Changes

During our lifetime we are faced with many changes.  Two changes have hit our household in the schooling department recently.

First, one of our children is now enrolled in the local public school.

I know, I swore I would never re-enroll my kids in public school (especially middle school).

God laughed at me!

We had started looking into schooling options for this child about a month ago.  We first started with a small private school with which we were familiar, but it didn't work out.  We then looked at a number of other bigger private schools, but every where we turned, it seemed we were getting negative feedback.  It took a misunderstanding on my part for God to get me past my stubbornness on the public school issue.  I talked to a mom whose son had struggled at the school and her comments stunned me - they were all positive.   When we finally made the decision, I finally felt at peace.

Second, one of our children is now working on a more relaxed homeschooling approach.  This child has big dreams and in my zeal for supporting him, I ended up overwhelming him.  Rather than letting him lead and walking beside him, I took his hand and started running - dragging him along with me.  I asked for his forgiveness two days ago and handed him the reigns of his schoolwork.  It is now up to him to figure things out with me by his side.  I have set goals (both long term and short term) for him, but it is his responsibility to figure it out.

Boy, this parenting/homeschooling thing is H-A-R-D.  But we will get through it  - one day at a time.

Integrated History

While I was very happy with our plan for US History, I began to think about something I wish I had a better grasp on.  I know my US History and I know some World History, but I don't know how all the pieces fit together.  So, I have decided to create a two-year integrated History course for JA and BG.

Here is the plan: (in addition to the books/videos described for US History here )
Eyewitness to History  as our World History Spine  ~10 pgs/wk
Eyewitness to America  as our US History Spine ~10 pgs/wk
131 Christians Everyone Should Know  another Spine
China:  It's History and Culture  another Spine

The two Eyewitness books are arranged Chronologically, so I lined them up and figured out how many pages per week to finish in 72 weeks.  The 131 Christians books is NOT arranged Chronologically, so JA and BG will have to figure out what to read when based on the time frame for each 6 weeks session.  The China book is also Chronological, but doesn't lend itself to an easy X pgs/wk so they'll just have to read the appropriate section at the appropriate time.  Each 6 weeks breaks down like this:
Creation - 1432 (I know, I wish now I had given more time to BC, but it is what it is)
1432 - 1597
1597 - 1741
1741- 1802
1802 - 1846
1846 - 1864
1864 - 1898
1898-1919
1919 - 1940
1940 - 1945
1945 - 1964
1964 - 1992

In addition to these books, they will be using the following internet resources, books and videos at the appropriate times.  They will also be doing a timeline and Google Earth project mapping the event locations. In addition, JA will be writing two major papers (one for US History, one for World History) during the course of the two years.  This will be so I can give him Honors Credit.

Internet resources
History: Mankind - The Story of Us All  This will be done at the beginning as an overview with the associated study guides
Drive Through History with the associated study guides
Stanford Read Like a Historian and the associated study guides

Books:
Selected GA Henty books
Selected YWAM Christian Heros Then and Now
A Tale of Two Cities
My African Journey by Churchill
The Good Earth
Night by Elie Wiesel

Videos: (we won't watch all of these, but will pick and choose to fill in gaps)
(Yes, I know some of these are rated R - I will make a final decision after watching the movie myself)
Schindler's List
Saving Private Ryan
Amistad
Amazing Grace
The True Story of Braveheart 
Ghandi 
The Ten Commandments
Troy 
Jesus of Nazereth 
Ben-Hur 
Masada 
Ivanhoe 
Marco Polo 
The Canterbury Tales 
Joan of Arc
Mongol 
Christopher Columbus 
War and Peace 
Julius Ceasar's Rome 
The True Story of the Bridge on the River Kwai 
Tibet's Lost Paradise-Shangri-La 
Pompeii - Buried Alive
The Warlords 
Shaolin 
Three Kingdoms 
Inside the Forbidden City 
The French Revolution
Digging for the Truth 
Real Pirates of the Caribbean 
The History of Ancient Rome 
The Conquerors 
Ancients Behaving Badly 
55 Days at Peking
China Revealed 
China and the Chinese

College - Part 3 - Updated!

I have updated this (and posted today) with links and more info that a friend pointed out that I forgot to include...

Wow!  What a ride it has been.  Trying to sort out all I need to do for JA to ensure that he is well prepared to tackle college as a pre-med student has been very time-consuming.  But he's worth it!

Here is what we have finally settled on:
He has finished 9th grade! This was a surprising discovery while working through all of this.  Our local high school has 7 periods a day for 7 credits each year.  That equates to 21 credits in 3 years and in reality, he only needs about 24 credits to "graduate"  I realized that since he is finishing up Algebra 1 that this counts as a high school credit.  I also realized that I can give him high school credit for English since his writing skills are already high school level (verified by our next door neighbor who teaches English at the local high school).  So I really only needed to "find" one more credit for him.  And then I realized that his work on obtaining his Star Scout rank in Boy Scouts could count as an elective.  Voila!  He's now a rising 10th grader.

So, here are our plans for 10th grade

Science:

We have used the Robinson Curriculum (RC) for the last few years and I really like it, but it didn't have a strong biology component.  So I went on a search for a solid Biology curriculum.  My plans to let him do a killer science project went by the wayside when I realized that I needed to guarantee (as much as possible) that he'll be able to get through the freshman pre-med weed-out class of Biology in college without much struggle.  I also got more scared when another homeschooling friend told me that her daughter (a Biology major) got a C in her freshman biology class at a nearby private university.  When I found out that they used Apologia, I started looking for a tougher curriculum.  What I finally settled on is BJU with the DIVE videos.  We'll be following the Honors track for this.

