Week in Review: Oak Meadow Kindergarten ~ Week 9

This week was comprised of a variety of homeschooling days- one day each of "typical" school, Daddy school, and night school.

I found myself experiencing some Mommy fatigue and asscoiated malaise early in the week and was thankful my husband was able to take a day home from work to spend with the kids while I rested.  

Daddy used one of his fancy speech therapy strategies to make a picture dictionary

to aid sister in writing about a self-selected topic.

I used my tired but dedicated homeschooling mama skills to read sister the tale of the Golden Goose which she drew a picture of 

along with another G word that she came up with: grandma.

Not wanting to run out of steam with a few days to go, I decided to try out a practice I had read about on the Simple Homeschool  site: "Yes" days.  My understanding is that on these days, one is more open to what one's children want to do and one says yes when one might normally say no.  This may seem counterintuitive when the goal is not to wear oneself out, but I have increasingly expeienced a greater ease and contentment when following my young and curious children's lead- so decided to give saying yes a try.  

In our case, saying yes meant taking a spontaneous walk after getting home one day and stopping to throw various items (rocks, pinecones) into an overflow puddle to see what would sink and what would float.

It meant sticking modeling clay to the windows in brother's room

then putting plastic toys on the clay to see if they would stick.

I didn't technically say yes to this (because I wasn't asked) but I watched it happen without saying no and admired the finished product without complaint- so I deserve at least partial credit.

It meant beginning and returning to dance classes though I could have done with at least a one week break from organized activities after just ending our months-long stint with play rehearsals and performances.  

But these faces make saying yes worth it, any day.

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Now is Now

When the fiddle had stopped singing Laura called out softly, "What are days of auld lang syne, Pa?" 

"They are the days of a long time ago, Laura," Pa said.  "Go to sleep, now."

But Laura lay awake a little while, listening to Pa's fiddle softly playing and to the lonely sound of the wind in the Big Woods.  She looked at Pa sitting on the bench by the hearth, the fire-light gleaming on his brown hair and beard and glistening on the honey-brown fiddle.  She looked at Ma, gently rocking and knitting.  

She thought to herself, "This is now."

She was glad that the cosy house, and Pa ad Ma and the fire-light and the music, were now.  They could not be forgotten, she thought, because now is now.  It can never be a long time ago.

-Laura Ingalls Wilder, Little House in the Big Woods

Week in Review: Oak Meadow Kindergarten ~ Week 8

After shaking things up a bit last week, this week felt like a time of settling.  

I tried to add in a bit more structure, as I did see a change in sister when we weren't consistent with at least the circle part of our routine.  This meant we had school time every day minus the one that was chocked full of a doctor's appointment, library story time, and play rehearsal.  

Where I did try to continue letting go was in directing any project work.  In fact, one day the kids initiated this themselves with brother starting off with dot painting

before lining up the paints and lids while saying "chop choo"

and lastly, discovering that the lids could be stacked on top of each other in a colorful tower.  

Sister did some cutting work with cards from her old National Geographic Kids magazines so she could fit them into her wallet.

Later, after we'd discussed the number 4 at circle, I asked if she wanted to use the scraps from her cutting to form squares in a collage as the syllabus suggested.  She put a spin on that idea

then initiated another representation using wooden sticks (4 of them!) which she colored with (4 different colors!) after gluing them on paper.  

She also did a fabulous drawing of Aiken Drum who we sang about wearing clothes made of many different foods- I believe there is chocolate, pancakes and salad involved in his outfit here.  

The 4 is for March 4th- reversed here but later formed correctly when drawing in her lesson book.  Maybe we are getting the hang of it.  She also included the letters we have learned so far and were assigned with reviewing this week, along with G which Mommy mistakenly introduced (obviously, I wasn't overly organized at the beginning of the week).

Sister made beeswax versions of D-F to join the others:

The syllabus provided an idea for a "go fish" game where one letter would be drawn at a time then labeled which didn't seemed like it would hold sisters attention for long.  So we figured out how many cards we'd need to have 2 of each letter then she had the idea of writing out an upper and lower case to match up.  

We used them to play go fish and memory, playing a few rounds of each while brother was otherwise occupied.  Made for a great mid-day mother daughter date. 

As always, the kids were eager to learn and explore and I enjoyed watching their growing minds and skills in action.  

"Have regular hours for work and play; make each day both useful and pleasant, and prove that you understand the worth of time by employing it well.  Then youth will bring few regrets, and life will become a beautiful success." - Louisa May Alcott

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Week in Review: Oak Meadow Kindergarten ~ Week 7

It's all about perspective.

The view at the start of our week was somewhat dreary, in a literal sense.

But after a week "off" from homeschooling in which so much learning still managed to occur, I was encouraged by my children's and mine innate abilities to seek out and explore new learning experiences, instructions not included.

Ultimately- win, lose, or draw, it all comes back to me as mama and the driving force behind this home education business.  I read a post at some point in the last couple of weeks reminding me that "your curriculum is not the boss of you!".  As much as I adore the curriculum we are using, I think I did feel bound to it in a way that I now recognize as an allegiance to some arbitrary force- one that doesn't call the shots in my house. 

Having freed myself from the curriculum shackles, I decided I wanted to let the kids take the lead this week and see where it took us.

Well, things looked quite a bit different with someone else in the driver's seat.  

We only officially did school time three days this week.  There were more extended and frequent periods of free play time happening that I was conscious of not interrupting knowing remembering their inherent value.

Experimenting with different sounds produced by objects pushing down on a whoopee cushion.

Intense girl to Lego-man conversations-  I can only speculate as to what exchanges were made.

