Big News...

I can't believe how nervous I am about this. Today I withdrew my oldest son from school, YIKES. I have enrolled him in AZVA public school. It is a very exciting thing for both of us. I have struggled for so long to get him the gifted learning he needs that I knew it is was time for a change. My husband and I both agree that because he learns differently then other children he should be taught differently. This has been a struggle for us as parents from very early on and is now affecting our relationship with our son. As well as affecting his confidence and self esteem.
It will be another new adventure to post about. I love adventures it 's just that first step into the unknown that is a bit frightening. I will keep you posted with our progress.

Math

I want to start with math and explain what I have chosen to do for math and why. First off this was one of the hardest areas for me to find peace with. This is an area that both of my boys excel in and I knew they weren't being challenged at school. I went through many forum discussions on the topic and looked into two of the most frequently used math programs for Homeschoolers; Singapore and Saxon. Both definitely worth looking into.

I decided on Saxon math and printed the placement tests for my boys and prepared to purchase the materials at the grade level they tested into. However I started to wonder about adding to or teaching different concepts on top of the math load they already received at school. I decided to check out the Kumon learning center close to our home to see what they offered for math. I was so impressed that if I had the money I would have enrolled all of my children in math and reading that very day. Unfortunately I did not have the means to do so. Instead I took with me the knowledge and realization of the importance of mastering their math basics.

I gave this a lot of thought and realized that at school they cruise through things so quickly that they lose the basics. This helped guide me in the direction that I wanted to go with math for Afterschooling in our home.

Math
Each day when they finish their homework they work on mastering their basic math skills. For instance; Matthew my fourth grader has been working on mastering his multiplication and division in the form of Internet games, worksheets, flash cards and a multiplication music CD. It is also not uncommon for me to give him some addition and subtraction worksheets or flashcards, moan. Spencer my second grader is working on mastering double digit addition and subtraction. Of course at some point they master the skill and move on to the next. I was lucky enough to attend the Kumon parent meeting and receive an outline of math masteries so I use that as a guide as well as my must have grade level Core Knowledge books.

Some days they have a little amount of homework giving them a good amount of time for math and other days they end up with no time for math. Homework comes first.

Honestly trying to find a math program to challenge my boys was becoming a life journey for me. I was so focused on two things; finding the perfect math curriculum and getting them working at the level they should be and not the pace of the school. Because of this Afterschooling was becoming frustrating and didn't feel beneficial to the kids. Once I decided that mastering the basics was the direction I wanted to go everything fell into place. And guess what, it is free and less time consuming for me. Leaving me time to plan for more of the FUN stuff.

Oh yeah, did I tell you we played with dominoes today? It is all part of our "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie" unit study we are working on. Chain reactions, the kids had a blast! Winter break is coming soon and this unit study combined with an upcoming service project is sure to make it a fun break for the kiddos.

Any who, whatever you decide to do with math just remember what I almost forgot, Afterschooling should be fun, enhancing and not stressful for anyone. Good luck and I would love to hear about what you have found for math.

Last of the Continents

Matthew studied South America. He started getting story of choice for homework each week instead of the easy mundane spelling that he had been doing. I think you call it busy work. So we have been combining Afterschooling with his homework and it has been very successful. He wrote a story about his trip to South America and included, foods he enjoyed, politics he learned about and the animals he encountered. He has an amazing way with words and the story was very entertaining.

South America

Wow do they ever use a lot of fattening ingredients. Matthew found a recipe that we like to call "churros on steroids". Oh yummy, yummy, yum!

Always a grand finale!

Now we are going to begin a fun Cookies unit study that I found here: home school helper. A great way to bring in the Christmas Season.

It's actually happening

Don't be to surprised now. I finally got the ball rolling on my blog and I hope you like it. There are many more things I want to add. And of course I want your input, if you know of forums, learning game sites, awesome curriculum sites or anything else helpful I could add please share. Just leave me a comment with details and your email address if you want a great big thank you.

I really want to turn my blog into a one stop Afterschooling info land. I learned about Afterschooling on accident and I have researched, web surfed, trialed and errored into what I hope is a successful program for our family. So my mission is to make this process easier and help bring the fun and learning of Afterschooling into as many homes as I can.

So spread the word and I promise to keep posting and to keep the ideas coming to make my blog as helpful as possible.

As always thanks for checking us out!

Still chucking away... PROMISE

Oh I have been neglecting my blog. I even posted a few weeks ago about how I was going to try better. AND I have a bunch of plans to improve my blog and make it more fun and resourceful for all who browse. I just need more time or less ambition.

