Finally, time to sit down

Oh my goodness Christmas time is SO super busy. I have been wanting to share some of our fun activities we have been doing with our "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie" Theme. It has been the perfect theme for this time of year.

First we read the book and discussed the different domino affects and IF they would have given the mouse all of those things.
Second the kids set up dominoes, knocked down dominoes, set up dominoes, knocked down dominoes.....
Third they each picked a cookie recipe and got to work baking. YUMMY!!
Fourth we pulled out our "If You Give A Pig A Pancake" and "If You Give A Moose A Muffin" books and read them. Once again we discussed the domino affects and the kids each took turns telling which book was their favorite and why.
Lastly the kids are working on their own If You Give a ______________ a _____________ stories. I am hoping to find time to have them share their stories on our blog. They are so creative and their illustrations are fabulous (of course I am the mom).

A Christmas Story...
Each year Grandma and Grandpa ask for a service project for their Christmas gift. This year we decided to take the yummy cookies the kids baked along with a Book of Mormon with their testimonies and deliver them to friends. I love that nothing holds the kids back from sharing the gospel. It comes so easily for them and they are so excited to do it. My husband and I also shared our testimonies and we were a bit nervous, another testimony of the importance of being like little children.

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!!

Confessions of an Afterschooling mom

I started out with the title: Diary of an Afterschooling mom and decided that wasn't quite right. Today it is confessions.

I am a slacker! Or at least I feel like one. This past week my husband and I sat down together and I asked him to review my Afterschooling schedule with me because we really aren't hitting everything. As we looked over the outline and gave a nod to the things we have been working on and a moan to the things we haven't been working on discouragement set in. We both agreed that the outline was doable we just needed to post it and review it each day.

It really is a good outline and it took me a little over a year to come up with one that I really like. I just get lost in the "world". Sad, I know, but there is so much to do, see, create, play with and buy. It starts to absorb my time and energy so at the end of the day when it is time for Afterschooling I am tired and I don't give the 100% that my kiddos deserve.

When I first learned about Afterschooling it was all I could think about. I joined forums, online groups and even started this blog. It was so motivational to hear from others, to get ideas and share our frustrations. I guess the Honey Moon is over and now it is going to take effort and work to keep the spirit alive. After reviewing the schedule with my husband I decide to visit some of the forums that I had joined during my Honey Moon phase. They got me so pumped up and I gathered at least a couple of ideas to fire me back up. I guess that is why the world is filled with tons of people carrying an endless supply of knowledge and talents so we can work together, learn from each other and make our voyages easier to travel. I do love Afterschooling it's my favorite journey that I have been on as a mother.

I am going to recommit myself to the journey. Pull in my anchor and set sail. Full speed ahead!

Here is the schedule for this year (you know the one I haven't been following). I know that I have posted the areas that we will be focusing on this year (find it here) but I don't think I have posted my weekly schedule.

Before School
Chores
Music Practice

After School: 1 hr of play and then
Monday
Scripture Study, Unit Study, Homework, Extra Math
Tuesday
Scripture Study, History Studies, Homework
Wednesday
Scripture Study, Unit Study, Homework, Extra Math
Thursday
Scripture Study, History Studies, Homework, Spelling Test Help
Friday
Unit Study Project, History Theatre
Saturday
Catch up day, Field Trips
Sunday
Writing, Readers Theatre, Games (not all, we just choose one sometimes two)

I know making a schedule is the hardest part. With Afterschooling there is a fine line between to much and not enough. This schedule has great potential. Looking at it I can see where we are lacking and how easily and perfectly it would fit into our lives.

As part of my "recommitting" myself, I am going to change my blog around. I want to put all of my links I use, blogs I check out and web stores I purchase from in one place. Keep a look out for the changes!!

Now that's cool

I love the internet. I found a great website to go with our 50 states unit study. It is very challenging and fun. Really I couldn't stop playing, playing, playing.... I wasn't as bad at Geography as I thought I was. If you need a quick refresher you should check this site out. I mean, of course it's for the kids! The kids will love it.

Geography Game

I dare you to try Master Geographer.

GOOD LUCK!

Yeah for scripture study

I only have time for a quick, WOWSER!

Our scripture studies today turned into an amazing story about how a handsome man and a lucky woman fell in love, got married and had four amazing children.

I love how tentative the children are when we are telling stories about the past. They smile, laugh and ask the best questions. We know a question is coming when one of their faces gets serious and we just know their brain is ticking.

I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ and stories from the Bible and the Book of Mormon. Stories that teach us not only about Christ but about life and lessons to help us live a good one.

My goal

I have been such a slacker on the blogging side of Afterschooling. I really love going back and reading my journal entries and reading about our great adventures. So why am I not posting more?
Next week we begin learning about the 50 states and there are tons of fun activities to go with it. Many of the first lessons also go right along with our Native American studies we are doing right now. Which is perfect since we are taking a field trip to Montezuma Castle and Tuzigoot this month. Very Excited!

MY GOAL:

2 blog postings a week

Good luck to me! Especially since I start working this week too.

I guess, if you can call singing songs, dancing and playing instruments with toddlers work.

An ending the totally "ROCKS"

FINALLY!

We have been waiting for a Grand Finale to our Geology studies so we dragged it out a couple weeks longer than planned. We explored many great topics and also skipped some that did not grab the kids interest. We studied rocks, minerals, volcanoes, caves and gems. There was so much information that it was a great unit to introduce the kids to the vocabulary of rock studies.

Ever since the first day we discussed Geology the boys have been begging to go outside with a hammer and open up some rocks. Scary, I know but their drive to explore was awesome. While hunting up in the mountains my dad found a great place to look for rocks. So we planned a weekend we could all go rock hunting and to the delight of the boys packed hammers, chisels and goggles. Oh the joy are on their faces.

It was an amazing place and definitely served it's purpose. I didn't realize looking for rocks could be such a treat. We found lots of Geodes and the boys were able to open them up and find the treasure inside. We also saw something that mom was aching for. The first signs of Fall!