Erich working on addition facts for 10 with Math U See blocks
Days away from the calendar's first official day of fall, and we are in our fourth week of the new school year. The fact that I have neglected to post a back to school blog entry until now *should* evidence that we have been working hard here at the Zuhause Homeschool. Yes, we've been busy, but the truth is, as much as we Schoenhoffs enjoy diving into new things, switching from relaxing summer mode to open-up-brain-and-insert-math/phonics/reading/history-mode is a major course correction. Erich has an especially challenging time adjusting and accepting a new routine. Excitement and enthusiasm about our new studies aside, we are just at this fourth week point settling into cruising speed. Everything's coming together nicely for our 3rd year of homeschooling.
We have put in place two major structural changes for the boys' daily routine. The first is Accountable Kids chore boards, something I discovered at the HEAV convention this past summer. We started using these in early August, and the boys really have latched onto the AK system. They know what their responsibilities are and how they can earn their privileges, and after doing their chores after X number of days, they get to pick a special outing (so far that's included a Lego show and Central Park Fun Land).
Accountable Kids boards
Secondly, we are using Sue Patrick's Workbox system for our daily school organization. This works fantastic for our boys, and I highly recommend it even for people who don't homeschool, as a homework motivator. As you can see in the photo, each boy has his own set of plastic workboxes on a cart. Each workbox contains a different school assignment for that day. Usually each workbox will take about 5-10 minutes to complete. The idea is that before they have enough time to get tired or bored with the activity (read: whiney hiney), it's done and now it's time to move on to the next box. Doing things piecemeal and getting a visual that there are only so many more boxes left to finish has helped Erich move along through his daily assignments much faster (and when I say faster, I still mean tortoise as opposed to hare, but at least he is moving).
Our workboxes filled up for the day and ready to go!
Favorite school subject for both boys? Science and more science! We are working through Apologia Exploring Creation with Astronomy and also general science (Sonlight Science 1). Cursive handwriting is a 2nd favorite for Erich, who insisted that he wanted to learn "connecting letters" this year. Although I added that into our curriculum reluctantly, he really has taken off with this type of writing. Erich is starting to make some breakthroughs with reading. He still guesses at words because he says he wants to read it "perfect the first time"; however, he's finally understanding the value in slowing down to sound out the words. He discovered on his own that if he used a highlighter pen to highlight each letter of a word, sounding out words could be a fun game. He's doing well at recalling his addition facts, and we will be moving on to subtraction soon, hopefully finishing up Math-U-See Alpha by December (we did the first half last school year). Erich loves to draw, so much so that we had a major issue a little while ago with the black crayons getting used up so often that I had to order 12-count bulk packs of black crayons. Trains and Star Wars characters on sheet after sheet of white paper cover our schoolroom floor day after day. I've kept a selection (not ALL!) of his drawings from the past year in a folder and it's amazing to see how he's developed his talent over time. He's looking forward to starting Tiger Cub Scouts soon.
Astronomy program at Sky Meadows State Park
Ben pretty much loves all parts of school. I didn't register him as kindergarten but he is doing kindergarten work. He sounds out most three letter words, and enjoys reading the Bob Books and other things about that speed. Over the last part of the summer he decided he actually enjoys sitting down and reading with mom or dad. I am glad about this, because there are a lot of parent read-alouds with Sonlight, even at his level. I think Ben's smarts are going to blow us all away one day. The stuff he has learned on his own is amazing. He really enjoys these fall days outside, catching critters in his bug keeper, collecting a new pet every day. Ben's turning out to be a quite an artist with the crayons himself, and I've started to keep an art folder for him, too. His favorite subjects are people and houses, and occasionally trains. He just started his first season of soccer.
Ben alphabetizing animal cards
I don't pretend to have this homeschooling thing down to a science, but I'm content with our progress and where we are right now. I read somewhere recently that homeschooling is just as much about shaping the teacher's character as much as anything academic, and I answer that with a resounding AMEN! Parenting and schooling these two children has shredded my pride unlike any other life experience, but I have found that humility (whether it comes in the form of getting embarrassed by rude boy behavior in the Bloom checkout or almost literally standing on my head to teach how 5+6=11) is a gift. I am learning each day the many lessons of 2 Corinthians 12:9:
"And He has said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.' Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me."
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