We finished our school year which means that we completed 180 days of school. We are supposed to homeschool for 180 days according to our homeschool waiver I had to sign. So technically Felipe is done with Kindergarten and will be starting first grade and Cassandra will be starting Kindergarten. However, since we move at our own pace Felipe finished the school year about a fourth of the way done with his second grade math book, a fourth of the way done with his Spanish first grade curriculum, and just finished his first grade phonics/reading program in English. So he will be starting the second grade program.
Cassandra will start Kindergarten in the middle of her first grade math book, starting her first grade phonics/reading program, and in the middle of her Kindergarten Spanish curriculum.
As for science we really just study what interests us. This school year we studied arthropods, reptiles, amphibians, fish, birds, mammals, the seasons and weather, health and hygiene, the planets and stars, and we are in the middle of biomes. We have learned about the desert and the ocean. Of course all of these topics are on a Kindergarten/first grade level.
We studied some history. I don't know if I like having a set history curriculum for little kids. I just like to read them little biographies for kids. For Lincoln's birthday and Washington's birthdays we read about the presidents. We learned about Christopher Columbus for Columbus Day. We read scriptures and learn some church history. They love maps so we study maps and learn the names of states and countries.
We have a few activities/classes/lessons type things we are going to be involved in this summer. I like to do school year round so we are going to try to have school maybe 2-3 days a week. We are on a 2 week break right now while I clean out the school room and organize a little. For our summer school days I want to try to do more activities and games. So we are going to relax with the workbooks and try to learn a little more with crafts and games. We have so many books that we don't always have time to read while working on the workbooks so I think we will spend more time reading too.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Heber Field Trip
Here are some pictures of our field trip on the Heber Creeper in a little snowstorm. Saturday, April 24, 2010
Why I Homeschool...
I read an article recently that was in favor of homeschooling and against the public school system. I did not agree with most of the things I read in this article even though I do homeschool. I did not like that the person criticized teachers to the point of saying that they majored in education in order to avoid learning math and that most teachers don't like math and can't do math. Even though I am a homeschooler I was a public school teacher and I have always loved math. I even got a perfect score on the math part of the MSAT (the 2002 version). I did know a lot of teachers that were not very good at math and I do think there could be a bit of a math deficiency among some teachers. However I think most teachers can teach math at the grade level they are required to teach. Also the article claimed that all elementary and secondary teachers majored in education. I majored in Spanish. My sister teaches elementary school and she majored in psychology. My mom majored in math and taught high school math. My husband taught junior high and high school and he majored in physics. My mother-in-law majored in electrical engineering and teaches Kindergarten. I think most elementary educators do major in education, but not all of them. However, I think the majority of secondary teachers major in the field they plan to teach, such as math, English, Spanish, science, art, etc. My husband and I did have to go to school for a year after we graduated to complete a credential. I think that most who major in education do so because they have a desire to teach, not because they are trying to work around learning math. The person also argued that teachers do not want parents to "interfere" by teaching their children to read and learn math, but that they should leave it to the "experts." I have never heard of such a ridiculous notion. There is nothing better when you are a teacher than to have a parent that is teaching a child at home. It is wonderful to have a child that already knows how to read or add or write. It has been my experience that most teachers encourage parents to be involved in their child's education.
I think that most teachers care about their students. I taught first grade, a third and fourth grade combo class completely in Spanish, and fourth grade. I loved teaching each grade. I also was a Spanish assistant at an elementary school while I was in college and had my own little classroom and taught language arts in Spanish to grades K-6. Each grade had about 2-6 kids and they would come to my room and I taught them for about 30 min. daily. I loved teaching every grade. I still think about the students I had and sincerely hope that they are doing well. I think about how old they are and hope that they are still good students. I think that the majority of teachers feel the same about their students.
I do not think that those who choose not to homeschool are bad parents.