English

I started with RC as my base reading list and planned to continue to use Jensen's Format Writing .  I was going to have him use the free study guides to the various books I found on the internet to make sure he was really grasping the content/meaning of the books.  However, I began to wonder "how much was enough" to be able to give him Honors credit.  In my searching on the internet for an answer, I came across the Excellence in Literature curriculum.  After looking over the books for the course  and her sample unit  I realized she had already put together what I was attempting to do.  So, since she has a 5 yr course and I could download it and re-use it over and over (for at least 4 kids!),  I decided to buy that. He'll be following the Honors track for this as well.

US History

I realized that RC seemed weak once you got past the Civil War.  So I began looking for extra books.  I ended up settling on the following:

• Eyewitness to America will be our "spine"  

This will be accompanied with some of the following books (some from RC and some I chose on my own): Of Plymouth Plantation, The Crucible, Johnny Tremain, Journals of Lewis and Clark, Life on the Mississippi, Uncle Tom's Cabin, Lincolns Speeches and Letters, The Life of Stonewall Jackson, The Memoirs of William Tecumseh Sherman, All's Quiet on the Western Front, The Autobiography of Theodore Roosevelt, Speeches from American History, Diary of Anne Frank, The Grapes of Wrath, The Chosen,/The Promise, To Kill a Mockingbird, Autobiography of Chuck Colson, Autobiography of Ronald Reagan, Miracles in American History.  I think this is probably too much reading, so I will probably have him choose some books to read and others we will either listen to as audio books or will watch the movie.  These will be supplemented by the various Ken Burns' Mini-Series and the Drive Thru History series, as well.   In order to give him Honors credit for this, I am also going to require a Google Earth project showing significant locations/dates in American History as well as a research paper on the topic of his choice.

Foreign Language:

He will be taking Chinese 1 through Florida Virtual School

Christian Living (Elective)

For this, I am having him focus on himself for 10th grade.  The plan is to have him also do this elective in 11th grade with a focus on Jesus and in 12th grade with a focus on others.  So, the plan is to have him read the following books:  The Mark of a Man by Elisabeth Elliot, Do Hard Things by Joshua and Alex Harris, Boyhood and Beyond by Bob Schultz, I Kissed Dating Goodbye by Joshua Harris, Created for Work by Bob Schultz and Boundaries in Dating by Drs Cloud and Townsend.

 To round things out, he will be participating in a Summer Youth Band (1/4 credit)  which he will do for 4 summers for a total of 1 Fine Arts credit, Swimming on the local High School swim team, working on his earning his Life Scout rank in Boy Scouts (1 credit in Leadership) and volunteering at the local hospital.

For my next post, I'll post about our plans for BG for 10th grade.

High School for an older international Adoptee

BG will be entering 10th grade this upcoming school year after having only been in the US for 2.5 yrs. For the upcoming year, BG will continue doing most of what he was doing last year (post here and here ) with some tweaks.

His math will be Saxon Algebra 2 and he will continue his reading with Grandpa.  However, I am going to replace his random video watching with a more structured approach. 

For science, he will be watching the DIVE Biology video with JA and then watching supplemental Biology videos from Khan Academy, Netflix, Education Portal, LearnersTV.com and iTunesU. 

For History, he will be watching the supplemental videos that JA will be watching and listening to the books that JA will be reading. 

For English, I will have his also listen to the books that JA is reading so that they can discuss the books together.

I will continue to have him write about the videos/books and I will help him with correcting his grammar.  I have also toyed with getting him a more structured grammar book, but haven't made a firm decision yet.

In addition, I want him to choose 2 electives from a variety of video sources to round out his day.  We are also trying to get him a job at our local supermarket.  If that happens, then I'll back off of the electives.  And of course, he'll continue to play basketball for our local Christian school.

Hopefully, this will keep him busy during the day while pumping lots of information into his head!

Lessons in Safety

Today we had lessons in safety.  This morning, we learned about safety at home - specifically in the kitchen.  You see, one of our children put some water on the stove to boil - and then walked out.  What they didn't realize is that a towel was sitting very close to the eye.  A few minutes later, one of the other kids asked me why it smelled like a campfire.  I responded that it was the heat (it is the first time we've turned it on).  A few moments later, the cooking child heard the timer go off and went back to the kitchen.  That was when the child found the flaming towel.  I happened to be following said child into the kitchen and spotted the towel as well.  The child did knock some of the flame down by smothering it with the other end of the towel.  But I ended up grabbing the towel and tossing it in the sink where I had some meat thawing for dinner.

Needless to say, we had a discussion reviewing the rules about NOT leaving the kitchen when you are cooking.  I have also hung the towel on the stove as a reminder for the next week.

Then this evening, we learned about safety away from home.  The four boys asked to walk to the W*lm*rt which is about 1 mile from our house.  We allow them to do this on occasion, but only if they go together (never alone).  They also take a cell phone so they can call if the need arises.  I called them about 5:10pm and asked if they were on their way home.  I wanted to make sure they would make it home before it got too dark.  They said they were still at W*lm*rt because they had forgotten to buy something we asked them to purchase.  I told them to hurry home and call if they weren't going to make it in time.  About 20 min later, I got a phone call.  One of the boys said he got cramps and the rest of the boys didn't wait for him.  I decided that I was going to teach them a lesson.

