Today was a special homeschooling day for Nate. Dad stayed home from school (he's a teacher) because we've had some plumbing issues and he needed to be here when the plumbers were here. So, dad worked with Nate on his school work today.
Nate also got to see the plumbers work at our house today. They did a lot of digging. They ran a camera down the pipe. Too bad Nate didn't get to see that today. I saw it yesterday when they were here and it was pretty cool. Well, it would have been cool, if it wasn't our pipe, because there were a lot of tree roots in it. (Dad just told me that Nate was at Lego Club when they ran the camera today.)
Nate also got to go to Lego Club today with the local homeschool group. Big brother Joshua took him today. Homeschooling has become a family affair. Nate is really blessed to have so many people supporting him and taking part in his education.
Showing posts with label homeschooling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label homeschooling. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
I love that Nate is so curious, inquisitive, creative. He is always up to something. Sunday afternoon, he was etching some wood he was given to play with. I was very impressed with the perfect circles he had made in the wood. So, I asked him to show me how he did it.
Up close. Looks like he already has a handle on how compasses work. He must get that from his daddy. It was very cool to see that he had done this all by himself. It's amazing what children will learn if given the materials and opportunities to explore.
This afternoon, I had some paperwork to take care of at the university. Nate spotted this rock with writing on it and wanted to know why someone would write on a rock. So we stopped to check it out. These trees were planted in memory of Navy Submariners who had lost their lives in World War II.
Up close. Looks like he already has a handle on how compasses work. He must get that from his daddy. It was very cool to see that he had done this all by himself. It's amazing what children will learn if given the materials and opportunities to explore.
This afternoon, I had some paperwork to take care of at the university. Nate spotted this rock with writing on it and wanted to know why someone would write on a rock. So we stopped to check it out. These trees were planted in memory of Navy Submariners who had lost their lives in World War II.
Homeschooling has really given me more of an opportunity to see things through Nate's eyes. I have stopped more to check things out that I may not have even noticed before. This has been a great experience for both of us so far. We are both learning!
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Reading for Fun
Rough day today with Nate. He just wasn't feeling it I suppose. We did some work done, but it really wasn't a very productive school day. On days like today, I can see how frustrated his teacher must have been with him at times. AND she doesn't love him like I do.
So, what do we do on days like this? Well we go to Starbooks (Barnes and Noble + Starbucks = Starbooks, per one of my favorite little guys, whose not my own). I've begun to realize that Nate does not like the same books that Jacob did at his age. We have a lot of hand me down books. So, this afternoon, Nate got to pick out some new books. I picked a few for him too. Then we sat at Starbucks and he read to me. Amazing how well he reads when it's something he's interested in.
So, what do we do on days like this? Well we go to Starbooks (Barnes and Noble + Starbucks = Starbooks, per one of my favorite little guys, whose not my own). I've begun to realize that Nate does not like the same books that Jacob did at his age. We have a lot of hand me down books. So, this afternoon, Nate got to pick out some new books. I picked a few for him too. Then we sat at Starbucks and he read to me. Amazing how well he reads when it's something he's interested in.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Day 2
Don't worry, I'm not going to number every day of our homeschooling adventure...Day 12,627, lol). But, Day 2 is important. That means we survived the first day and came back for more. Today was a great day. Nate and I did school work, math, writing, spelling and even a cooking project. Here's a peek at how today went:
Math:
Yesterday, I had Nate complete a multiplication worksheet. He has been doing these in school (only 60 problems). He was one of only two students in his class doing multiplication. I'm not sure how high they had done yet, so this was in part to see where is is. Anyway, yesterday he finished 100 problems 0-4 (up to 4x9) in 20 minutes, 36 seconds. He got 93 right, missing only 3x9 and 4x9 (repeated). We practiced those verbally. Today, he did the same sheet and finished in 12 minutes, 33 seconds. He got 96 right, missing only 4x8 (repeated), which he got right yesterday, lol.
He also did a page in the math book I bought. It was sequencing and turning numbers from written words to symbols and reading them then the writing symbols. He doesn't know how to write out the numbers, so we will be working on that.
Writing:
Today, he did two pages in the Daily Editing book that I bought (I'm really liking this book). One was ending sentences and starting the next correctly. He's really good at this. The other was on pronouns, matching he-has, we-have, etc. We'll be working some more on this, too.
Spelling:
Yesterday, Nate corrected two paragraphs in the Daily Editing book spelling section. This is a third grade book. Between the two, I pulled out 12 words that he did not spell correctly. He identified that they were spelled wrong in the paragraphs, but wasn't sure how to spell them. So today, he wrote the words 3 times each. I have a few word activities planned this week with these words too. Hopefully, it will be fun for him, especially since he hates writing.
Science:
Cooking. Today we made chocolate muffins. It was the only thing I had all the ingredients for, lol. Homeschooling could make me fat(er), lol. This was fun, and he even got to lick the bowl. You don't get to do that in the classroom.
I promise not to write about every day like this. I don't have that much time, and it's kind of boring. But, I needed to document what I'm doing to get started. It has been fun to work with Nate and see what he already knows, and what we need to focus on. He's a bright kid. I want to make sure to challenge him and review things he knows, without boring him. I want this to be fun and educational, for both of us.
Highlight:
We played Legos for "recess." Nate loves his Legos. I also found out today that a local homeschool groups has a monthly Lego Club. So, it looks like that might be an outing to add to our plans in the future.
