In the morning, we began our schooling efforts after 10am, which is when things settle into our daily groove- post breakfast. We kept the morning (and day) simple by doing exercises with bean bags- passing them through our legs and circling them around out waists and overhead, as well as tossing them up and catching them while counting the times tossed. We sorted by color, letters, shapes and numbers (as we have three sets- numbers, letters, and shapes). A lot of this was for Avery's skills but Ethan had fun. We finished by tossing them back into their box using both arms to gain greater ambidexterity.
Ethan and Avery took mid-day to play in their room and with their building toys. After lunch we made banana bread- Ethan worked on cracking the eggs and Avery helped mash the bananas and mix the batter. Then we did collages and cut images from my old massage magazines and made our own magazines. Avery's good at cutting out images and pasting. We had practice yesterday at Marcia and Becky's house.
And that was it. We kept it low-key and fun.
I'm really getting into the Enki curriculum. I am still reading reading reading about Enki teaching methods and all the nuts and bolts (easy reading but still heady). And I feel confident in being able to modify it to suit our family's needs. It's going to be a fantastic year.
We'll homeschool Monday-Thursday with Friday being an off day for travels and errands. Or keeping it open to be the make-up day. We'll homeschool from 10-3, give or take, letting the day be about fun, play, flow, and healthy living. A lot of our overall day counts towards the Enki style of homeschooling, but the focus hours are from 10-3. I am not ready to do anything before 10, even if I'm up at 6am like I was today. 10 am is when I kick into to teacher mode and 3pm is when we need to rest and get personal space.
This weekend we're going to the MN zoo and whatever wherever else floats our boat in the twin cities. We'll be going with Ryan's family and staying at a hotel with a great pool. I'm looking forward to a short vacation (of sorts) with the kids.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Monday, August 20, 2007
Home School Curriculum Reviews
In my Enki discussion group, there are a lot of families that have tried other curriculum and ended up with enki because of several reasons- mostly a lot to do with their children's learning styles and family needs. www.homeschoolreview.com provides a good overview of a zillion different homeschool curriculum and it explains in better detail why we chose enki. I love that each curriculum has personal feedback, pros and cons.
I'm all fired up to homeschool. Our path includes but limits the use of the computer and tv as teaching tools. I don't want my kids to be without computer skills but I want to limit their sedentary time to educational/family videos and the occasional splurge of an educational game. Ethan's on the computer maybe twice a week now, rather than every day when he'd wake up (which was when he was in pre-school). I'd come downstairs and find him playing a game that he'd saved and he had to get off because I don't think being on the computer first thing in the morning is always ideal because it's not healthy. (needless to say this morning is different for me, but I am doing my homework as a teacher). Since he settled back into his personality, he rarely is drawn to sitting at the computer. Instead he busies himself with books, legos, and his stuffed animals or goes outside. He is back to himself and happy. I find him singing more, and being kinder to Avery. He is more respectful of others. I am happier too. I love having my kid back.
I'm all fired up to homeschool. Our path includes but limits the use of the computer and tv as teaching tools. I don't want my kids to be without computer skills but I want to limit their sedentary time to educational/family videos and the occasional splurge of an educational game. Ethan's on the computer maybe twice a week now, rather than every day when he'd wake up (which was when he was in pre-school). I'd come downstairs and find him playing a game that he'd saved and he had to get off because I don't think being on the computer first thing in the morning is always ideal because it's not healthy. (needless to say this morning is different for me, but I am doing my homework as a teacher). Since he settled back into his personality, he rarely is drawn to sitting at the computer. Instead he busies himself with books, legos, and his stuffed animals or goes outside. He is back to himself and happy. I find him singing more, and being kinder to Avery. He is more respectful of others. I am happier too. I love having my kid back.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Home School Agenda August 19-25th
Tuesday and Thursday
-Songs connecting us to our bodies- If You're Happy, Hokey Pokey, and several Laurie Berkner songs, incorporate Laurie Berkner DVD
-Body movement and expression through movement, telling a story with our bodies- will use a few books to help (ones on gardening/farming, space adventures and so forth)
-Fingerpaints and self-portraits, exploring textures and colors- connect to emotions
-Anatomy- working on understanding the many layers of human flesh and bones and organs
-Drawing our bodies on a long sheet of paper and filling in the bones and organs from memory or visual aids
-Eye Witness video on human body
Thursday or Friday-
-Bluegrass festival in Pine River 1-2 hours
-Songs connecting us to our bodies- If You're Happy, Hokey Pokey, and several Laurie Berkner songs, incorporate Laurie Berkner DVD
-Body movement and expression through movement, telling a story with our bodies- will use a few books to help (ones on gardening/farming, space adventures and so forth)
-Fingerpaints and self-portraits, exploring textures and colors- connect to emotions
-Anatomy- working on understanding the many layers of human flesh and bones and organs
-Drawing our bodies on a long sheet of paper and filling in the bones and organs from memory or visual aids
-Eye Witness video on human body
Thursday or Friday-
-Bluegrass festival in Pine River 1-2 hours
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Getting into the Flow
After a wonderful weekend in Duluth, we're back home and getting back into our flow. On Saturday while in Duluth we visited the GLA and took a ride on the pizza train. Grampa Nathan got a bunch of tickets for us, for which we are very thankful. It was a beautiful day.
