Thursday, February 26, 2009

Being Creative

We are still trucking along on our Creative Writing unit and I am surprised at the things the boys are acting like they have never learned before. I can see how this unit was definitely needed in our home and how practice and getting the creative juices flowing will help them improve in this area.
We did a section on poems and we all wrote poems about ourselves in different forms. Since dad was away we wrote this poem for him.
Desire to provide
Always willing to love
Divine he thinks mom is
Dedicated to the Lord
Yours truly
We have missed him while he was at school but he is home now and we couldn't be more excited.
We have also done some studies on the different elements of a story. We looked up definitions, did crosswords and word searches to get familiar with the different terms. We each took turns reading a short story and discussing how the story would be different if any of the elements were changed. That was fun and we got a bit silly about it.
Yesterday we went on to this website http://goodnightstories.com/finish.htm and finished a story that we will be publishing online today.
During this unit study the children's different needs most of which are age related have really been evident.
Matthew has great ideas but needs to work on format, transition and flow. He has a big school project that will take most of the weekend but I am very excited about it. His teacher is wonderful and provides the children with many opportunities to achieve greatness. If you would like to know more about the project here is the link http://www.legacyproject.org/contests/index.html.
I am hoping to help Spencer with his confidence in writing and his ability to put his fantastic sense of humor and intelligence down on paper.
Maggie is just old enough to really be grasping the ideas and elements of the story. Who are the characters and where does the story take place.
And Kendal well I will just read to that pretty princess as much as her sweet heart desires.
WE LOVE TO READ AND WRITE

Diary of an Afterschooling mom

Wow I can't believe how the littlest and biggest things can completely throw you off. My balance has been over turned for the past few weeks but things are looking up and I am hoping that I can land upright without teetering back on my feet again. Let me explain....
My husband started school again and that created challenges. And then last week we had sickness in our home, everyone was sick. It was a lot of t.v. watching, indoors staying, napping and book reading kind of days. I am now trying to claw my way out of it and get things moving again. We have finally caught up on missed school and the kids are feeling 100% now. Time to move forward which is easier said then done.
It is extremely weird how all of the sudden I am like, how can we get homework, chores, piano practice and theme activities into one day. Even though of course I have been doing it for the past three months. Well we will ease into it and find our groove again and chalk this up as a great learning experience on how we are all truly creatures of habit.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Diary of an Afterschooling mom

It has been awhile since I have been able to post. We get so busy that I wonder where the days have gone. I am still very much loving Afterschooling, however these past few weeks have brought with it some trials and lack of confidence. My husband started back to school and is absent from Afterschooling two days a week. I did not realize how difficult it was going to be without him. There were a couple of days that I can honestly say I pushed through and I am so glad that I did. We have yet to skip a day and I know how easily good habits can be broken. I am also struggling to find the extra income to purchase my Core Knowledge books. It seems that every time we budget the money something comes up. I am hoping next week will be the week and I will have the books by the end of the month. The books are FANTASTIC, they have everything in them so I have no need to purchase separate books for history, math or science.
I have had a few people leave comments and ask questions, I THANK YOU!! One of the questions most recently asked was if I follow the schools topics. Well, the unit studies that we do are just for fun, however I will slide one in every once in awhile that I know the kids need to enhance their school experience. For example this month we are doing Creative Writing. As far as the other things go I have really tried to enhance what they learning in Math at school but I can't believe how quickly they move from one thing to the next. This is why when my sister in law told me about Core Knowledge I fell in love. It has everything your child will need to know or be learning in their given grade in one text book. I am hoping this will help to better keep them on track with enhancing and pushing a little bit harder with what they are learning in school.
THANK YOU FOR READING MY BLOG AND COMING ALONG ON OUR GREAT BIG ADVENTURE IN AFTERSCHOOLING!!

Early Writing

We are learning about where the alphabet came from. In doing so we have studied cave drawings, petroglyphs,cuneiforms and hieroglyphics. We even made up our own alphabet with symbols. After we had our alphabet created we played what's that word, hangman and we each wrote our names.



FIELD TRIP


We are lucky enough to have a nice hike in our area that has petroglyphs on the side of the mountain. Did you know that petroglyphs were early drawings used by Native American Clans? They were used to warn from danger and provide information regarding where water and game was available. We climbed the hill to get a closer look at the images and guess what they may have been trying to say. After we hiked back down we drew replicas of some of the symbols as well as making up our own symbols to warn that rattlesnakes and scorpions were in the area.


CREATIVE WRITING

I really wanted to start a unit that would challenge as well as help the kids in areas that they need improvement. I chose Creative Writing. Both of my school aged boys give a big "SIGH" when it is time to write. I want them to love writing and understand why it is important and how they can express themselves and build understanding through putting words and thoughts down on paper. I purchase my Units through Home School Learning Network. In an effort to have the time to make Afterschooling a success I have decided to bypass the time it would take to build my own unit study or to search the Internet for free unit studies. However if you do have that time there are a number of sights with free unit studies and unlimited resources to build your own.

Science Center

We are all about finishing out our unit with a BIG BANG!!

FIELD TRIP

Science Center


What better way to study the Human Body then hands on.


Cow Eyeball Dissection





Wheel Chair Race



Booger Balls



Mind Games



Testing of reflexes



The Science Center proved to be a WONDERFUL place to test our knowledge and ability to let our hair down and have a LITTLE BIT 'O' FUN.