I went and picked up the lagging child (who fortunately had the phone) and drove him home.  I let the other three continue their walk.  About 5:50, I was ready to head out the door to go pick them up when I got a call from them.  They couldn't find their brother and had walked all the way back to W*lm*rt looking for him.  I played it to the hilt.  I went and picked them up and started drilling them.  They readily admitted that they had left their brother behind, though they claimed to have been looking back for him every 30 seconds.  I asked where they had seen him last and we drove there; they were noticeably concerned.  I made them get out and look in the stores (it was a small strip mall) for him.  Of course, they didn't see him.  I continued to drill them about where they last saw him.  Then one of them asked if the "missing" child had called home.  I stalled.  I finally pulled over and told them the truth.  I explained to them how I had picked him up and they hadn't even noticed.  I pointed out that I could have been anyone and who knows what might have happened to their brother.  I believe that they all learned a hard lesson and I hope they will never leave a sibling or friend alone again.

Once we got home, they all apologized to their brother and we discussed safety even more.  Hopefully, they will never need to put to use what they learned today.

Radical Ideas on Schooling - Part 1

We have been walking this road called Homeschooling for almost five years now.  Our road has had many twists and turns in it and as a result, I have come to some conclusions that many might consider somewhat radical. 

A little background on our homeschooling adventure:

Students:
BG:  ESL learner - K-7th grade in China; 7th grade - 9th grade homeschooled
JA : gifted learner - K-3rd grade Public School; 3rd - 8th homeschooled
AT: gifted learner - K-2nd grade Public School; 2nd - 7th homeschooled
TJ: ESL learner - K-2nd grade in China; 4th-6th grade homeschooled
SG:  average learner - K-4th grade homeschooled
HJ:  challenged learner - K-3rd grade homeschooled

Curriculum's we've used:
Online Charter School using Calvert
Calvert for K
Robinson Curriculum
Eclectic

Radical Idea #1:  Don't worry about what your kids are learning until they get to high school
===========================
Yes, I really mean that with two exceptions:
1) Teach them to read - and I have some odd ideas on this one
2) Teach them math (though this may not be as critical as we think)

Kids don't need to learn history, social studies, science, etc in the early years.  Why?  Because they will have every bit of it again in High School!!! Think about it - what do you remember from elementary school in these subjects?  Probably not much.  And what you do remember is probably fairly useless in your daily life.  (I remember a unit we did on weather and I can name the different types of cloud formations - not that anybody has asked me about them since 5th grade)

When I was first introduced to Robinson Curriculum, I was intrigued by the idea of only teaching Reading, Writing, and Math.  Leaving out all of the other subjects didn't sound right, but the more I read Art Robinson's ideas, the more I became convinced he was right.  Even this very science oriented engineer agreed that teaching science in the early years really wasn't that important.  Why?  Because science in the early years only barely scratches the surface.  Each year, you scratch the surface a little bit deeper.  Why bother?  Your child can learn all they need in-depth in high school (or heaven-forbid - college!) 

I was talking to JA about this the other day.  He said he didn't like science in public school and I asked him why not.  He said he didn't understand why he needed to know that rain falls from the sky, runs into a lake/pond, and then evaporates into the sky again.  He became convinced that he wasn't good at science (a quote from him before taking the science portion of the standardized test we gave in 6th grade) because he didn't like it.  Funny thing is, he has now decided he wants to be a doctor.  He is working through a life science curriculum and still isn't convinced that he likes science because of his previous experience. 

The same idea applies to history, social studies and all of the other subject areas.  This material will be repeated in high school at a level that the kids can really grasp.  Focus your (and your child's) efforts and energy learning in high school.  This is what they will remember and carry forward in their adult life. 

I finally was totally convinced of this idea when I began figuring out what I needed to teach BG for high school.  As I looked at the requirements in FL for a HS diploma, I realized that it covers all of the same subjects/topics that many parents stress about in the early years.  He hadn't "lost" all those years of learning (even though he was blessed to be in school in China) and I didn't have to cram 12 yrs of school into his brain in four years.  I just had to teach him at the high school level.

Also, as I delved into the idea of Credit By Exam for JA, I began to wonder what really differentiates a middle school class from a high school class from a college class.   For example, Biology, most schools teach Biology (or Life Science) in middle school, then again in High School, then it is taught in College.  What is the difference?  I'm not sure.  But I imagine if I take a High School Biology class then I will learn the same things I learned in middle school Life Science.  Then why bother taking the Life Science class?  Just wait until your child is able to handle the high school level material (which may be at an earlier age than "typical" high school students) and teach at that level. 

What's interesting is many packaged curriculums these days actually leverage this principle.  They use the same base information and just have the younger kids do one thing, the middle school kids something else and the high school kids even more.  Why teach the same thing to your kids 3 (or more) different times?  Just teach it to them once in high school. 

I know, many people will have a hard time accepting this idea because it doesn't fit the norm of what we grew up with in school.  I am going to challenge you to really think about this and come to your own conclusions.  Besides, that's what homeschooler's do best.

*** One caveat:  Some of this doesn't necessarily apply to our challenged learners.  I'll address those issues in a later post.

High School - Part 4

So, in summary, for GW's 9th Grade Year:

English - Reading, Listening, Writing
Algebra 1
History
Typing
Personal Finance
Basketball

Next up, is JA.  Right now, he is in 8th grade, but I'm already thinking ahead for him.  In the state of Florida, any high school student (including home school students) are able to dual-enroll at the local community colleges as long as they can pass the entrance exam.  The cost for this:  FREE!!!!

As a result, we will be strongly encouraging/requiring JA to enroll and spend his high school years earning his Associates in Arts degree.  Once he earns his AA degree from the community college, he is automatically accepted into any of the Florida state universities.  Total savings on a college degree:  $8000 (the cost of 2 yrs at the local community college if he attends after the age of 18).

