a little chemistry

This year John is studying chemistry. In the classical education model (which we find ourselves following more and more closely - but that's for another post) a child begins to study both chemistry and physics in the elementary years. When chemistry is introduced in the high school years it can be almost like a foreign language to many students. The classical model suggests introducing chemistry at a young age so that, like biology which students have been exposed to since kindergarten, it will be second nature to the student when it is time to study it in far greater depth.

We are using the book Adventures with Atoms and Molecules as our basic text. Each chemistry lesson asks a specific question and then teaches the concept through an experiment. Today's question was 'Do Hot Molecules Move Faster Than Cold Molecules?' We then worked through a simple experiment using hot water, cold water and food coloring to illustrate the principle of diffusion. This book is wonderful; the experiments are straightforward and use household items while the text is clear and concise. Even if you don't homeschool it's a great resource for a summer of science.

John is loving chemistry. He is now wanting to write/draw the chemical structures for every compound he can think of. I am beginning to see the logic behind introducing chemistry to younger children; their little brains are sponges waiting to soak up whatever is put in front of them.

Our Fridays

So, if we only do school Monday - Thursday, what do we do on Fridays?

We love Fridays around our little neck of the woods. Every Friday my children attend what is known as Super Fridays. It's a once a week private school specifically for homeschoolers. The children attend classes at the school from 8:45 - 12:15.

Madi is considered a freshman which means that she is grouped with about seven or eight children just her age. They have a teacher, Miss Julie, who does all sorts of marvelous activities with them. Their focus this fall is on Texas habitats and Texas animals. Madi's little group also attends a music class with a different teacher as well as a gymnastic class with a few coaches.

John is considered a sophomore. Before the semester started he was able to chose three classes that he thought would be interesting. He chose science, art and gymnastics. He attends each class for roughly an hour and then switches to his next class. There is also a brief snack time where all the sophomores, juniors and seniors gather in the gym to munch. The school offers a surprising variety of classes; yo-yo, karate, bell choir, Lego Robotics, home ec, drama, Little House on the Prairie, history, geography, the history of chocolate, etc.

I have been nothing but impressed with the facility and staff from day one. Madi and John absolutely adore attending Super Friday, it's the perfect end to their week. We couldn't have asked for a better set up, having Super Friday allows all three of us just that little smidgen of breathing room which then enables us to jump back into our own school room with enthusiasm Monday morning.

questions and a captain's log

In American History we are studying the early explorers. I decided against another tired Christopher Columbus lesson, and decided to have a full 10 week study on New World Explorers. To start off our Time Traveler Adventure, we've been learning what life would have been like for those seafaring explorers. We tasted limes and beef jerky (known as 'salted horse' to the sailors), tied knots, looked at Ptolemaic maps, and tried to figure out why they would want to become adventurers in the first place. This week we made a Captain's Log, so that we will be able to chronicle the rest of our findings more authentically.


We first dyed paper in a coffee bath. (My children were sufficiently horrified when I brought coffee home. They were still somewhat skeptical that we should even be dying things with it.) We then hung the paper to drip dry.
The next day we covered cardstock in fabric and then sewed the pieces of paper into the spine.

We are now ready to work with our quill and ink. I love living history, so needless to say I was thrilled when I stumbled upon Homeschool in the Woods, an amazing source for both living history and timelines. (We adore timelines around here as well, but that's for another post!) Even if you don't homeschool, check out their site. They have so many fantastic resources available to enable history to come alive at an exceptionally reasonable price.

Now, to answer some questions we've been asked...

How much time do you spend in each subject?

We don't really have a set amount of time for each subject. But here's a very rough breakdown.

Morning Meeting (pledges, calendar, weather etc.) - 5-10 minutes

Morning Devotional (Scripture of the Week, Primary Song of the Week, Book of Mormon Study) - 20 min

Math/Journal/Spelling (These are occurring simultaneously with me teaching a math lesson to one child while the other works independently on the other subjects) - 45 min.

Reading/Grammar/Recitation (Again, occurring simultaneously) - 45 min.

Snack (During snack time I introduce, depending on the day of the week, either our 'Hero of the Week', 'Virtue of the Week', a section from the For the Strength of Youth, or a 'scripture adventure') - 10 - 15 min.

Personal Study - 10 - 15 min.

Citizenship (Mondays) - 15 min.

Geography/Copy Work (Mondays) - 20-30 min.

