Bridging the Summer Gap

We are taking six weeks off of school for our 'summer break' this year. This is a first for us since we usually school year round and seldom take off more than three or four weeks for anything. The fact that we never stop for long has always prevented, at least to some degree, summer boredom and the summer gap in learning. 

To deal with the boredom I've created a "Boredom Buster" jar. First, I cut a couple of sheets of paper into strips about 3/4 inch wide. On each strip of paper I wrote a job, something sure to bust any bout of boredom. I included things like organize the pots and pans, match up socks, organize and refold the clothes in one dresser drawer, dust the bookshelves, etc... When they come to me with their complaints of "I'm bored!" or "There's nothing to do!" they will be directed straight to the Boredom Buster Jar. 

Now, lest you think I'm just a mean 'ol mommy who is not going to provide any summer fun for the kids, let me also tell you about the "What can I do?" chart... To keep them occupied on rainy days or days when the temperature prevents safely playing outdoors they can refer to this chart for ideas to keep themselves occupied and prevent the dreaded Boredom Buster Jar. The chart includes activities that they can easily do on their own in most cases, or in some instances with a brother, sister, or even me. A few things on our chart: 

Read a book!

Play a board game

Blow bubbles

Play with Play-doh

Write and act out a play or puppet show

Put together a puzzle

Build a city with all the various building toys

Draw/color a picture

Listen to a story on CD

Make a bead necklace

Do a craft (I'm going to pick up some of those $1-2 craft kits at Michaels to keep on hand)

Dealing with the summer gap in learning is a little trickier. I don't want them to think I'm making them do summer school, but I do feel it is necessary to keep up with a couple of things during their time off--particularly math and reading. Both boys already read every single night at bedtime and that's great, but I want them to spend part of their day reading as well. To encourage this, and to let them think they at least have some say in the matter I am setting up an exchange system of sorts. Thirty minutes reading equals thirty minutes on the Wii or computer. The same is true for math. And to sweeten the deal (for Ben at least) I've also found some great online math games to help reinforce math facts. So he can choose to spend his thirty minutes of math using the Flashmaster, playing an online game, or completing a math worksheet--his choice. 

Hopefully these things will help bridge the gap that summer creates, while also allowing them to enjoy their summer break! 

It's a Wrap

Yeah! We are finished with our 2008-09 school year!

In the coming week(s) while we are on our summer break I plan to write about the following topics (not necessarily in this order): 

• What went right this year? And what went wrong?
  
• Closing out the year and putting together a portfolio.
• Changes we are making for next year
• Why we use Sonlight even though it requires a lot more time.
• Bridging the summer gap.

For now, I'll just share these pictures of the kids from our homeschool group's end of the year party. It was a really fun evening for the kids (and the parents!). Each family shared projects, artwork, writing, etc... and the kids enjoyed seeing what their friends had been up to. 

Any of the kids who had a special project they'd worked on or a talent to share were invited to perform for our group. Ben performed the Sanchin Kata, which is what he had to do in order to get his yellow stripe on his belt. 

Gavin, of course, played guitar.

Thanks to everyone who had a part in making our 2008-09 school year (our SEVENTH year of homeschool! WOW!) a success. 

Nearing the Finish Line

With almost 35 weeks of school behind us we are nearing the finish line for our 2008-09 school year. It's been hard to find the time these past few weeks to do much writing. We've been cramming to get things done. I don't normally like to work at this pace, or work with a deadline staring us in the face. But I set a goal a while back of finishing up by May 22. It seemed like a reasonable date...plenty of time to finish, but there have been a number of things to come up and set us back, and back, and back. So now, to reach my self-appointed goal we've been working hard! I think we are earning the vacation we have planned later this month and into June!

The kids have been doing great with their school work and their extra-curricular activities as well. Friday night we have a "show and tell" night with our homeschool group to show off some of their work and projects from the year and/or share a short performance. Ben is planning to do his Sanchin Kata that he learned for his yellow stripe on his belt. Gavin, of course, is planning to play guitar and is going to play something he came up with on his own. We are looking forward to seeing what all of the other kids have to share too! 

Ben saw his psychiatrist today and he's still doing well. No changes to his medications except for the timing of one of them. 

The boys were both in a musical/drama at our church earlier this month. Like last time the children were all allowed to choose an elective so that they could each use their own talents to contribute to the presentation. Ben chose art this time and he contributed by making many of the props and background decorations. Gavin choose vocal for his elective and he learned to harmonize and sang a solo during the musical. Gavin also joined the handbells team and learned to play handbells. Both boys did great in their roles! 

Last week Ben and Luci got the puppet theater down and Ben wrote a puppet show for them to perform. Gavin got involved a while later and helped expand and add to the puppet show. I can't remember the name now, but the characters were a prince and a pirate! Great fun!  You can see their script hung on the corner of the puppet theater, and their rapt audience in front of the theater. 