So why do I homeschool? I don't homeschool because I hate the public school system. I am actually very grateful that we live in a country that allows all children the opportunity to go to school. I think the main reason why I homeschool is because I love to be with my children. They tell me that they love to be together as a family. They tell me that they love being homeschooled. I miss them when they or I am away. I think about them all the time. I love to watch them learn. I love to learn with them. I love to teach. I love to watch them play together. I love to spend my whole day with them. I know that public school isn't perfect and I have worked with teachers that I would not like to teach my children. I have worked in classrooms with 33 children and I know that a teacher cannot work individually with each child each day. They can't answer every question for lack of time nor can they call on each child that raises his/her hand. Even the best teacher will have the child that finishes working and is bored, the child that loves to talk and talk and talk, the child that cannot sit still, the child that still can't read and needs a lot of help, the child that pouts, the child that takes twice as much time to find a page in a workbook or get a pencil out, etc. I want my children to receive individualized attention, work at their own pace without waiting for the rest of the kids or without being the last one to finish, have their questions answered, and I want them to be in an environment where they enjoy learning. I don't want them to hear "school is boring....teachers are mean...homework is dumb...how long until recess...etc." My husband and I teach the the 4-5 year old class in primary and I was so sad to hear some of them already saying they didn't want to start school because school is boring. We are on earth to learn. How can children progress if they are instilled with the idea that learning is boring before they can even read?
Now as for homeschooling, many people think that teachers cannot possibly be good homeschoolers. I have heard many homeschool parents say that teachers who homeschool are often too "structured." I have also heard people say that school teachers that decide to homeschool have to forget everything they learned in the public schools or that these homeschool "teachers" soon realize that all they really learned was crowd control and not how to actually teach. These fallacies are actually published in many homeschool books. I disagree with anyone who says such nonsense. I do not think that one has to have been a teacher in order to homeschool or that one even needs a formal degree to homeschool. However I think that the more experience and education one has can definitely be benefit to them in teaching others.
I believe that parents are primarily responsible to educate their children whether their children are homeschooled or go to public or private school. I do not think that parents can entirely blame the school system if their children fall behind in school. In the April 2010 General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Elder L. Tom Perry related how his mother taught him when he was a young boy. Here is an excerpt of his talk:
I think that most teachers care about their students. I taught first grade, a third and fourth grade combo class completely in Spanish, and fourth grade. I loved teaching each grade. I also was a Spanish assistant at an elementary school while I was in college and had my own little classroom and taught language arts in Spanish to grades K-6. Each grade had about 2-6 kids and they would come to my room and I taught them for about 30 min. daily. I loved teaching every grade. I still think about the students I had and sincerely hope that they are doing well. I think about how old they are and hope that they are still good students. I think that the majority of teachers feel the same about their students.
I do not think that those who choose not to homeschool are bad parents.
So why do I homeschool? I don't homeschool because I hate the public school system. I am actually very grateful that we live in a country that allows all children the opportunity to go to school. I think the main reason why I homeschool is because I love to be with my children. They tell me that they love to be together as a family. They tell me that they love being homeschooled. I miss them when they or I am away. I think about them all the time. I love to watch them learn. I love to learn with them. I love to teach. I love to watch them play together. I love to spend my whole day with them. I know that public school isn't perfect and I have worked with teachers that I would not like to teach my children. I have worked in classrooms with 33 children and I know that a teacher cannot work individually with each child each day. They can't answer every question for lack of time nor can they call on each child that raises his/her hand. Even the best teacher will have the child that finishes working and is bored, the child that loves to talk and talk and talk, the child that cannot sit still, the child that still can't read and needs a lot of help, the child that pouts, the child that takes twice as much time to find a page in a workbook or get a pencil out, etc. I want my children to receive individualized attention, work at their own pace without waiting for the rest of the kids or without being the last one to finish, have their questions answered, and I want them to be in an environment where they enjoy learning. I don't want them to hear "school is boring....teachers are mean...homework is dumb...how long until recess...etc." My husband and I teach the the 4-5 year old class in primary and I was so sad to hear some of them already saying they didn't want to start school because school is boring. We are on earth to learn. How can children progress if they are instilled with the idea that learning is boring before they can even read?
Now as for homeschooling, many people think that teachers cannot possibly be good homeschoolers. I have heard many homeschool parents say that teachers who homeschool are often too "structured." I have also heard people say that school teachers that decide to homeschool have to forget everything they learned in the public schools or that these homeschool "teachers" soon realize that all they really learned was crowd control and not how to actually teach. These fallacies are actually published in many homeschool books. I disagree with anyone who says such nonsense. I do not think that one has to have been a teacher in order to homeschool or that one even needs a formal degree to homeschool. However I think that the more experience and education one has can definitely be benefit to them in teaching others.