We have also considered having him CLEP out of part of the AA degree since our local community college will accept up to 45 hrs of credits by exam towards the 60 hrs required for the AA degree.  There is a cost to this, but there is the potential for saving a lot of time (i.e. it may take less time studying for the CLEP exam than he would spend in the class)  This would free up time for him to volunteer and get a better idea of what he wants for a career.  It would also keep him away from the philosophies/ideologies that are polar opposite to what we believe that are so prevalent in colleges these days.  We haven't made a final decision on this as of yet.

In the meantime, here is what is on his plate for 8th grade:
Jensen's Format Writing
Saxon Algebra 1
American Heritage Series (AHS)
Life Science (yes, I know it's 7th grade, but he hasn't had this yet)
Financial Peace University (FPU)
Additional Reading:
Whatever Happened to Penny Candy?
It Couldn't Just Happen
TBD

He also must attain the rank of Star Scout.  He has everything for this except for 3 Eagle Required Merit Badges.

A note about the Life Science JA is taking.  This is a FREE course available in iTunesU.  While having an iPad for this makes it easier, it is not required.  You can download iTunes to your computer and access all of the courses there.  There are a TON of FREE courses available from Kindergarten up through College level classes (including MIT, Harvard, Stanford and others).  If JA doesn't end up taking advantage of the free AA degree, I will probably pull some of his coursework from iTunesU.

Now, a word about Robinson Curriculum.  I still LOVE Robinson Curriculum and will continue to use it for the other kids.  (and I am essentially using it for Ben, it's just he is watching videos rather than reading the books).  For JA, I changed the writing portion to Jensen's Format Writing because JA really needs a "tell me how to do it" writing curriculum.  This got really good reviews (especially for reluctant boy writers) so I chose it.  Then I changed his reading portion.  A few months ago, he had the opportunity to shadow a friend of ours who is a surgeon.  He was able to sit in on three surgeries and came home saying he, too, wanted to be a surgeon. Knowing what a commitment this is, I wanted to expose him to the type of material he needs to know as early as possible to gauge whether this is really something in which he is interested.  Hence the Life Science course.  I also wanted him to be able to do the FPU and AHS courses with GW, so that is why he is doing those.  I have just added on the two books to help fill out the 36 weeks of class work that we try to squeeze in each school year.

High School - Part 3

Back to High School for GW!

In addition to the ESL teacher's suggestion to have GW start writing one sentence for each video he watches, she also recommended that we have him listen to and read English together, and then to copy the same thing he just listened to.  This way he hears it, sees it and then writes it all in the same day.  She recommended a site which I wasn't thrilled with due to some of the content, but I found an alternate site at http://www.manythings.org/  There are LOTS of great resources on this page for ESL learners, but the pages we are now using are the ones under Listening and Reading.  Right now, GW is using the History page to practice his listening, reading, and writing (copy work) skills.   What I really like about this is he is learning different subjects while he is learning his English!  The goal for all of this is for him to improve his listening, reading, comprehension, and writing skills all at the same time.

In addition to this reading, GW is also working through Ultimate Phonics.  This is a computer based program which has proper pronunciation of all the letters, blends, dipthongs (and other odd parts of words!) so he can HEAR it properly and practice it.  There is a book that you download that has words and sentences for each lesson that only use the sounds he has learned up to that point.  After listening to the lesson, he goes and reads the words and sentences to CP to work on his pronunciation.  We also have him reading from the McGuffey Readers.  This is just more reading practice for him.  I really like the McGuffey Readers for older ESL students because the material is not childish, but the reading level is appropriate.

For math, we are continuing with our old reliable Saxon Algebra 1.  He could probably do Algebra 2, but I'm content to make sure he doesn't have any gaps.

We also are using Rapid Typing for typing.

For vocabulary, we are doing two things.  First, whenever GW comes across a word in his McGuffey reader that he doesn't know, I have him write it down in his vocabulary notebook.  I then have him look it up on the iPad using the Pleco app.  This is a free app that allows him to type in the English word and gives him the Chinese characters as well as pinyin.  Most of the time, he knows the word in Chinese, just not in English.  In addition to this, we have just recently added English from the Roots Up for the five oldest. I liked the vocabulary we were using, I just think it was missing out on the fact that most English words are "put-together" words (you know - prefix, root, suffix).  EftRU fills in that missing piece.  I also think that by helping GW realize that English words are made from parts, that he will grow his vocabulary at a much faster pace.  We only do one word a day, but by having them put the words together, they learn a multitude of words by just knowing the parts!

After we finish the Financial Peace University classes, I will have GW (and JA) start watching the American Heritage Series.  As with the videos, I'll have him write about this also.  Eventually, I plan on adding some Economics and Science videos from Khan Academy to his lessons, but right now, I think he has more than enough on his plate!

High School - Part 2

So, as I began to discover more about homeschooling high school, I figured out one very important thing about the state of Florida.

We are NOT required to teach any specific subjects or any specific amount of hours.  Whatever I define as "high school" is OK for the state of Florida.

I knew that, but somehow, I didn't think about this when I saw the requirement for a high school transcript.

However, I figure it's a pretty good framework from which to structure his educational material.  So, that being said, I started putting together a list of videos for BG to watch.  Fortunately, our local library has a TON of educational videos from which to choose.  My list is found here   along with a number of other free resources for video based lessons.

One other lesson that I think is critically important to teach our children is Personal Finance/Economics.  This is an area that I think is sorely lacking in the public schools.  So, in order to fulfill this requirement, I went searching for some Dave Ramsey materials.  I remembered that many churches offer the Dave Ramsey courses, so I began looking for one close to us that fit our schedule.  There is a Teen program, but it was not at a good time and at a church too far away, but I found a Financial Peace University  class that was starting soon and was at a great location and time for us.

