a very {easy to make} review game

Reviewing material is just an everyday part of our homeschool.  Phonograms, sight words, math facts, Latin/Greek roots, spelling words…all require frequent reviews of the material to achieve mastery.  However, that can get a bit boring for both the kids and the teacher.

We try to play many games in our homeschool to take the hum-drum out of the review.  If I can, I like to make it seasonally themed too. 

Since the little ones are doing a unit study on all things gingerbread (more on that soon), I searched Pinterest for some cute gingerbread games.  And boy howdy, there were some cute, cute, cute printable activities. 

The only problem for me is that they required a lot of color ink to print.  Even if you set it to “quick copy”, they would just use up a whole lot of ink.  And color ink cartridges are pricey!  Honestly, I am a bit stingy with the color ink around here. 

But I wanted to make a cute review game so I pulled out what I had around the house:  a colored file folder, markers, and index cards.  I’ve come to learn that my kids aren’t concerned whether the review game is one that will win an award for the cutest game board ever.  They just want to have fun while learning. 

Now before I show it to you, you have to promise me one thing.  Promise me that you won’t laugh at my game board.  Because while my husband is an artist and some of my kids follow in his footsteps, I am not an artist. 

Ok, since you’re not going to laugh…here is the game board that I created in about ten minutes on Sunday night.  (It was getting really late.  I told myself if I had more time, I could have made this way cuter!)

You didn’t laugh…did you? {smile}

Just a simple gingerbread man drawn on a file folder with a little path following the outline, and places to begin and end and Voila! you’ve got the easiest game to construct that makes review time fun!

We’ve had a blast this week practicing sight words and spelling words.  And not once has a child told me that the game board was not pretty enough.  Actually they’ve begged me to play it everyday! 

So while I love those cute games you will find on Pinterest (and if I discovered an endless supply of color printer ink, I would print out every single one of them), it is sometimes easier, cheaper, and still just as fun to use a few materials around the house to make a learning review game!

gingerbread play-dough

My kids love play-dough!  And since we are reading books and doing learning activities with gingerbread people (more about that soon), we made some gingerbread play-dough! 

It is so easy to make.  Littlest Man helped me put the ingredients into the pan.  I handled the food dye, cooking, and kneading of the dough.  It is super easy and quick.

Gingerbread play-dough

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups of flour
• 1/4 cup of salt
• 2 TBSP cream of tartar
• seasonings such as cinnamon, ginger, and ground cloves (these were what I had in my pantry)
• 1 cup of water
• 1 TBSP oil
• a few drops of food coloring (I used the brown from my cake decorating kit)

Put flour, salt, and cream of tartar into a pan.  Mix in seasonings.  (I did not measure these but if I had to guess I probably put in about 1/2 tsp of cinnamon, 1/4 tsp of ginger, and 1 tsp + of ground cloves.  I just kind of smelled it to see if it smelled about right.  Sorry for the lack of exact measurements.  That usually drives me crazy when I want exact numbers. {smile}) 

In a separate bowl, mix the water, oil, and food coloring.  Add to the pan of dry ingredients.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until the mixture stiffens and forms a ball.  Spoon onto a lightly floured surface and knead 1-2 minutes.  (It’s quite warm so be careful.)  Store in an air-tight container so your play-dough won’t dry out.

There you go!  Easy, easy.  And fun!

 

a day in the life {November 26}

I love to read about other moms and their days.  I love day in the life posts.  Really.  I’m not sure why (I promise I’m not weird or anything.)  I guess it could be because I have gained ideas from other moms when reading those posts.  Or maybe it is that I find out that my life is pretty normal after all.  Plus I love to look back over the blog and see what we did at certain times and during certain seasons of our lives.  In light of that, I set out to document November 26,

{a day in our lives}…

6:40  Way later than I need to get up, I roll out of bed and head toward the kitchen.  I grab a drink and sit in the dark with my phone.  As I’m reading some of my reading plans on the YouVersion Bible, Littlest Man comes in and wants to sit with me.  I happily oblige. 