We are still working on our Continents and two out of three of my kiddos have completed their continent unit complete with; animal collage, report, craft and meal. Here are some pictures of the festive happenings.

Maggie studied Africa:

She is doing so well in school and loves school work. School work has actually replaced playing, all she wants to do is read, write and create pictures for her teacher and friends. No complaints here! Because this is her new love she was right on with her project and loved doing it.

AFRICA

Spencer studied Asia:

He is have a little struggle with writing. He is good at it and very creative he just doesn't enjoy doing it. So he had a little bit of a hard time putting in the extra work but he was glad when he was finished and got to present it at dinner. I really think making a production and having it be really worth their time helps with encouragement as well as success. He does love crafting so that part came very easy for him, he even learned some origami (check out his cup in the picture below).

ASIA

If you visit this website you will find cool kid friendly (stuff they will eat) recipes from all over the world; dltk kids.

Hello World

A little about me. I am kind of over the top, over achiever, never do anything half way. You may be thinking that is a good thing but I assure you it has its down falls too. On Sunday I took one of the steps to refocusing on Afterschooling and I sat down and read through all three of the Core Knowledge books for my children's grades. I took notes, compared, contrasted and came up with an entirely new Afterschooling plan. It really only took a few hours but it was totally worth it. I am not proud of my wishy washy up a little down a little schedules and ideas for Afterschooling but it is what it is. We learn as we go.

We just started a new World History unit (we will come back to U.S. History) and the kids are really taking to it. Each of the Core Knowledge grade levels has a World History unit that I will be using for our studies. We have already learned a song to memorize our 7 continents that Matthew taught us and we are working on our oceans. The kids have each chosen a continent to study independently and they will present a report (based on age related capabilities), a craft, an animal collage, power point of their favorite animal and a culinary night. They are so excited and already on their way to completing their reports and animal collages.

Yesterday was Veteran's Day and the kids had school off so we took their animal research and went to the World Wildlife Zoo. They each took turns taking pictures and reading about animals from their continent. I thought that they would get bored after a few animals but they stayed focused all the way to the end. As we were leaving the park they were still saying, "Hey that duck is from your continent" and passing the camera. Now they will take their digital photos and turn them into a collage to present at their continent night. It was a fun day and a good reminder for me that they want to learn. Learning is fun!

My new blog layout will have a section specifically for our daily schedule. I will have it posted soon in a location that will be easy to change (you know me).

Until Next Time

Artifacts

Wow, did we have a great Saturday! I love the end of a unit study that we are working on. I am totally into the "GRAND FINALE" of unit studies. We work so hard and learn so much that we all deserve a good fun ending to a job well done. We have been talking about Native Americans for some time now. We have been through all of the Native American studies in the Core Knowledge books, explored some good web sites and recently learned about the Native Americans in relation to the history of our country. It has been a fun study and perfect timing heading into Thanksgiving time. I hope that at school as they study about Thanksgiving and how it originated that the things they learn will be familiar and their knowledge will be added upon. So here it is our "Grand Finale" to our Native American studies.

Montezuma's Castle

Home to the Sinagua Indians

The kids had the opportunity to become Junior Rangers and learn additional information about the trees, plants, animals and structures that we were visiting.

They were very tentative and enjoyed looking at the artifacts and reading about Native American life. Most of the time they had looks of unbelief on their faces, "They wore that for a shoe?" "What did they play with?" "How did they make that?" It was a day of learning, fun and a lot of walking.

My favorite part was this diorama above of the inside of Montezuma's Castle. There was a recording that went along with the diorama and it really helped all of us to open our minds and really put ourselves there with the Sinagua people and better understand their lives. The kids picked a room, a job and thought about what the children may have done all day.

For those of you that know me you know that I WAS LOVING THIS! Not only did we get a great view of Native American life but we saw something else we don't get to see where we live FALL. The kids were in awe at the sight of these beautifully colored trees that are only talked about in school. It made me so happy!!

Montezuma's Well

This is the water source that kept the Sinagua Indians in this area. They built amazing irrigation canals to provide water for their crops.

It was a beautiful hike in and out to get to the well site.

Tuzigoot
More homes of the Sinagua Indians

This museum had many more interesting artifacts and the kids again were all eyes. Look at this, come here, you have to see this. Who knew they would be so excited.

This was another good uphill climb but absolutely worth it. We were able to go inside of the structures and climb to the top where we got a good look at the land all around. The Ranger explained to us where neighboring Sinagua communities were located,where they planted crops and where they traded goods.

The entire day was awesome! The best part, we were all together as a family participating in "good wholesome recreational activities". I love Afterschooling!!