So, I enrolled myself, BG and JA.  So far, it has been very good.  While some of it is not directly applicable to them (Debt Snowball), I am hopeful that having been exposed to this information that they will do the right things to begin with rather than having to dig themselves out of a hole later.

I have even been picking up some good pointers for us as parents.  We have a variety of approaches to chores/allowance over the years, but we tweaked things again after hearing Dave's ideas.  About a month or so ago, I had been to our local bank branch and asked for check registers for all of the kids.  They willingly supplied these for free!  We started having the kids keep track of their allowances and spending in their check registers.  We believe this is GREAT experience for when they are older and have a real bank account.

We had originally assigned the kids chores and paid them once a week whether they had done their chores or not.  However, when we reminded them to do their chores during the week, we charged them a "Reminder Fee".  Now, though, after listening to Dave Ramsey, we have changed how we do this.

We made a set of chore cards and included a "commission" and how often the chore needs to be done on it. The kids get to choose what they do (with some limitations) and get paid for doing it.  However, we tweaked things a little bit.  The kids have all week (Sun through Friday) to get the chores done and get paid for them.  If there are things that aren't done that really need to be done, then Mom and Dad get to assign the chores on Saturday.  The catch, though, is that the kids do NOT get paid for doing these chores (a little incentive to get them done during the week)!

Well, since this is getting long, I'll post more tomorrow.

P.S.  While I would love to take credit for the photos in the previous few posts, I can't do that.  I borrowed all of the photos from various locations on the internet.

High School - Part 1

Before we brought GW home, I hadn't worried much about homeschooling high school.  I know the thought of homeschooling high school scares many people, but I figured if I made it through college, I could get them through high school and with Robinson Curriculum, I wasn't really concerned at all.

At first, after bringing GW home, I wasn't thinking about high school.  It was only in the last few months (such forethought since he became a 9th grader in August!)  that I really started to think about how I was going to teach GW what he needed to know to graduate from high school.

At first, I wasn't worried.  My goal for GW is to be able to pass the entrance exam for our local community college.  I figured two more years at home and the nurturing environment would be best for him.    Then while looking at the requirements for entrance to the community college, I saw that a high school transcript would be required. 

I looked up the requirements for a high school diploma in the state of Florida and this is what I found: 

4 yrs of English
4 yrs of Math (including 1 yr of Algebra 1, 1 yr of Geometry, and 1 yr of Algebra 2)
3 yr of Science
1 yr of World History
1 yr of American History
1/2 yr of US Government
1/2 yr of Economics
2 yrs of a Foreign Language (DONE!)
2 yrs of Electives

That's when I started to panic.

HOW on God's green Earth was I supposed to get all of this information into this boy's head when he is reading English on about a 3rd grade level!?!??!?!  (Which, by the way, I'm QUITE proud of since he's only been home for 18 months!)

So I sent out a plea for help on our local Homeschool Teens yahoo group. 

God sent an Angel.  One of the folks that responded is an unschooling mom who just happens {wink, wink} to be the ESL teacher for the international students at our local community college!

Unfortunately, we weren't able to meet for about two weeks, but during that time, I kept digging and thinking and looking and I finally stumbled across (what I thought) was a genius idea

Documentary Movies

I had noticed that GW is understanding the TV shows (like Cosby and Little House on the Prarie) and movies we are watching.  What an easy way to get the information into his head!  But then my question was "How do I know the information is getting there and staying?"  This is where the ESL teacher provided an answer.

She told me to have him write about what he watched.  She said to have him start with just one sentence.  Do this for six to twelve weeks (we school year round - six weeks on; two weeks off), then for the next six to twelve weeks, have him write a sentence, but mark it up and have him make the corrections.  Then for the next six to twelve weeks, have him write a paragraph.  Keep this up until he is writing a full five paragraph paper. 

She also gave me some other terrific tips, but since this post is getting so long, I'll write about those next time.  I'll also post about a number of sources I've found for educational videos, and eventually I'll post about my plans for JA. 

In a Funk

I've been in a funk lately.   I've pretty much dropped out of the online/virtual world - wondering if anyone would notice.  No one did. 

There are days I'm not sure I want to continue blogging.  I need to decide if I'm blogging for me or for others.  I do like being able to look back over things we've done, but sometimes, it's nice to realize that my efforts are interesting/helpful to others. 

I've also considered changing the focus of my blog to more homeschooling - even though we have a pretty "boring" homeschool curriculum from a blog perspective.  We just read, write and do math.  However, as I now have a high-schooler (who is an older adoptee to boot), there are some interesting things I could write about.  I have to admit, I've found very little online about homeschooling an international adoptee who came home just 1.5 yrs prior to high school.  Of course, part of where my mindset is now is

Everything your kid needs to know they can learn in High School

Don't sweat the early years.

But if I'm just doing this for me, there isn't much purpose in that.  I should focus on our family life and forget the homeschooling stuff. 

Anyway, I would love some feedback on whether

1) anyone is actually reading my blog anymore

2) if homeschooling the older international adoptee would be of interest

3) if homeschooling high-school is of interest

4) if you have any other curiosities you think I might be able to satisfy?

Unwilling Participant in History

Today, I was an unwilling participant in history.  You see, I was stuck in traffic with two of the kids for close to one hour waiting for a very important person to pass by.  This very important person requires over 100 police officers on motorcycles to escort him wherever he goes.  The motorcycles are followed by a cavalcade of Suburbans and full size vans.  This cavalcade is then followed by 3 full size buses - one of which supposedly carried this very important person.