7:12  I run off to get a quick shower and tell David that I will get out before he needs to leave for work.  A quick shower, a quick hair-do and makeup, a good-bye kiss for my hubby, a load of clothes in the wash, beds made, breakfast, and ushering of kids to and fro as they complete bedroom chores, a quick stroll through the garden…sounds like a typical morning around here!

 time to cook up some greens, I do believe

8:30  Most Mondays start with me running behind and this Monday was no different.  I hand the kids some paper and tell them to write a few things that they would like to receive as Christmas gifts.  While they ponder, I run around and finish up morning chores.

9:00  The older kids are still working on their gift lists so I head to the kitchen with Littlest Man and make gingerbread play-dough (directions coming soon).

 

9:30  Littlest Man and Sunshine Girl play with the new play-dough.  The oldest child is sick and gives his best college try on finishing school work today but I send him back to bed when it becomes apparent that he feels awful.  The two older kids and I start work on Greek roots with a review and introduce the new root for the week.  They then begin independent work and I start reading & math with Sunshine Girl.   We play a new sight word game and end up with a few spectators along the way.

 

11:33  After a morning of bouncing from child to child and teaching as needed, it is time to make lunch.  The kids go outside and play a while after picking up some of their messes.  I check in on my oldest (this is probably about the 4th or 5th time) and get what he needs.  As lunch is being made, the kitchen is also being cleared of the morning dishes and supper is started in the crockpot.

 Who has time to clean when you’re busy learning?

12:00ish  Dave gets home and we all eat lunch.  I finish cleaning the kitchen, take care of laundry, and direct the older kids to get back to work on school work.  We all say good-bye to David as he heads back to work.

 A clean kitchen…ahhhh! 

1:00  As the little kids play with play-dough and paint, the older kids and I finish spelling, grammar, and science lessons.

 science experiment about photosynthesis and chlorophyll…

 

2:50  Just as I think that we are done with school for the day, my son tells me that he would like to read with me.  We read his book together (He is more motivated to attend to his book if he & I take turns reading…you do what you have to do.  Plus, I really enjoy the time with him and I’m modeling how to read with fluency & inflection.  A win/win in my book {smile}). 

After he finishes, he scoots out the door for a little free time and I tackle my to-do list.  Then we head out for swim team practice.  We return home and finish up dinner prep and more of that to-do list.  However, on the way home I suddenly realized that we needed beans for dinner.  I check our canned goods and we are out!  Yay for the frozen beans in the freezer.  Under the water they go in hopes that they will defrost in time.  (They did defrost in time.)

 

5:45  David is home!  We eat dinner and clean up.

Time? I lost track of time here.  David and some of the kids head out to buy a Christmas tree.  I hear the rain falling shortly after they left.  They come back soaking wet!  While they are gone, I start folding tons of laundry that has been washed since we returned from our Thanksgiving break trip but have been waiting to be folded. 

9:00ish  The laundry is done!  Finally, a little time to work on the new blog (coming soon) and write a post or two.

11:00ish  It’s now after 11 pm as I write this post.  This momma is tired!  It’s time to head to bed and get ready to start a day like this again on Tuesday!

Homeschooling High School {Algebra}

As a home school mom, it is not uncommon for me to receive certain questions from family, friends, and strangers.  (Yes, even strangers.  {smile})

I’ve had conversations that go something like this:

person speaking to me:  Are you going to home school through high school?

me:  Yes, that’s the plan for now. 

other person:  Well, what about algebra?  Or even science?  Are you able to do that?

me:  Yes, I plan on teaching those subjects too. 

Usually the conversation goes on with me explaining the many options available to homeschoolers in regards to curriculum. 

