Very Last First Time

Very Last First Time (Five in a Row homeschool lesson)
We are reading a book about a girl that's going to walk on the bottom of the sea for the first time alone. We put water and rocks in a box and put a bag over the box and pretended that was the ice. We had people and a basket and a knife in the basket. We put something under the box and then the water went to the other end and that was the tide.

-reported by LilDude*, age 7

We will report on the rest of our lessons from this week. Please check back here for more exciting adventures from the book by Jan Andrews called Very Last First Time.

We got the idea for this lesson from the archives on the Five in a Row website. It appears that you need to join the forum (free) to search the archives. It's found in the ideas (great ones!) for Volume 1.

*P.S. LilDude typed this out by himself. We've spent the last couple weeks using free, on-line lessons from BBC Schools Dance Mat Typing. He knows all the letters. Now he's practicing. :)

Teaching Kids About Money is HARD

I took LilDude (7) and GG (3, almost 4) to the store. They each carried $2 they'd earned, excited to spend it on something wonderful. I was equally excited to use some of my new "Love and Logic/allowance with kids" knowledge; basically I wanted to give them a chance to learn something about money.

The second we enter the store, GG spots the balloons. He talked about gum in the car, but we stop to check out the balloon options. I look at a couple but can't find a price tag and finally ask the floral attendant. $7.99. GG and I count his dollars. Not enough. The saleswoman leans over the counter and says, "I have one for $1.99." She brings out a snowman balloon with a lollypop anchor (to keep it from floating away.) He lights up. "Balloon!"

I also light up, thrilled for a teachable moment. "You have enough money for the balloon OR for gum. But you don't have enough money for both."

"Hmmm," he considers, "balloon! No, gum! No, balloon! No, GUM!" We thank the salesperson and head toward the gum.

We consider the gum for a long time, finally deciding to head across the parking lot to another store with more gum options. I buckle GG into his car seat. "Balloon!"

LilDude looks at him. "You want the balloon? You changed your mind?"

GG replies, "Um!" (His standard reply for "yes!")

"Are you sure?" I ask, starting to unbuckle him.

"Gum. Noooo....balloon!" We head back into the store.

The florist is surprised to see us. "Did he come back for the balloon?"

"I want balloon." She hands it to him. "Thank you!" he replies, clutching his treasure.

On the way to the checkout counter we stop so LilDude can pick out his gum. (You can see it coming, can't you?) LilDude picks up several options. GG says, "Gum! No, balloon. No, gum! No, balloon. Gum! Gum! Gum!" Both boys select their gum and we head back to the floral department to return the balloon.

"Did he change his mind?" She grins. "Enjoy your gum!"

Both boys proudly pay for their gum, take their bags and head toward the door. The florist comes running after us, the snowman balloon and another GIANT Santa balloon in hand. She hands one to each boy. "I'm going to mess up your money lesson." [Through the entire thing I'd been explaining to multiple clerks that we were on a "money learning mission."] "But I can't really sell these since it's past Christmas. And he was so polite when he tried to make his choice. And they're so cute." The boys thank her and head to the door, ladened with gum, change and huge balloons.

[Shaking my head, laughing.] So what exactly did we learn today? "Cute" can get you a long way in life???? :)


P.S. In reality, a bazillion more "Gum! Balloon? Gum? Balloon! Gum! Balloon? Gum? Balloon! Gum?" lines came out of GG's mouth. This story is the SHORT version.

Kids, Homeschool, & Schedules

Since I began homeschooling NINE (gasp!) years ago, I've tried any number of different schedules. For many years we didn't need a schedule. But I've found that sometimes we need one for various reasons... Young siblings on the sidelines. A particular personality who craves order. (Sometimes that's ME!)

The last time I used a schedule, I wrote it and everyone else followed. This time I'm doing it a little different...and loving the results!  Here's what I did...

Gather supplies:

• pocket chart
• old business cards or small pieces of cardstock in 3 colors
• markers

As part of school today I had LilDude make labels indicating every half-hour. On orange cards I listed the parts of the school day that are landmarks: breakfast, lunch, and (sometimes) nap. On blue cards LilDude wrote down each of the things he does independently during the day. On green cards he posted things that he needs my help with during the day. Then, in the bottom right of each card we listed how much time (in 15 minute increments) each job takes.

He then placed all the time cards in the pocket chart, followed by the orange cards. It was then his job to make the schedule for our day, using the blue and green cards. I really didn't care what order he put them in (which gave him a lot of control!) as long as all the jobs made it on the chart. I did suggest that he put the "school" type cards before lunch as much as possible. I also explained that during the blue card (independent work) time that I would be doing household jobs.

As he finished each job, he turned the card over so I knew it was complete. This worked great! He does well on a schedule, but especially if it's a schedule that he has some control over. The fact that he has to think through what he must do each day and analyze just how much time it will take to get it done is an incredible life skill. He'll do this each morning so that the day's schedule is fresh in his mind.

Super Math Website for Kids!

KidsKount is an amazing website, filled with math games and learning opportunities for kids ages 5-12. (Side note: I'm not able to run Java on my Mac using Firefox. I use Safari instead.)

Panda Express-Chinese New Year program, free!