Because of being gone for four days, today's schooling was low-key. I am tired and wanted to have fun with no stress. We started off today with movement, focusing on soccer skills and group movement. Ethan learned how to control a small ball with only his lower torso and improved his aiming skills by means of a small goal area (Nahni's saucer and the couch provided the goal). He worked on speed, aim, and overall control. He was quite pleased with his progress. Afterwards, Avery joined us in stretching- hands to toes, toes to nose, knees to nose and variations on such, singing variations on The Happy and you Know it song, and group movement focusing on direction and speed. We then sat down and read a simple book and finished out the morning with several pages in Ethan's three workbooks and Avery working on tracing skills.
This afternoon they played outside and are now resting. Tonight they will go to the lake house and play for a few hours while I work.
Next week is buckle down week, with Ryan and I actively defining what we want for our homeschooling goals and better understanding the Enki cirric. I am starting to use the guidelines and will modify as I desire. I trust my intuition when it comes to modifying what my kids need. I am still hopeful that we are going on a trip to S. Dakota for a 1.5 weeks in September but finances and Ryan's work will ultimately determine that. We also have our first homeschool co-op meeting tomorrow and will set up gathering times for the new few months. I am interested in getting more families aware of our existence and am looking into submitting a press release to local papers. This is to be discussed tomorrow. I'm also looking at getting a business card for networking. I like business cards.
Much of my initial homeschooling will be creating some sort of flow. I am not good at regular anything other than eating and sleeping. Each day is different and that's what I prefer. However, I feel the need to create more predictable form for the kids, as they might prefer that over my flow. But in the light of structure, less is ideal but some over none. Finding the balance. So, I am going to find the balance, of all flows, including the input from our new cirric. Always dancing.
Because of being gone for four days, today's schooling was low-key. I am tired and wanted to have fun with no stress. We started off today with movement, focusing on soccer skills and group movement. Ethan learned how to control a small ball with only his lower torso and improved his aiming skills by means of a small goal area (Nahni's saucer and the couch provided the goal). He worked on speed, aim, and overall control. He was quite pleased with his progress. Afterwards, Avery joined us in stretching- hands to toes, toes to nose, knees to nose and variations on such, singing variations on The Happy and you Know it song, and group movement focusing on direction and speed. We then sat down and read a simple book and finished out the morning with several pages in Ethan's three workbooks and Avery working on tracing skills.
This afternoon they played outside and are now resting. Tonight they will go to the lake house and play for a few hours while I work.
Next week is buckle down week, with Ryan and I actively defining what we want for our homeschooling goals and better understanding the Enki cirric. I am starting to use the guidelines and will modify as I desire. I trust my intuition when it comes to modifying what my kids need. I am still hopeful that we are going on a trip to S. Dakota for a 1.5 weeks in September but finances and Ryan's work will ultimately determine that. We also have our first homeschool co-op meeting tomorrow and will set up gathering times for the new few months. I am interested in getting more families aware of our existence and am looking into submitting a press release to local papers. This is to be discussed tomorrow. I'm also looking at getting a business card for networking. I like business cards.
Much of my initial homeschooling will be creating some sort of flow. I am not good at regular anything other than eating and sleeping. Each day is different and that's what I prefer. However, I feel the need to create more predictable form for the kids, as they might prefer that over my flow. But in the light of structure, less is ideal but some over none. Finding the balance. So, I am going to find the balance, of all flows, including the input from our new cirric. Always dancing.
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Our Week
Tuesday was mostly a play day. We had company for most of the morning and spent the afternoon playing and settling back into our groove. We played a few board games and weeded our garden.
Wednesday Ethan made it to his Wonderful Wednesday and cut out yellow star shapes and pasted them on black paper. We spent the mid-day at the HDT campus working on our spiritual growth through the open heart drumming circle that I host twice monthly. Our focus was to grow our own energy as well as the energy of the campus. It was another open day, of play and being outdoors and celebrating the summer warmth and beauty.
And today- we had a good day of homeschooling. We started the day off with morning movement guided by the book "Snail's Journey Through the Jungle" by Emma Less. It's a story about a snail who goes on a grand adventure through the jungle and on the way meets all kind of animals and has fun challenges. We were able to act out everything. Following morning movement, we worked on our numbers and dexterity skills by creating a long line using the alphabet blocks and measuring it when it was done. It measured 99 inches long. Ethan then learned how to jump and record the distance using the block line as his starting point and placing a block down where his feet landed and measuring the distance between the two. His first jump was 2 ft. 8 inches, the second 3 ft. and the third 4 ft. 2 inches. Following this he made shapes using the blocks and made a square 20 blocks wide by 20 blocks high. He then sat in the center and so did Avery. They played more outside before lunchtime.