Though it didn't come without effort, I put my agenda aside and tried to take on the role of bystander to their self guided learning.  

 

We did some great investigative work in what is usually my least preferred subject- science- on the topics of ink expelling sea creatures and Pygmy Marmosets aka the world's smallest monkeys.

By the end of the week, there were at least four projects we hadn't gotten to from this and last week, so I described them all to sister and asked what she would most like to do.  I should have known how she'd respond- by combining all the projects into one: painting with water colors, drawing the letters E and F, and cutting and gluing triangles as an expression of 3.

 

She donned an apron before approaching this serious work, and I sat back and marveled at her confidence and capability.

Brother followed in her footsteps with equal parts intent and focus.

Coupled with quality time spent with family and friends (including a celebration of little brother's 2nd birthday), reimmersion in some of our favorite community events, and some of the first real sunshine of the impending spring, I may have enjoyed this week more than any other on our homeschooling journey thus far.  

Recognizing the power I have to alternately release the expectations and positively shape the experience of our days gives me the feeling of being back in charge and back on top.

It's all about perspective.

 

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Why it's Impossible to Take a Break from Homeschooling

We tried to take a break from homeschooling this week, but the learning just kept happening...

We tried to just eat dinner, but ended up surveying and charting food preferences.

We tried just reading bedtime stories, but were transported to another time and place with a "Little House in the Big Woods".

We tried just playing with dolls, but reenacted some ice dancing moves we'd seen on a live telecast of the Olympic Games.

We tried just watering our beans,

but our beans became sprouts.  

We tried just painting with watercolors, but made one of a kind art pieces.

We tried just looking at photos of our vacationing grandparents, but got a lesson in the geography and culture of another country.

We tried just coloring with markers, but learned how to say the name of a new color.

We tried just having friends stop by to drop some things off, but sat down to take turns reading pages of a book to each other.

We tried just performing on stage for an audience, but experienced the pay off of a long term commitment. 

We tried taking a break from homeschooling, but- the learning never stops.

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Week in Review: Oak Meadow Kindergarten ~ Week 6

Monday- 

Ah.  A new week, wide open with opportunity.  It's nice to go into the week feeling this way, even if the feeling is fleeting...

All is off to a good start.  We read "The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies" and incorporate letter E into bunny ears.  

For more ear making fun, sister makes headbands with construction paper and staples which brother happily models.

 

He's an elephant, in case you couldn't tell.

Sister chooses to make a unicorn for herself.

Who needs ears when you've got a fabulous horn?  

Daddy picks up some beans at the grocery store so we are able to set up a science project from a couple weeks back.  The glass is filled with wet cotton balls surrounded by paper towel.  We'll see if these guys take off any more than our other planting attempts.

Tuesday-

See prior post, "My Day in the Life homeschool with a 5- and 1- year old"

Wednesday-

We don't have much time before we have to take off for parenting class and sister is having a hard time getting through her morning chores.  I attribute it to putting in two consecutive nights at rehearsal as we've usually gotten a day off in between. 

We leave the house without getting even circle time under our belt.  When we get home it's time for lunch.  Though a nap sounds nice, sister was invited to attend dance class with a friend so she will be picked up in an hour or so.  In the mean time, I put brother down for his nap and help sister make a list of her preschool classmates.  She writes their and her name on some leftover Valentine's from last year which thankfully have not yet lost their luster.  

After dance, rehearsal, and dinner, sister realizes we haven't done circle so we trek upstairs and do our thing.

Since we're already in pj's, it seems best to hold off on the cutting and gluing of spaghetti noodles that I'd also planned on.  

We do check on our beans and I don't know that anyone is excited as I am to see them already sprouting away!

 

Thursday-

It's official: I've got the crud that Daddy did earlier this week.  I find myself pretty much immobile once I sit down on the couch.  Mayhem- I mean play based learning- soon ensues.

 

I send a desperate text asking if Daddy could possibly relieve me mid-day.  I'm relieved when he says sure, as this will allieve me of my afternoon chauffeur duties which I honestly feel incapable of performing at this point.  

Daddy gets sister to school and tackles the grocery list I complied in preparation for our weekend visitors.  He also picks up an easy dinner to bring home after picking up sister from rehearsal.  

Once again, we have reached the end of the day without any circle time.  Sister asks is she can have circle instead of a book with me, and crud or not, I can't turn her down.

We end up reading a story connected to our math lesson on number three about two families joining and creating a third, depicted by sister below.
 

I comment on how sister used the same two colors for each of the three family members and saw this as a symbol of her ingesting and representing the story's theme.  Inner happy dance!

 

Friday-

We start off our Valentine's day off by surprising the kids with some small gifts and homemade cards.  We send Daddy off to work with some pink pancakes and an attempt at a heart shaped one that is slightly overflowing with the good stuff. 

 

We also make chocolate chip cookies (with red sprinkles, of course!) which we share with family and friends that come to visit later in the day.

Besides circle, we didn't tackle any school today.  But our little foursome spent a special day and evening together and felt quite accomplished in terms of loving one another.    

Somewhere amidst the chaos of this week, I decided that what we needed next week was a break from our curriculum or any scheduled learning time.  I thought sister might be disappointed when I informed her of this plan but she very casually agreed that it was a good choice, validating my feelings that it was the right one.

We haven't been getting to all of our weekly projects and I feel that I have- at times- unintentionally overlooked all the learning opportunities we are given just by living life each day.  We will have an extra day with Daddy home this week, have friends visiting from out of the country (!), and will be busy with daily rehearsals before sister's first set of performances this weekend.  

I am truly excited to see what we have done and learned by week's end and look forward to returning here to reflect on our experience.

Hope your week to come is full of goodness. 

 

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