I believe that parents are primarily responsible to educate their children whether their children are homeschooled or go to public or private school. I do not think that parents can entirely blame the school system if their children fall behind in school. In the April 2010 General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Elder L. Tom Perry related how his mother taught him when he was a young boy. Here is an excerpt of his talk:
I used to think some days as I ran home from school that I was through learning for the day, but this illusion was quickly destroyed when I saw my mother standing at the door waiting for me. When we were young, we each had a desk in the kitchen where we could continue to be taught by her as she performed household duties and prepared supper. She was a natural teacher and far more demanding of us than our teachers at school and church.
My goal for my children is to instill in them a love of learning. I want them to "seek out of the best books words of wisdom, (and to) seek learning even by study and also by faith." (D&C 88:118) Whether they are in public school or homeschool I want them to love to learn. Whether they are in public school or homeschool it is my responsibility to teach them. Many public school teachers do an outstanding job at teaching their students. Many public school teachers are not capable of teaching a large group of children. Many homeschool moms excel at teaching their own children and many homeschool moms let their children learn independently all day without much help or interaction. There are good days and bad days in public school and there are good days and bad days in homeschool. So the question is not which is best: homeschool or public school? The question really is: Am I teaching my child to be successful and taking responsibility for his/her learning?The scope of Mother’s teaching included both secular and spiritual lessons. She made sure none of us were falling behind in our schoolwork, which she would often supplement. She also would practice her Relief Society lessons with us. We, of course, received the unabridged versions found in her notebooks, not the abridged versions that had to fit in a single class period.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
School Update
Here are some pictures taken at our homeschool Valentine's Day skating party. The skating rink was reserved just for our group. The kids got to ride their scooters and skate in the roller skating rink and then they had a valentine exchange.
Felipe and Cassandra on their scooters.
Cassandra
Carolina
The kids enjoying their valentines and treats after the party.
Felipe and Cassandra on their scooters.
Cassandra
Carolina
The kids enjoying their valentines and treats after the party.The kids have been to a few activities in our group like this one. We also are in a Spanish group with 3 other families. We have a little lesson in Spanish together and then play and encourage the kids to speak Spanish while they play. The kids also were on a soccer team in January and we are planning to get them into soccer a little more since they really enjoyed it.
As for school we are doing well at being consistent with having school everyday and completing the planned work. We have been having school around 10 am though because we have been up until 11 pm every night watching the Olympics. The kids have learned a lot about different winter sports and about Canada and a few other countries. It will be nice to get back to our regular schedule though.
We are learning about biomes in science. We made a model of a desert with some sand and little plastic snakes and lizards. The kids made a few cacti out of pipe cleaners and put them in the sand. We are going to read about various biomes and make corresponding models.
Cassandra is doing Kindergarten work now. She knows her letters and sounds and is working on word families like -at, -an, -ap, -it, etc. She can sound out most of the three letter words and likes to try to sound out big words.
Felipe is doing mostly first grade work and has just started on a second grade math book that I love. He loves reading in Spanish and has been speaking Spanish a lot more lately.
Now that Cassandra is doing lessons more than just letter practice and preschool work I need to separate the kids more to work with them individually. Before we all worked at the same time but I mostly would work with Felipe while Cassandra practiced writing letters and coloring next to me. We still do a lot of work together though. We bought a kid-size picnic table last year that fits nicely in our school room and I let the other kids sit at it to work on various activities while I work with one individually. I put a set of plastic drawers next to it with things like white boards, construction paper, art supplies, geoboards, lacing cards, magnadoodles, etc. It is kind of like working at centers. We also have been interested in stamping after we made stamped valentines at a primary activity. So I have ordered some stamps for the kids to play with and make pictures (I love them too and I love using my -I need them for our homeschool excuse- to buy them:) So they have to do a "center" for at least one of their breaks (which can include other things not at the table like the flannel board, magnetic board or just reading on a bean bag) and they have to do some sort of exercise for another break. After that they can do whatever they want on their breaks. I also have to do exercise :P so usually we just put on some music and exercise together before we start school. They always want to exercise to our Solecitos CD with Spanish kid songs that I have in my head the rest of the day.