(Though, honestly, I want to ask people if they realize that they are telling me that I’m not smart enough to teach my child.  I realize that I’m being snarky…and trust me, I try to not let my snarky side ever come out. But I wish people would realize that most homeschooling parents are aware of our weaknesses in our educations.  And most have all ready thought on how to teach our children despite our weaknesses.  One day, I’m going to start rambling off my high school and college rankings, pull out my educational resume, spout off my math ACT score and maybe even my college GPA!  Yes, I do believe I am totally and completely capable of teaching my children. Even algebra. And if I find that I can not do it, we will find another way to do it.  Ok, rant over…sorry…stuffing my snarky side back into hiding.  Can you tell this is a soap box thing for me? {smile})

So like I was saying before I went off on that tangent {ahem}, how do we teach high school algebra?

First, we chose a curriculum that works for us.  We use Saxon Algebra. We also bought the DIVE CD-ROM that has the lectures for the lessons.  We have also found that the Solutions Manual is a very useful tool to have.  The Solutions Manual gives each problem and step-by-step solutions as to how the answer was found.  It is wonderful to have around! 

Another great math curriculum is Teaching Textbooks (TT).  TT is an interactive math curriculum completed by the student on the computer.  The computer teaches the lessons, presents the math problems, grades the problems, and shows corrections to mistakes.  We have used it for other grade levels and have not used it for Algebra.  However, I have friends who have used it and love it. 

After Bryce has completed a lesson, he checks the lesson in a different colored ink.  Later, he and I go over any incorrect problems or math problems he has left blank (our signal for I need help with this one).  I remember when my algebra teacher took the time to show us step-by-step solutions and the reasoning behind the solution, particularly with the math problems we struggled with, that algebra started to “stick” for me.  I’m trying to follow this same model for my son.  So far, it seems to be working. 

I make a “pop quiz” reviewing new materials or math problems that seem to continually trip him up.  I have him complete the pop quiz before his next lesson.  He must bring it to me and let me look over it before moving on to the new lesson.  This is one way that I check to make sure he is understanding the material before moving forward.

The more involved I am in his algebra instruction, the better he seems to do with it.  I’m going to be honest.  It is hard to carve out the time to do algebra one-on-one instruction everyday.  But Bryce seems to flourish more if we do.  So we do our best to fit it in everyday or we have a big tutoring session once or twice a week.

Sometimes I have to study the lessons to remember what to do.  No, I do not remember everything that I learned in algebra.  But Saxon Algebra is excellent in explaining how to find a solution and the why behind it.  (I am big on the why part…I need to know why. {smile}).  There are times I have to ask Bryce to wait a minute while I study the lesson.  (Saxon gives these little cues to tell you which lesson to go back to for help.)  Usually after studying the lesson, I am able to go on with helping him. 

This is what we do in our home school.  But I do have more advice: 

Get help if help is needed.  Once I had a chat with another home school mom at my son’s fencing lesson.  At the time, my boys were little but she told me then, “If you ever need some help with the higher level maths, I am more than happy to help out.”  (She was a math major and a lover of all things math.)  There are people out there that for them, math is a breeze.  Many of them are willing to lend a hand to help or perhaps you can exchange services with them.  There are probably many of these math lovers in your local home school groups.  Sometimes, all it takes is asking and friends will be able to recommend someone to you. 

Don’t let algebra scare you.  You and I survived it once.  We’ll survive it again.  (Or many times if you have more than one child.) 

What about you…do you have some advice for surviving and succeeding with algebra in your home school?

When a home school mom is sick…

It happens.  Sore throat.  Congestion.  Sinus headache.  Cough, cough.

Even we home school moms get sick on occasion.

A friend asked me how I handle sick mom days in our home school.

So what does our home school look like when I am sick?

Stick to the basics.

Let the kids do all of the reading and rest your voice. (I have to knit while they read or I will fall asleep.  There’s something about a busy mom who sits still for too long will always fall asleep!  Or is that just me?)

Limit math to basic reviews.  Save the harder problems for a day when you have the voice (& energy) to handle them.

Let history or science be taught by Netflix. (We watched Lewis & Clark today to coincide with the literature selection of the 7th grader.  We love to watch Beakman’s World for science too.)

When mom is sick is a good time to fit in reviews.  Make reviews of phonograms, math facts, etc. fun by playing against the timer.