The most frustrating thing was all I needed to do was cross the street and I would have been happily on my way home from church.  As it was, I sat 4 cars from said street for an HOUR while waiting for this very important person to finally go speeding down the road at 60-70 mph.

I did try to turn lemons into lemonade.  You see, while we waited, we discussed the following:

the very important person,

his special group of law enforcement officers (they are a very secret bunch),

why security is so important,

methods of protection for this very important person

four former very important people who were assassinated

the people convicted/charged with their assassination

attempted assassinations on these very important people

So, I figure this counts as 1 hr of American History for our high school curriculum.  

Harlem Globetrotters

Homeschooling has it's benefits!  We were able to get group tickets to see the Harlem Globetrotters AND since we had such a large group, we were able to have a Meet-n-Greet with a couple of the players before the game.

Here is Bingo with the kids (HJ didn't want to join us)

This is Stretch. He is 7' 4" and wears a size 16 shoe.  Notice how "tall" SG is standing next to him!

This is Handles.  He is the "Clown Prince" of Basketball.

Not sure who this is.  This was during warmup before the game.

Needless to say, this was not your ordinary basketball game!

Slam Dunk!

They have a lot of crowd participation.

If you have ever been to a Harlem Globetrotters basketball game, you know they do a great water trick. If you aren't familiar with it, you can see video here.

Well, WE were the recipients of the water bucket last night!

It was great!  I knew what was going to happen, so I was snapping away.  Unfortunately, I had my zoom lens on, so this was about the best I could do. 

AT, TJ, and JA who were sitting closest to the aisle were sure they were going to get soaked!

We had an AWESOME time!

Alphabet Soup

Lately, my life has been filled with Alphabet Soup.  No, not the kind you eat, but the kind where letters of all kinds get put together and are associated with members of your family.

ADD

ADHD

SLD

IEP

VPD

RD

MD

WD

Not one, but two of our kids are dealing with this alphabet soup.  One has been officially diagnosed; the other hasn't.  One we have suspected issues for a long time;  the other one surprised us. 

We homeschool, which is a blessing when you start dealing with this alphabet soup.  Classrooms aren't designed to accommodate kids who struggle with these issues.  Despite most schools' best efforts, it is hard to adapt the environment, the curriculum, the teaching style, to those few students who do not succeed in a typical classroom. 

Unfortunately, since we are at the beginning of this road, we are still trying to figure a lot out.  What curriculum works best to help a child that struggles to read?  What curriculum works best to help a child that struggles with math?  What curriculum works best to help a child that struggles to put his/her thoughts on paper?  What organizational methods work best for a child that can be distracted by a fly buzzing? 

One of the other challenges we are facing with this alphabet soup is where does the alphabet begin and where does the attitude end?  Some of the problems we are seeing may easily be attributed to either.  The problem is you handle the root cause very differently. 

Needless to say, there has been a lot of stress in our family lately.  Some good, some bad.  Right now, we are taking one day at a time and trying to figure stuff out.  And trying not to be overwhelmed by it all. 

Workboxes from Michael's

I have been thinking about re-doing our workboxes as the ones we have don't work as well as I would like them to.  I had been looking at these from JoAnn's.

I liked the workboxes but wasn't crazy about the "industrial" look to them.  I was looking at the Michael's ad this weekend and noticed they had craft storage units on sale buy one get one for $0.01.

I went to our Michaels and decided I really liked the 3 drawer stack (seen on the bottom left).  The normal price was $34.99 so for a 6 drawer stack it is $35.00.  This is the same price as the JoAnn's.  Plus, since I can get 15% off as an educator at Michaels, it turned out to be a better deal.  

Unfortunately, they didn't have 12 in stock, so I had to get a raincheck for 6 of them.  The rest are in my car trunk for now since I don't want to put these together before we move.  I'll post a picture of them after I get them in the new house.

Instead of the velcroed numbers for each box, I'll probably just make laminated cards in each of the kids' colors with the numbers on them and then drop them in the label slots on the front of the drawers.

I Kinda Like my Kindle

I finally broke down and asked my Dad for a Kindle.  I had been debating for quite a while between a Kindle and an iPad.  I still haven't decided if I'll get the iPad, but when I saw a Kindle that a friend here had at work - I was sold.  She showed me the different font sizes, the audio part and all of the other bells and whistles.  So, I asked my Dad for an early birthday present. 

I justified the purchase (for my Dad) by saying that all of the kids could use it as well as Dad.  And today, I found out just how helpful having a Kindle can be.

JA finished reading one of his books for school, but still had about an hour of reading time left.  He looked on his reading list and saw that all of his books were "Library" books - meaning, I needed to get them from the library to read. 

So, he called me at work and asked me what to do.  I asked him to list off a few of the books.  One he listed was Uncle Remus Returns.  I surfed over to the Kindle store, did a quick search and found this: Uncle Remus Songs and Sayings.  I purchased it (for $0.00!) and told him to go get the Kindle and turn it on.  He did and a few moments later, he had his next book to read. 

Problem solved - all thanks to the Kindle!

Stack the States

When we got home from China, I had this iPod and had heard a lot about apps for them.  So, I decided to check them out.  But since I am such a cheapskate frugal I was only interested in free apps.  Also, since I am not a big "screen time" (i.e. computer/video game/tv) fan, I figured that the apps should at least be educational.  So, I googled "free educational apps" and found a bunch. 

One of the many that I found was Stack the States.  I got it mainly for JA so he could work on some geography, but SG spotted it and started playing.  She was H-O-O-K-E-D from the beginning.  It wasn't long before she was begging for the upgrade version (yes, the nefarious business model - hook them with the free "lite" version and they'll purchase the full version).  I deferred and said no.  But then, TJ started playing.  I'm not sure how he managed to succeed at any of it with his limited English, but he was certainly having fun playing.  SG continued to beg for the upgrade version.  I finally broke down when I saw that it was only a measly  a bargain at $0.99.