Box Day! Our new school books for next school year came earlier this month! It's always exciting opening up the boxes and seeing all the books! Now I'm excited to finish up this year so we can start the next! (The kids, however, think we need to take a break! LOL)

You Asked....Part 5

How do I juggle multiple homeschooled children?

Homeschooling two or more children can seem like a daunting task, especially when those children are different ages or at different levels of maturity. There are a few things, however, that can make things go smoothly. 

• Plan Ahead  It is important to have a clear picture of what you expect to accomplish on any given day in homeschooling your children. For some, a strict schedule is the only way they can get things done. Many families have very successfully used Managers of Their Homes in order to schedule their day. The book includes helpful tips and reproducible pages that help you plan your day in 15 minute increments. This works great for highly structured and organized people. For some families, however, this type of schedule is too restricting. This type of schedule cannot account for the various things that come up every day--your 3 year old spills her milk, the baby won't take a nap, your 3rd grader lost his reader, etc... It can be frustrating to find yourself 15 or 30 minutes behind and eventually this schedule gets tossed out the window! Personally, I like the idea of a schedule, but we aren't disciplined enough to pull it off, so we use a loosely scheduled routine.  To create our daily routine I made a list of what subjects each child needed to complete daily and then marked whether they could be done independently, partially independently, or required my direct supervision. I then rearranged them in such a way as to have only one child at a time requiring my direct supervision. These are each plotted into a grid that I divide hourly. The kids always know what comes next and they know when they are finished. 
• Teach Independence When your children are capable of reading on their own you will find that they are ready and able to become more independent in some of their work. From pretty early on I try to teach my children to listen carefully to the instructions and then work independently to complete the work. My children alternate one-on-one time with me throughout the school day and it is during those times that I teach new concepts, make corrections, and give instruction for work to be completed. Each child's one-on-one time is not to be interrupted, so if one of my children has a problem while working independently they are to skip that problem and finish the work. If I am still working with a sibling they are to look at that problem again and see if they can figure it out. Usually they figure it out on their own and are able to move on to their next assignment, and if not I offer help as soon as I am free. Teaching your kids to be independent workers  will ultimately be as good for them as it is for managing your time. Independent workers turn into great problem solvers!
• Make Use of Older Siblings Often an older sibling can step in and help out with a younger brother or sister, freeing you to work one-on-one with the another child. If your older child is a good reader, try having him or her read aloud to a little sister or brother. My oldest child reads aloud to his little sister every day. I love the bond that it has created between them. She will always remember that he read some of her favorite stories to her. Older siblings can use flash cards to help teach colors, numbers, shapes, and letters. Alternatively, they can simply play games or help them complete a puzzle. 
• Combine Subjects Wherever Possible If you have children that are close in age you can take advantage of combined teaching. History, science, art, and foreign language are all subjects that lend themselves well to combining. Even with children that are two or three years apart combining still works with some modification. You would obviously require more retention and understanding from your older child and perhaps add additional reading or writing assignment to go along with the lesson. Combining subjects not only saves time, but it also has the added benefit of having your children working and learning together. I've often discovered that when my children are learning the same things at the same time it carries over into non-school times as well. One day last year, after my boys had been studying they same subject in history,  I found them writing a puppet show related to the building of the Great Wall of China. Currently they are both interested in gardening and this is also carrying over from school times to non-school times. What a great way to enhance the knowledge they've acquired than to talk about it together and expand it into their daily play. This is a benefit to homeschooling that I don't believe you will find to be at all common in public schools! 
• Occupy the Little Ones Sometimes it's the littlest ones in our homes that can provide the biggest distractions to our homeschool day. Toddlers and preschoolers often just want to be a part of the activity centered around your homeschool. I have found that having special, school-time-only, activities available is usually enough to keep even the most persistent preschooler occupied while the older children need mom's direct attention. When my second son was a toddler I set up some activity boxes in a cabinet for him. The plastic shoe-box sized containers are perfect for this. It is important that the boxes contain only activities that the child can do on his or her own. It defeats the purpose if you give a 3 year old a 500 piece puzzle that will only serve to frustrate and reduce him to tears. My boxes included things like lacing shapes, counting bears, paper and stickers, crayons and a coloring book, puzzles, and play-doh. Occasionally, I would also dump a large canister of oatmeal into a shallow, but wide, plastic bin and add some scoops, spoons, and cups. This serves as an amazing "indoor sandbox", and the clean up is pretty simple--a broom and a dustpan or, even better, a dustbuster. On rare occasions, when nothing else worked, I have also been known to fill up a shallow bin with water and supply the same scoops and spoons along with a strainer and a funnel. This one was good for hours of play! If you set it up on the kitchen floor on a couple of towels, your mess is pretty limited too.