Art (Mondays/Wednesdays) - however long the project lasts

Science/Copy Work (Tuesdays/Wednesdays) - 30-45 min.

American History (Tuesdays/Wednesdays) - 30 - 45 min.

Music (Tuesdays/Thursdays) - 15-25 min.

World History (Thursdays) - 30-45 min.

Another mother and I alternate every other Thursday teaching a class. This week my kids went to her house for two hours for World History. Next Thursday her little girl will come to my house for a two hour class on Composers.

Yes, I only teach Monday - Thursday!

What are you reciting?

Each week each child has a different saying/poem to memorize. At the end of the week the recitation is given in front of the principle (Corey). Last week John memorized a quote by President Monson; "Work will when wishy washy wishing won't." This week he is memorizing a line from the book Pinocchio; "To become a real boy one must prove himself brave, truthful and unselfish." This week Madi is memorizing - "A happy home is heaven on earth." We are also memorizing scriptures as part of our morning devotionals, but the children are not graded in that area.

What does citizenship tackle?

Citizenship is a Texas state requirement. However what Texas defines as 'citizenship' is totally ambiguous. We are choosing to focus on patriotic themes each month. This month we are studying the symbolic nature of the flag, how to fly a flag, the importance of the flag etc. We are reading Betsy Ross from The Childhood of Famous American Series in conjunction with our flag study.

How much time do you spend planning your day's activities every night?

Right now when school is over I can turn off the light and leave it all until school the next morning. This is due to the fact that I spent a tremendous amount of time prepping the month before school started. Theoretically I could not really have to prep much of anything until Thanksgiving, but starting in the next week or so I plan to set aside 20 or so minutes every day to continue to prepare for the rest of the year. In all honesty, it's been a lot less stressful than I had anticipated. As strange as it sounds, I am finding that I have more time now than I ever did when both my kids were in public school.

I am more than happy to answer any questions - so feel free to keep sending them my way!

a little tweaking

On Wednesday I noticed my daughter's eyes starting to glaze over a little bit after PE and lunch. She was tired and starting to shut down her brain. Now, there are a variety of reasons as to why she was tired; adjusting to our new school schedule where the kids get up an hour earlier, having spent a fantastic weekend with family celebrating John's baptism, riding her bike up and down the street a bazillion time during PE, etc. Anyway you look at it, she was exhausted.

Although there were many factors contributing to my kids being tired in the afternoon, as their mother I know that even on their most rested days - after lunch they tend to slow down for a little while. Trying to teach a tired child didn't seem to be enabling the most conducive environment for learning. So yesterday I tweaked our schedule just a smidge. We started at 9:00 and were done with everything by 12:30. It was fantastic! Condensing things just a little allowed us plenty of time in the afternoon to ride bikes, read several chapters from Mr. Popper's Penguins, scrub the house from top to bottom, and just enjoy each other's company. (I even snuck in a little nap myself!) I love the flexibility we, as a family, are experiencing. When something needs a little tweaking - we can tweak it!

our first day

I was nervous about today. I just wasn't sure how everything would shake out. How would my children respond to my new role as their sole academic instructor? Would I have the patience necessary? Would I disappoint my children? Would homeschooling meet their expectations? Would they want to be on the next big yellow school bus heading back to public school?

It was a better day than I could have hoped for. The children were happy, excited and ready to jump into a new phase of our lives with both feet. It was so refreshing to spend 5 uninterrupted hours just one on one with my children. I am amazed at how much I learned about my children, especially Madi, in just one day of completely personalized instruction. Their strengths, weaknesses and needs may be different from what I initially thought. I am so grateful that we are now in an environment where I can better evaluate and then meet those needs.

Now, don't think that I, for one second, think every school day is going to be idyllic. I am a realist, my friends. When I was telling Corey about our day he said, 'Now you just have to remember how great today was when you're having 'pull your hair out' days.' And believe you me, I know they are coming. I'm just so grateful that today was such a good day. I wanted the first day, the first impression for the children to be a good one. What a blessing that it was.

What did we do today?

Book of Mormon Devotional
Math
Journal
Spelling
Reading
Grammar
Recitation
Self Directed Study
PE
Citizenship
Copywork
Geography
Art

Madi's favorites were spelling and the paper bag owls we made in art. John was torn between the jump roping in PE, grammar, and our art owls. I was just happy they were happy.