So, ever since then, she and TJ nearly fight over my iPod after school to play this game!  Shhhh!  Don't tell them they are learning!  Even better, last night, TJ said to me "Help me"  (yes, in his still growing English) and I was more than happy to oblige.  I got to sit next to him with my arm around him or on his leg, read him the questions, tell him the answer and then he had to pick (out of the 4) the correct state, and praise him when he got it right.  So, he was learning geography, English, and reading all at the same time.  With a LOT of attachment/bonding work thrown in!  There is also a bit of physics learning going on as you need to pay attention how you stack the states or they will tumble over and you have to start again! 

This is the best $0.99 I've spent in a LONG time!

Homeschool Update

It's been a while since I posted about homeschool, so I thought I would post an update.  We have pretty much always had year-round school, but we just switched to six weeks on/two weeks off.  We had been doing 9/3 but the kids were bored on week 3 and making lots of mistakes on their math the first week back, so I decided to change things up some.  I'll post by child in age order from oldest to youngest, just to try and keep things organized.

GW:  14yo - home from China 3 months- unofficially in 8th Grade

• GW starts his day off with reading 1 chapter in his Mandarin/English Bible.  I'm pretty sure he is reading the Mandarin version :-)
• Next, he copies 10 verses in Mandarin and the same 10 verses in English.  The purpose of this is to keep him fresh with writing in Mandarin while also helping him to learn how to write well in English.  I didn't specify how to do this, but I thought it was interesting that he choose to write one verse in English and then in Mandarin.  That should really help him with his English comprehension as well as the grammar structure!
• Sterling Math Facts  and one page of Math from here.  We are still trying to figure out exactly what he does/doesn't know in math, so he is helping us by telling us what he can work on.
• 45 minutes of computer time.  He chooses from http://www.livemocha.com/, http://www.mingoville.com/en.html, http://usalearns.org/, or Sight_Words_Sentence_Builder
• Work with Dad - for this we have three different ESL reading books for him to choose from each day that we got from our school district.  (I'll post pictures later) These focus on reading/comprehension.  One thing CP has picked up on already is that GW doesn't understand the function of a silent "e" at the end of a word.  That we'll have to work on :-)
• Read to SG for 20 minutes - For this, GW is reading McGuffey's First Eclectic Reader.  What I really like about the McGuffey's Readers (especially for our older adopted kids) is that the topics aren't baby-ish.  They are good reading with good morals.  And I don't worry about him thinking the subject is beneath him.  The purpose of him reading out loud to SG is that he gets to practice his pronunciation and SG can help correct him if need be.  I should probably have HJ join in just to listen!
• Read anything for 45 minutes - For this he chooses anything, but it is usually one of the many Mandarin books we brought home for him.  I don't particularly care what he reads, as long as he is reading. 

JA:  12yo - bio - unofficially in 7th Grade

• JA starts off his day with God time.  I have him working through the Bible this year based on a plan found here.  I have given him questions to answer and thoughts to ponder as he begins to take ownership of his faith this year.
• Then he has Math starting with his math facts and then he will shortly be moving into Saxon 8/7.  He used to do the math facts on the computer, but for some reason this just stresses him out.  As a result, he has transitioned to working with Grandpa with old-fashioned flash cards.
• Reading for 1.5 hours - his reading list is the one from the Robinson Curriculum Booklist Right now, he is trying to finish up the Fifth Grade books.  This isn't as bad as it looks as he has already read many 6th,7th and even a 9th grade book.  I'm just trying to get him to finish up the ones he didn't want to read earlier
• Vocabulary - He uses Quizlet to study the Robinson Curriculum vocabulary and takes the quiz when he thinks he is ready. 
• Writing - He writes one page a day about anything his heart desires.  For him, that's usually creative writing.  He even self-published a story that he wrote as a part of NaNoWriMo last year.
• Chinese - He uses a variety of things to learn Chinese, but mainly right now he is using the "immersion" method of learning from his brothers!
• Guitar - He practices his guitar for 30 min each day. 

AT - 11yo - bio - unofficially in 6th Grade
AT's schedule is nearly identical to JA's with a few minor changes.  He uses the Sterling Math Facts program for his math facts and he practices piano rather than guitar.  For his writing, he prefers non-fiction or writing about something he has read.  One other difference is his God time. For right now, he is using the devotions in his Bible to guide his reading.  I will probably have him transition to this study soon.

TJ - 10yo - home from China 3 months - unofficially in 5th Grade
TJ's schedule is very similar to GW's with a few changes.  He only copies 5 verses each day from his Bible and does two pages of math from here .  When TJ works with Dad, they are exclusively using Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.  This is working very well for TJ and they are blazing through the book.  TJ doesn't have the additional 20 min of reading to SG because he just isn't ready for it yet.

SG - 8yo - bio - unofficially in 3rd Grade
SG has a schedule similar to JA and AT, with a few tweaks.  For her God time, she uses Keys for Kids and reads the lesson to HJ.  She also works with Grandpa for her math facts because the computer version stresses her out also :-/ She is also working in Saxon 54.  She is reading for 45 min from the RC booklist and is reading level 3 books.  She has also started working on vocabulary recently.  For her writing, I have her working in a Print Manuscript book because she needed work on her handwriting.  She also practices piano.