 Read (older kids can read these to the littles if needed) seasonal/holiday/library books and do simple art/writing projects.

 

Then send the kiddos outside for some sunshine and release of energy while you sit down to rest and re-cooperate. (And if I’m actually sitting, I might as well get in some much needed planning!)

Sick home school mom days are hard.  But learning can and does happen! 

What do sick mom home school days look like in your home?

 

 

 

 

 

Fall {fun} learning

I love fall!  The actual season is quite short here in the deep south so I grab every opportunity to incorporate fall fun into our learning.

It may be a little late to squeeze in all of these activities this fall, but I’m going to post them as ideas for next year.  Here are some things we have done this fall and some we are planning on doing:

F is for fall

An “F” decorated with falling leaves and a feather.  (I haven’t a clue where the feather came from…I guess Evan found it and added it to the paper since it was the same sound. {smile})

We also sang these fall songs while identifying colors and color words.  My kids are partial to the “Leaves are falling, Leaves are falling, One fell on my nose” sang to the tune of Jingle Bells. 

Fun fall counters

We bought these counters from Dollar Tree a few years ago.  (But I’m sure they have something similar even now.)  They have come in handy for counting, patterning, adding & subtracting, and even multiplying.  It’s amazing how something so simple motivates the kids. 

 

Fall handprint trees

My older kids did this in the past and now I’ve done it with my two littles.  For the handprint trees, we used brown construction paper, traced the little ones’ hands, and glued it to white construction paper.  The little ones used cotton swabs (and fingers) to decorate the trees with falling leaves.  I hot glued the trees to some painted frames and hung them in our kitchen. (Note to self:  write the date on the pictures before placing in memory boxes.)

Other fun fall activities:

• My October {homeschool} board at Pinterest
• Fall sun catchers

 

Pumpkin carving and seed roasting

We carved pumpkins this year and roasted the seeds.  I had intentions of turning this into a writing lesson for the younger ones but did not. 

Apples, apples, apples

We did some activities earlier in the fall season with apples.  I’ve pinned some great ideas on Pinterest.  This picture is our learning board.  The board holds vocabulary words, songs, and spelling activities.  There is more about our past apple fun here. 

Thanksgiving

This coming week, our children (older and younger) will be focusing on Thanksgiving.  Here are some of the ideas that we will be using:

• Thanksgiving lapbook
• Book list for Thanksgiving
• T is for turkey (I’m thinking we will do the the feet and hand turkeys.)
• Tree of thankfulness
• Free Thanksgiving unit from Meet Penny
• Thanksgiving writing prompts
• November {homeschool} Pinterest board
• Be Thankful copywork and notebooking printables

 

What are your favorite fall fun learning activities?

 

 

 

It is possible! {homeschooling multi-grade levels}

“I just don’t see how you homeschool five kids especially with one in high school.  It’s impossible.”

I hear this often.  People just don’t understand how we do what we do.  Often I just mumble some quick response and change the subject.  Maybe I’m just too lazy to explain the logistics and planning that goes into teaching five kids or maybe I’m afraid that I’ll get that glazed over look because they probably really don’t want to hear how we actually do it. 

But I always want to say to them:

It is possible!

We are a homeschooling family with five kids and we teach all five.  Our youngest is K4 and our oldest is a 9th grader.  The three in between are 1st, 4th, and 7th grades.

As I was thinking on a recent conversation with a dear (non-homeschooling) friend who expressed her thinking on the impossibility of homeschooling multi-grade levels, I was thinking about how I should have responded to her.  How could I simply explain to others that because something is hard or unknown does not mean that it is impossible to do?

What came to my mind were my years as a special education teacher.  You see, I am a certified elementary and special education teacher.  When I finished college, I spent the first two years of my teaching career inside a special education classroom.  My first class had 10 +/- (enrollment changed often) students in it.  All of those students had an individualized education plan.  That means that every child in my class was taught on his or her own level and according to a plan that was written for that child.  No two children in my class had the same plan. 

