and to ignore those voices that express anything less than full-on support.

Homeschool Mother's Journal: February 15, 2013.

In my life this week…

Disneyland excitement! We are making the final arrangements for a Disneyland vacation, our first as a whole family (with Grandma) since 2009. When we're not doing lessons or ordinary stuff, we're squealing about Disneyland.

In our homeschool this week…

In the wonderful world of reading, Aidyn is working on consonant digraphs. We planned a firefighters unit study, but with the Cesar Chavez holiday and coming fresh off our Abraham Lincoln unit study, we focused on book work. We have also been using Evan-Moor's Ten-Minute Activities in the mornings to fire up the brain.

 We've done all science activities since we are not currently doing a science-related unit study. In Math, we just finished up comparing numbers with < , > , and =. Midweek we moved onto adding sums up to 12. It had been a few weeks since doing addition work in the book, but he picked it up pretty smoothly.

With Victory Drills, he is reading, on average, 24-26 words per minute along with easy readers. He also does daily writing every day that connects with the books he is reading. 

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…

I am continuously amazed how and where learning pops up. On the drive to karate, I gave Aidyn our old map of California and our old GPS. The GPS needed charging, so he folded open the expansive and tattered map and pored over our home state. Although we have been to the beach many times, he was in awe that a whole side of our state "is beach," as he put it. We subsequently talked about the Pacific Ocean (and connected it with the words "pacify" and "pacifier") and how it is a relatively calm ocean. He declared that California "is the tallest state."

Just another lesson for myself that learning happens everywhere and does not always fit into cute, well-planned boxes.  

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

This week, Aidyn went to his P.E. class and practiced soccer and football moves, jumped on the trampoline, and performed strength training exercises with his classmates. He also attended karate, in which he practiced high kicks, and his art class where he made a Valentine's Card and a Valentine's Day necklace.

Every day he plays with his gaggle of friends outside, riding bikes, tossing baseballs, telling secrets, and squeezing out more time playing in the dusk as the days start lengthening.   

My favorite thing this week was…

It may seem minor, but I loved how we drew pigs this week during downtime. Aidyn isn't overjoyed to draw, but I'm trying to teach him some basic shapes and styles of drawing.

We joked that this was King Kong Piggy, with evil red eyes but gentle enough to eat a flower.
   
My kiddo's favorite thing this week was…

I would take a guess that it was an unexpected Fun Day, where we put school work aside and just played.

   

Things I’m working on…

• learning to better manage our finances by tracking spending and budgeting appropriately.
• to complain less when I am tired and/or hungry
• to go with the flow and worry less about getting lessons done on time  

I’m cooking…

Frugal meals from Miserly Moms ! I've made her Mushroom-Onion Chicken, Pasta Bake, and Tuna Casserole, which were all delicious and very inexpensive!  

I’m grateful for…

The ability to homeschool, the joy of watching my son absorb a lesson and apply it independently, my hardworking and loving husband, and our impending vacation that we all so desperately need.  

Also: finding time to read a whole book!

 

I’m hoping for…

Warmer days.  

I rewarded my kid this week by…

Taking Valentine's Day off from school work and letting him have fun with Domino Rally and his croquet set. I also uploaded more Cliff Hanger videos to watch in between lessons. He loves them.

 

Something I am ogling or have my eye on…

A photo, video, link, or quote to share (silly, serious or both!)…