HJ - 7yo - home from China 5 years - unofficially in 2nd Grade
HJ has a schedule all her own :-) 

• God Time with SG
• Then she has two things to do with Daddy. 
• She is slowly working through 100 Easy Lessons and
• Either 
• Phonograms based on the Spalding Method or
• Literacy Leaders She needs both of these to work on her Phonological Awareness skills
• Sterling Math Facts and some pages out of a math workbook
• More Phonics with Explode the Code or another phonics workbook
• Writing - she is also using a print writing book to work on her copy work skills - her handwriting is better than SG's!
• Screen Time - she chooses between an educational computer game or an educational video
• Fun Time - This is play doh, wiki stix, or something else fun.  Though I'm probably going to replace this soon with some more cognitive skills exercises using Audiblox with Grandpa

I am SO thankful for the Robinson Curriculum and the self-teaching method.  CP has his hands full teaching HJ and TJ to read English; helping GW with his English comprehension; and answering questions for the others as things come up.  I'm glad that JA and AT and SG can move at their pace without being held up waiting for someone to come teach them something they can read on their own.

We have been using RC for about 2 yrs now and I am VERY pleased with it.  I recently had JA take the California Achievement Test for 6th grade just to see what he knows and for a sanity check on RC.  He scored VERY well - better than even I expected.  It will be interesting to see just what happens when he takes the SAT for college :-)

P.S.  Don't miss all of the different Homeschool Resources I have compiled over on my Homeschool Page

More of our Camping Trip - AKA Homeschool Field Trip

We took full advantage of our time at the campground and got in some homeschool Physical Education (bike riding and scooter riding)

We also did some Marine Biology!  We found some Sea Stars (yes, they are different from Star Fish) that were dead and a couple that were alive.

And LOTS of hermit crabs!

And a few mussels.

And a jellyfish!

One of our camping neighbors managed to catch a Lemon Shark and proceeded to dissect it.   The boys watched.  The girls and I left.

We put some of the hermit crabs in a bowl with river water so we could watch them.  I think the boys enjoyed this!

We all had a great time on our Marine Biology Field Trip!

Homeschool Update - One Month Home

We have made some changes to our homeschool routine for the boys.  Our initial plans just didn't work quite right so we mixed things up.  The biggest thing we have learned is that ALL of the online ESL sites I've found assume a child at least has some conversational grasp of the language.  This is particularly frustrating to TJ.  He can't understand the instructions so he quickly gives up and I don't blame him.  Even Starfall was a bust.  He was able to do the work, but his comment to me was "I don't know what any of it means."  So, we backed up.  Right now, we are focusing on Dolch Sight Nouns with him so he at least has some vocabulary for what is being talked about.  The fun part is that HJ is also learning these, so the two "compete" to be the first one to get the word right.  They do this part of their schoolwork with Grandpa.

We have also implemented workboxes for TJ so he gets a variety of things to do each day.  (I'll post a picture of his workboxes later). 

Workbox (WB) 1 has his Bible in it.  He still reads 1 chapter a day. 

WB2 has his math work.  We've changed this as the early Saxon 5/4 lessons were TOO easy for him.  He was whipping through them in about 10 min.  So, we have been using online worksheets from http://www.math-drills.com/ and also the Supplemental Exercises in the back of Saxon 5/4 to try and figure out what he does and doesn't know how to do.  He still does Sterling Math each day also. 

WB3 is usually an English skill.  A wonderful friend bought a LeapPad type device in China for her daughter to learn English.  However, it turned out that her daughter couldn't read the characters so she never used it.  She offered it for sale and I jumped on it.  So, WB3 contains the workbooks for this device.  TJ really likes it because it has both Chinese and English.  However, we quickly discovered that he was reading the Chinese and saying it in English and not really learning the written English. So CP covers up the Chinese and says the words and has TJ repeat it back to him.  TJ also is using LiveMocha now which includes the Chinese characters as well.  We quickly discovered that he likes to race through the "Learn" section and jump to the "Review" - but he doesn't know the material yet.  We'll be working on that tendency :-)

WB4 is also usually an English skill.  We are using Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons for him which also provides good bonding/attachment time for him and CP.   We also picked up this Chinese/English Visual Dictionary from Barnes and Nobel to work on vocabulary.  It has pictures as well as the English, Simplified Characters and Pinyin for a TON of things in it.  I also had created a set of flashcards for HJ a while back using colored construction paper.  Each color paper has that color word written on it.  So those go in the box.  I also printed off flashcards from Semanda.com which have Chinese on one side and English on the other.  JA and TJ work on these together.

WB5 is usually video or computer based.  We borrowed the Your Baby Can Read videos from a friend and TJ and HJ watch these together.  We also have the LeapFrog videos for Letters and Words.  We use the flashcard quizzes at Semanda.com and LiveMocha.  I finally broke down and paid the $30 for a one year subscription to LiveMocha.  I think it will be well worth it. 

WB6 is usually something fun like an Animated Storybook or a computer game that I think he will enjoy, but still learn some English.  Today I gave him I Spy and asked AT to help him. 

I do need to add back in his 45min of reading one of the books we brought from China, but I'll do that next week.

GW's schooling has been moving along well.  We have made a few tweaks for him.  I purchased the LiveMocha subscription as that was working well for him.  We are also giving him online worksheets from Kuta Software to help figure out what he knows and what he doesn't.  We're still trying to figure out exactly how much English he knows.  He is continuing his copy-work from a book and we will have him start reading out loud to us soon so we get a good grasp of where he is.  We will probably let him read to SG so he won't be intimidated, but she will be able to correct him if he makes a mistake.  We also added Mingoville to his list of activities. He is able to do OK with this as his conversational English is good enough to understand the directions. 

I'm not sure we have really challenged either one of them yet, but that's OK.  We've only been home one month TODAY!