In the afternoon we went to Brainerd and selected a new bike and gear for Ethan and Avery. Ethan got a new big boy bike and a helmet and protective pads and a horn, and Avery got a helmet, pads, and a horn as well. Our goal was that this evening Ethan would go over to the lake house to learn how to ride without training wheels. When I got home from teaching yoga I found Ethan managing to ride in a successful line without falling over. He is on his way.
We'll be visiting Lake Superior this weekend and gathering stones to make a rock garden at home. We will also be making our stepping stones. We were going to do that this morning but got involved with going to Brainerd. Lots to do! So much fun!
Wednesday Ethan made it to his Wonderful Wednesday and cut out yellow star shapes and pasted them on black paper. We spent the mid-day at the HDT campus working on our spiritual growth through the open heart drumming circle that I host twice monthly. Our focus was to grow our own energy as well as the energy of the campus. It was another open day, of play and being outdoors and celebrating the summer warmth and beauty.
And today- we had a good day of homeschooling. We started the day off with morning movement guided by the book "Snail's Journey Through the Jungle" by Emma Less. It's a story about a snail who goes on a grand adventure through the jungle and on the way meets all kind of animals and has fun challenges. We were able to act out everything. Following morning movement, we worked on our numbers and dexterity skills by creating a long line using the alphabet blocks and measuring it when it was done. It measured 99 inches long. Ethan then learned how to jump and record the distance using the block line as his starting point and placing a block down where his feet landed and measuring the distance between the two. His first jump was 2 ft. 8 inches, the second 3 ft. and the third 4 ft. 2 inches. Following this he made shapes using the blocks and made a square 20 blocks wide by 20 blocks high. He then sat in the center and so did Avery. They played more outside before lunchtime.
In the afternoon we went to Brainerd and selected a new bike and gear for Ethan and Avery. Ethan got a new big boy bike and a helmet and protective pads and a horn, and Avery got a helmet, pads, and a horn as well. Our goal was that this evening Ethan would go over to the lake house to learn how to ride without training wheels. When I got home from teaching yoga I found Ethan managing to ride in a successful line without falling over. He is on his way.
We'll be visiting Lake Superior this weekend and gathering stones to make a rock garden at home. We will also be making our stepping stones. We were going to do that this morning but got involved with going to Brainerd. Lots to do! So much fun!
Saturday, August 4, 2007
Thursday, August 2, 2007
In Our Town
Our focus this week is what happens in our town.
On Tuesday-
Ethan- He made a layout of a town, mostly ours, out of building blocks. We discussed what goes on in our town- stores, houses, school, HUG, and who does what in our town. We spent a lot of time outside playing as well.
Avery- She joined in with Ethan constructing a town out of blocks and played hard outside.
Today- Thursday
We are featuring one aspect of what happens in our town- the Post Office.
We are writing letters to various friends and family members and will address and send them off this afternoon or tomorrow. I made a bunch of simple letters for the Post Office experience. I wrote Dad, Mom, Avery, Ethan, or Nahni on the front of each letter. To help Ethan and Avery better understand what happens to the mail, I created a simulation of post office and postal workers. Ethan had to pick up the mail in the morning, sort it at the post office, and deliver it to the appropriate houses. He enjoyed it so much he did it twice. We talked about what happens at the post office, and how letters are sorted, because letters need to go far away sometimes and how that happens.
We did a few pages in our workbooks- matching sounds and other objects, number sequences, played outside and for quiet time we're watching an Eyewitness video on insects.
Tomorrow we'll play store.
On Tuesday-
Ethan- He made a layout of a town, mostly ours, out of building blocks. We discussed what goes on in our town- stores, houses, school, HUG, and who does what in our town. We spent a lot of time outside playing as well.
Avery- She joined in with Ethan constructing a town out of blocks and played hard outside.
Today- Thursday
We are featuring one aspect of what happens in our town- the Post Office.
We are writing letters to various friends and family members and will address and send them off this afternoon or tomorrow. I made a bunch of simple letters for the Post Office experience. I wrote Dad, Mom, Avery, Ethan, or Nahni on the front of each letter. To help Ethan and Avery better understand what happens to the mail, I created a simulation of post office and postal workers. Ethan had to pick up the mail in the morning, sort it at the post office, and deliver it to the appropriate houses. He enjoyed it so much he did it twice. We talked about what happens at the post office, and how letters are sorted, because letters need to go far away sometimes and how that happens.
We did a few pages in our workbooks- matching sounds and other objects, number sequences, played outside and for quiet time we're watching an Eyewitness video on insects.
Tomorrow we'll play store.
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