Math:
Yesterday, I had Nate complete a multiplication worksheet. He has been doing these in school (only 60 problems). He was one of only two students in his class doing multiplication. I'm not sure how high they had done yet, so this was in part to see where is is. Anyway, yesterday he finished 100 problems 0-4 (up to 4x9) in 20 minutes, 36 seconds. He got 93 right, missing only 3x9 and 4x9 (repeated). We practiced those verbally. Today, he did the same sheet and finished in 12 minutes, 33 seconds. He got 96 right, missing only 4x8 (repeated), which he got right yesterday, lol.
He also did a page in the math book I bought. It was sequencing and turning numbers from written words to symbols and reading them then the writing symbols. He doesn't know how to write out the numbers, so we will be working on that.
Writing:
Today, he did two pages in the Daily Editing book that I bought (I'm really liking this book). One was ending sentences and starting the next correctly. He's really good at this. The other was on pronouns, matching he-has, we-have, etc. We'll be working some more on this, too.
Spelling:
Yesterday, Nate corrected two paragraphs in the Daily Editing book spelling section. This is a third grade book. Between the two, I pulled out 12 words that he did not spell correctly. He identified that they were spelled wrong in the paragraphs, but wasn't sure how to spell them. So today, he wrote the words 3 times each. I have a few word activities planned this week with these words too. Hopefully, it will be fun for him, especially since he hates writing.
Science:
Cooking. Today we made chocolate muffins. It was the only thing I had all the ingredients for, lol. Homeschooling could make me fat(er), lol. This was fun, and he even got to lick the bowl. You don't get to do that in the classroom.
I promise not to write about every day like this. I don't have that much time, and it's kind of boring. But, I needed to document what I'm doing to get started. It has been fun to work with Nate and see what he already knows, and what we need to focus on. He's a bright kid. I want to make sure to challenge him and review things he knows, without boring him. I want this to be fun and educational, for both of us.
Highlight:
We played Legos for "recess." Nate loves his Legos. I also found out today that a local homeschool groups has a monthly Lego Club. So, it looks like that might be an outing to add to our plans in the future.
Monday, December 13, 2010
A New Adventure
Today we started on a new adventure. We have decided to homeschool Nate. It was not a decision we made lightly. We have been talking about it for a while now. He has had a rough time in school this year. Nate has ADHD. He had a 504 plan at school, but it did not provide the accommodations necessary to make school a positive learning environment for him. His teacher would rather send him home, or to the office, or to a kindergarten class (he's in 2nd grade) than try to find a way to keep him in the classroom.
The last straw: when I had to pick him up last Friday. While I was in the office, another child was trying to get the attention of the the substitute principal who was talking to me. She turned to him and said, "You are invisible." Seriously. No one should ever speak to a child that way, let alone a school administrator. Now, not only does the this school fail to meet my child's educational needs; now I cannot trust them to protect my child's sense of self. That's it, I'm done.
So, now we begin a new adventure into homeschooling. This is not entirely new to us (the parents); we homeschooled Nate's oldest brother Joshua for 4th and 5th grade. He's in college now, so we must have done ok. This is new to Nate, but he is on board. Hopefully, it's not just because he "doesn't have to go to school."
Today, we were going to enroll him in Sierra Charter School. This was the school that we used (10 years ago) to homeschool his brother. Apparently, the school had grown a lot since then. Now they have a wait list and we can't get in until mid-January at the earliest. I checked into Crescent View Charter and will be attending their orientation in January. I guess for this week (the last week before winter break) Nate will be "sick." Nate and I also went to the school supply store to get some things to start out with. He picked a multiplication fact book, and I chose another math book and a writing book. Writing is one of his least favorite subjects, so we'll have to stay on top of that. Hopefully, this blog will help with that too.
So, this is where we are now. Check in often. I plan to share what homeschooling looks like in our house. I'd love to heard from other homeschoolers, please leave a message. Anyone else? Let me know you were here to. This is Nate's blog, so please keep it nice as he will be reading, and sharing sometimes too.
The last straw: when I had to pick him up last Friday. While I was in the office, another child was trying to get the attention of the the substitute principal who was talking to me. She turned to him and said, "You are invisible." Seriously. No one should ever speak to a child that way, let alone a school administrator. Now, not only does the this school fail to meet my child's educational needs; now I cannot trust them to protect my child's sense of self. That's it, I'm done.
So, now we begin a new adventure into homeschooling. This is not entirely new to us (the parents); we homeschooled Nate's oldest brother Joshua for 4th and 5th grade. He's in college now, so we must have done ok. This is new to Nate, but he is on board. Hopefully, it's not just because he "doesn't have to go to school."
Today, we were going to enroll him in Sierra Charter School. This was the school that we used (10 years ago) to homeschool his brother. Apparently, the school had grown a lot since then. Now they have a wait list and we can't get in until mid-January at the earliest. I checked into Crescent View Charter and will be attending their orientation in January. I guess for this week (the last week before winter break) Nate will be "sick." Nate and I also went to the school supply store to get some things to start out with. He picked a multiplication fact book, and I chose another math book and a writing book. Writing is one of his least favorite subjects, so we'll have to stay on top of that. Hopefully, this blog will help with that too.
So, this is where we are now. Check in often. I plan to share what homeschooling looks like in our house. I'd love to heard from other homeschoolers, please leave a message. Anyone else? Let me know you were here to. This is Nate's blog, so please keep it nice as he will be reading, and sharing sometimes too.
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