Panda Express is offering a free program for use in schools. Homeschoolers have reported no problem in getting the same offer. Here's the information from the website:

Panda Express, America’s largest Asian restaurant chain, is offering a FREE educational program to your school and its students. For three years, our signature Chinese New Year Learn With Me Program™ provides educators with an instructional resource to encourage learning about one of China’s traditional holiday celebrations. The FREE kit, geared for second through fourth grades, includes:

* Panda Express’ Year of the Tiger DVD
* Year of the Tiger Fact Sheet
* Jade Emperor’s Interactive Game & Activity Sheet
* Chinese New Year Decoration Art Activity
* Lai See Activity Sheet
* Bookmarks (with a Free Kids Meal with purchase coupon attached)

Each classroom is limited to ordering materials for 35 students; please note that one school can have multiple classrooms ordering materials.

Please complete the information below to receive your free program kit.

Program kits will not be shipped to P.O. Box addresses. Please note that providing incorrect shipping information will result in not receiving program kit materials. You will not be contacted if this situation occurs. All submission must be received by Tuesday, December 8, 2009 by 11:59 pm Pacific Standard Time.

Homeschooling to Create "Magic Circle" Time

It lasted a month, maybe two. Not including summer. That's how long all my kiddos (schoolaged) were enrolled in public school.

Lizzi is beside herself with excitement over public school. This fall, she will enter a freshman class of somewhere between 300 & 400 students. Considering the fact that she just graduated from an 8th grade class of 60something, that's a pretty big change!

Anakin entered public school at the end of March as a 6th grader. First time in public school after being homeschooled K-6th. Due to trips (Lego Robotics Championship, 2 weeks, and China, 2 weeks), he missed a lot of that time, but he enjoyed the little that he was there and looks forward to returning.

'LilDude is another story. He liked public school kindergarten. He excelled academically, seemed to thoroughly enjoy his friends (and recess!), and spoke positively about his school life. But around the time we went on the Lego trip in April, he started talking about wanting to homeschool.

I don't know why and doubt that he does either. The driving force seems to be wanting to be at home with Mommy.

Over the past eight years, I've homeschooled for many different reasons. But the predominant reason has never been because a child wanted to be with me. I wouldn't ordinarily think that was necessarily a good reason. But in this case it's different.

Growing up, I knew a local family who adopted all five of their children internationally. Several of the children arrived home as toddlers, most as infants. I always thought that they'd made a wise choice. The kids missed time with their parents when they were young and by homeschooling, they gained time to cultivate and nurture relationships.

Homeschooling isn't for everyone. But for those who can, it seems like a viable option to create opportunities for what Patty Cogen (author of Parenting Your Internationally Adopted Child) calls the "Magic Circle." In non-adopted children, the Magic Circle is created in-utero and continues during early childhood as the bond/proximity between mother and child remains close. For adopted children, the Magic Circle is broken upon separation between biological mother and child. The adopted child, therefore, needs many opportunities to create the Magic Circle with the adoptive parent. Cogen says that the Magic Circle:

*is a fueling station for Parent Juice, to strengthen connection and sooth pain.
*protects a child from overstimulation, from exploring the world too fast.
*protects a child from the physical dangers of unsupervised exploration.
*provides an organizing center to the child's world.

I see instances where 'LilDude is still in need of more Magic Circle time than other children his age. Leaving the house from 8:30am-4pm everyday--as he would in 1st grade--would stretch the Magic Circle that we've created to the point of possibly breaking. I think that he's sensing the need in himself for more close time with Mommy. I'm proud of him for his ability to voice that need, even if he can't articulate all the whys/wherefores.

I don't know what tomorrow will bring. But it seems that homeschooling is the right answer for 'LilDude this year.

Not to mention that GG would miss him terribly. Two-peas-in-a-pod doesn't begin to describe them. Tonight 'LilDude said, "When I grow up and get a whole bunch of babies from China..." That's a pretty big change. :)

105 Degree Day Activities

What do you do when it's 105 degrees outside?

1. Sweat.

2. Pretend like it's the dead of winter.

3. Sweat.

We're kinda going for option #2. While homeschooling, I always thought it wise to take off the month of May and homeschool on the hottest days of July/August, because we definitely don't want to go outside.



At the moment, my boys are playing with lentils. That's right, LENTILS. We actually have a kit from TOPS, but they aren't doing anything but filling/dumping containers at the moment, so you could do this at your house.

Now the bigger question...what do you make/eat for dinner when it's 105 outside??? Help me!

P.S. One thing for dinner...Crisp Cucumber Salad.

Trampoline Math

This is so fun!

Katy & the Big Snow Lessons

We have been more-or-less snowed in for the last week, plus. Four of the last five school days were canceled. Time for my public school kindergartener to experience some homeschooling. And what better topic than SNOW?!

We started by reading Katy and the Big Snow. Based on an idea in the Five in a Row curriculum, 'LilDude made a list of different places that you'd find in a town, particularly ones that are necessary for the town to function. (Hospital, police, fire, church, store, etc...) He then made a map, placing all the businesses in his imaginary town. He numbered his original list and used this as a map key.

Then, on a large piece of butcher paper, he drew the town, complete with roads, buildings (made of blocks), vehicles (got out all his cars, emergency vehicles, etc...)


We found quite a few snow lessons on the internet as well, including a place to make a snowman by reading some simple directions. On another fun site you can make virtual snowflakes.

We also read:

The Big Snow by Berta & Elmer Hader (Caldecott book)
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats (Caldecott book)
Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin (Caldecott book)
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost, illustrated by Susan Jeffers (we're working on memorizing this one)

It's amazing how many snow-themed books are Caldecott winners. The forecast calls for more snow. Homeschooling, here we come! :)