That sounds very much like our home school! 

And I realized that I incorporate some of the very same procedures in our home school that I did in that classroom.  Here’s what we do to make teaching five grade levels possible:

Memory work that we work on as a group and independent work for the morning

 

• Combine the subjects that we can combine

Some subjects can be combined.  For my homeschoolers, this means subjects like Bible, history, science, art, music, and latin/greek roots.  We can even do memory work together by learning the definitions of the parts of speech or math facts in a group setting.  These are things that everyone needs to know.

How do I make these subjects challenging for the older kids?  They are required to do more outside reading from encyclopedias and other books.  They also have to write more reports and narrations about the subjects we are studying.

 Algebra instruction on the computer

• Have older students complete work independently

Once a child learns to read, there is so much that they can do independently.  Our son in high school spends much of the morning on independent work – some of it reading & writing and some of it on the computer.  I often meet with him later in the day (and sometimes first thing) to get in one-on-one time with him.

• Older students can help younger students

In my classroom, I had a fulltime paraprofessional to help tutor anyone while I was teaching others.  Now, my older children can help out a sibling who is needing a little extra help. 

• Have younger students work on learning activities when the older ones are being taught

Since my younger children can not work as independently as the older ones, I try to make sure there are fun learning activities around that they complete independently.  Some of the activities that we have used are on my Pinterest home school pages.  We also love learning websites like Starfall.  And preschool activity bags are lifesavers too!

Our morning schedule:  pink is computer learning, orange is independent, green is with mom, and yellow is snack or break time  

• Follow a schedule

Possibly the best way we are able to complete five grades of work each day is we follow a schedule.  We don’t really pay much attention the actual times on the schedule.  But we do follow the order of the schedule.  This way the kids know who is being taught when and what to do if I’m not teaching them.  It is also helpful for me to keep on top of who I need to teach and who has been taught. 

It really is possible to teach multi-grade levels.  Yes, some days it is kind of crazy…and loud…and crazy…but it is possible.  And they learn.  They really do learn.  It just takes a little creativity and work.  And prayers…{smile}

If you teach multi-grade levels in your home school, what are some things you do to make it go more smoothly?  Please share some of your tips!

 

 

Homeschool Mother’s Journal {September}

• In my life this week…

It’s been a quiet and still week.  I’ve been busy with life but not as hurried or frazzled because I’ve been learning to slow down. 

• In our homeschool this week…

Egyptians, hieroglyphics, pyramids, Abraham, Sodom & Gomorrah…We love My Father’s World!

 digging a hole to bury various items to see how they do/don’t decompose as we were studying how the Egyptians preserved the bodies of their dead

• Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…

If you have a membership to Netflix, they have some great shows on Egyptians and pyramids.  My kids have loved seeing what they are learning about on the TV. 

 our morning school schedule sticky note style…pink stands for computer, orange is independent work, green is teaching time with mom, and yellow is free/snack time (can click to enlarge…sorry for blurriness.) 

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

The two older boys are preparing for a trip to my parents’ house for a weekend of Hunter’s Safety Course.  Our younger three are heading to David’s parents’ place for a weekend of Grandparent fun.  I will be eating lunch with one of my best friends and catching up with her (and also have a date with my husband planned)!  Super excited!

• Things I’m working on…

Learning to knit.  Next week:  touching up paint while the kids are away and maybe cleaning the closets

• I’m reading…

Breathe by Keri Wyatt Kent and nodding my head the entire time I read it.  I believe this book was written for me. 

 the homeschool table during break time…I always say that learning is messy!

• I’m cooking…

I had hit a menu planning rut.  And then a friend told me about emeals.  I signed up and am loving the ease of menu planning and the recipes!

• I’m grateful for…

Our little Louisiana cottage home.  It’s small and needs some work but it’s home. 

• A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

My new meal planning help:

How about y’all?  How was your week? 
To visit other Homeschool Mother’s Journals, be sure to visit this link:
iHomeschool Network