I did a few assessments on them about a month ago. I don't like the idea of "teaching to the test" like so many schools do but at the same time I think kids need to learn how to take tests and do well on them so I do not shun tests in our homeschool. I have always liked tests and testing days were always my favorite in school and even in college. I want my kids to like tests too because I think a negative testing attitude often makes people do worse on tests than they would if they were excited about it.
My favorite thing about our school is that the kids like it. On most days they are excited to go to school. We have been sick this last week but we managed to get about an hour of school done each day. They even wanted to have school when they were sick. Carolina, Samantha and I are still pretty sick though with the flu :(
I get my scripture study done during school too and try to study a little Spanish or do a little reading while they all take a break.
We are really enjoying our homeschool!!
As for school we are doing well at being consistent with having school everyday and completing the planned work. We have been having school around 10 am though because we have been up until 11 pm every night watching the Olympics. The kids have learned a lot about different winter sports and about Canada and a few other countries. It will be nice to get back to our regular schedule though.
We are learning about biomes in science. We made a model of a desert with some sand and little plastic snakes and lizards. The kids made a few cacti out of pipe cleaners and put them in the sand. We are going to read about various biomes and make corresponding models.
Cassandra is doing Kindergarten work now. She knows her letters and sounds and is working on word families like -at, -an, -ap, -it, etc. She can sound out most of the three letter words and likes to try to sound out big words.
Felipe is doing mostly first grade work and has just started on a second grade math book that I love. He loves reading in Spanish and has been speaking Spanish a lot more lately.
Now that Cassandra is doing lessons more than just letter practice and preschool work I need to separate the kids more to work with them individually. Before we all worked at the same time but I mostly would work with Felipe while Cassandra practiced writing letters and coloring next to me. We still do a lot of work together though. We bought a kid-size picnic table last year that fits nicely in our school room and I let the other kids sit at it to work on various activities while I work with one individually. I put a set of plastic drawers next to it with things like white boards, construction paper, art supplies, geoboards, lacing cards, magnadoodles, etc. It is kind of like working at centers. We also have been interested in stamping after we made stamped valentines at a primary activity. So I have ordered some stamps for the kids to play with and make pictures (I love them too and I love using my -I need them for our homeschool excuse- to buy them:) So they have to do a "center" for at least one of their breaks (which can include other things not at the table like the flannel board, magnetic board or just reading on a bean bag) and they have to do some sort of exercise for another break. After that they can do whatever they want on their breaks. I also have to do exercise :P so usually we just put on some music and exercise together before we start school. They always want to exercise to our Solecitos CD with Spanish kid songs that I have in my head the rest of the day.
I did a few assessments on them about a month ago. I don't like the idea of "teaching to the test" like so many schools do but at the same time I think kids need to learn how to take tests and do well on them so I do not shun tests in our homeschool. I have always liked tests and testing days were always my favorite in school and even in college. I want my kids to like tests too because I think a negative testing attitude often makes people do worse on tests than they would if they were excited about it.
My favorite thing about our school is that the kids like it. On most days they are excited to go to school. We have been sick this last week but we managed to get about an hour of school done each day. They even wanted to have school when they were sick. Carolina, Samantha and I are still pretty sick though with the flu :(
I get my scripture study done during school too and try to study a little Spanish or do a little reading while they all take a break.
We are really enjoying our homeschool!!
Saturday, February 6, 2010
First Prize
Little Felipe tied for first prize in the science fair for grades k-2. I am so proud of him because he did the project all by himself and thought up the idea alone. I taught him the scientific method and explained what everything means - like hypothesis, procedure, results, conclusion, data... Then I asked him what his hypothesis is about how to make a raisin. He told me and I wrote it on a paper. Then he copied it in his own writing and put it on the board. We followed those steps for the whole project, but I just wrote word for word what he said. Next year he wants to do a project on how to make a steam engine. Cassandra wants to do a science project to on different types of medicine. She is such a little doctor.
Friday, January 15, 2010
My Sister Ate My Science Project
Little Felipe is working on a science project for a k-8 science fair. His project is How do you make a raisin? He is drying grapes in the window and everyday he draws what they look like. Well, yesterday he was drawing his grapes when Carolina came along and ate them. Luckily she left one. I guess he will just have to finish the project with one since it is too late to start over.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
A Homeschool Christmas
I love being able to homeschool during the Christmas season. When I was in school I remember always making a Christmas craft and doing a few Christmas art projects, singing in the Holiday Tea, and shopping at Santa's Secret Shop (even though the prices were ridiculous).
When I taught school we were not allowed to spend so much time on Christmas. We did sing a song every year for the parents and we did do one art project that maybe took up about 30 minutes of class time. However we had to turn in our lesson plans and we were required to spend so much amount of time each day on certain subjects. Thus "less important" things were not permitted. I always worked at those schools that were about to be taken by the government because of low test scores.
Well, I love being able to spend time on Christmas. Every day we learn about Jesus. I have the picture library box (I am not sure that is what it is called) from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and every day we look at one of the pictures of Jesus and read the summary on the back. We are going chronologically through the life of Christ. We are also memorizing a few scriptures relating to the birth of Christ.
I have a December activity book and I photocopied all of the projects so every day we spend some time either doing a Christmas coloring page, making Santa puppets, Christmas cards, etc. Also we have been making some homemade decorations. Today the kids strung beads on wire and made tree ornaments. Cassandra began sewing a gingerbread man by hand. They also painted some decorations.
We also have time to make Christmas treats. We made fudge with smashed candy canes. Little Felipe got out his hammer and he and Cassandra took turns smashing the candy canes in a ziplock bag. We are going to make sugar cookies with cookie cutters next week.
We have a lot of Christmas books so I put them all in a basket and we have been trying to read a little every night. I love Christmas movies though and so we have been watching a little more than usual. The ones we seem to watch the most are: A Jiminy Cricket Christmas and Walt Disney Christmas (if you put those two together you get the old Disney Channel Christmas from the 1980's), Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, The Thomas and Friends Christmas Wonderland, The My Friends Tigger and Pooh Christmas and Baby Einstein Baby Santa. I think those are all of the Christmas movies we have. I also like It's a Wonderful Life, but it is probably too old for my little kids.
We are still doing our regular daily work but the goal for December is just to get maybe one workbook page done each day in each subject. That way they can get through their daily work in about an hour and have plenty of time for Christmas.
When I taught school we were not allowed to spend so much time on Christmas. We did sing a song every year for the parents and we did do one art project that maybe took up about 30 minutes of class time. However we had to turn in our lesson plans and we were required to spend so much amount of time each day on certain subjects. Thus "less important" things were not permitted. I always worked at those schools that were about to be taken by the government because of low test scores.
Well, I love being able to spend time on Christmas. Every day we learn about Jesus. I have the picture library box (I am not sure that is what it is called) from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and every day we look at one of the pictures of Jesus and read the summary on the back. We are going chronologically through the life of Christ. We are also memorizing a few scriptures relating to the birth of Christ.
I have a December activity book and I photocopied all of the projects so every day we spend some time either doing a Christmas coloring page, making Santa puppets, Christmas cards, etc. Also we have been making some homemade decorations. Today the kids strung beads on wire and made tree ornaments. Cassandra began sewing a gingerbread man by hand. They also painted some decorations.
We also have time to make Christmas treats. We made fudge with smashed candy canes. Little Felipe got out his hammer and he and Cassandra took turns smashing the candy canes in a ziplock bag. We are going to make sugar cookies with cookie cutters next week.
We have a lot of Christmas books so I put them all in a basket and we have been trying to read a little every night. I love Christmas movies though and so we have been watching a little more than usual. The ones we seem to watch the most are: A Jiminy Cricket Christmas and Walt Disney Christmas (if you put those two together you get the old Disney Channel Christmas from the 1980's), Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, The Thomas and Friends Christmas Wonderland, The My Friends Tigger and Pooh Christmas and Baby Einstein Baby Santa. I think those are all of the Christmas movies we have. I also like It's a Wonderful Life, but it is probably too old for my little kids.
We are still doing our regular daily work but the goal for December is just to get maybe one workbook page done each day in each subject. That way they can get through their daily work in about an hour and have plenty of time for Christmas.
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