Deogratias

Physical Education

I've always been reluctant to begin a formal PE program around here for several reasons.  For one, I've always figured my kids didn't need it because they are so active already.  Just about every afternoon they play for hours and hours outside--sometimes it is a very active game and sometimes not--but for the most part they get plenty of exercise. 

For the most part I have the neighborhood kids to thank for a free PE class.  So many of them are always coming by and organizing some sort of game.  It's football in the fall, baseball in the spring and basketball in the winter. They also alternate between hide and seek (ghosts in the graveyard if it is at night) and four-square, bike and scooter riding and playing war.  And up until recently we had a trampoline which would contribute much physical activity.

Now that we're moving out of a neighborhood I have realized that we'll be pretty much our own, so I need to put something together to keep the guys active.  A few weeks ago I ordered a book called Homeschool Family Fitness from Catholic Heritage Curriculum.  We began strength training and walking this week and it has been wonderful in motivating my kids (and getting them tired out). 

After just three days we have seen an improvement in their skills and the boys are really enthused about it.  They're not too happy about having to walk or jog a mile, but they really do seem to have fun despite the complaints (see photo #1).  I did have one with an aching side and sore muscles yesterday (see photo #2) but that was motivation for me to work more on warming up, stretching and cooling down.

I'm really proud of Jacob for his enthusiasm and eagerness to get into better shape.  It is something he seems to really want to achieve. 

I'll keep you updated on our progress!

Growing can be painful!

Recently several discouraging events occured back to back to back and I came to the realization that something has to change around here.  I'm here with the kids by myself much of the time because Lee is busy working full time and building our new house, and things seem pretty out of control to me. 

The kids are always complaining, acting up and failing to live up to expectations.  It seems as though I am the one accountable to them rather than them to me.  Getting work out of them can be like pulling teeth, and even then I know it's not their best work. 

One of the children in particular just keeps falling farther and farther behind.  He is actually struggling to do math that is one grade level below and he is about to be overtaken by his younger brother in reading skills.  Not to mention that he takes forever and sometimes has to be spoon-fed his work. 

Well, no more!  Some changes I made include:

1. Instituting a new grading system.   I am giving them a grade in every single subject every day as well as conduct, effort and chores.  If they fail to meet the minimum requirement they will not get their regular weekly allowance.

2.Ordered some new science books.  Prior to this we were doing science all together, and that wasn't working very well for me.  No one was reaching their potential, learning much and everyone was acting up.  And it was just too much work for me to do trying to tailor it all to each grade level.  This way each kid will be accountable for the work he produces.

3. Big crack down on the the above mentioned behind child.  I've been patient and understanding, tried remedial work and even therapy, but nothing ever worked.  It just never made sense to me because he is really such a smart child who knows so much about so many things that I hesitate to even concern myself with his learning struggles.  But, math and reading are pretty important and you just can't substitute history and geography for those subjects and call it even.  If you can't read and do math you are going to reach a brick wall someday.

I won't go into all the details of what I have done, but suffice it to say that he has completely turned around  his math class in about 2 days!  I just started doing something similar with reading today and I am expecting improvement next week.  The problem I think is that he is simply lazy.  (I hate to say this about my own child, but I mean it as a diagnosis not a criticism.)  He just doesn't want to take the time to think and he has been happy to get me to do it for him.  No more.  I am going to break that habit before it is too late!

4. Other things are in the works too, but you can't do everything at once.

In the meantime I have gained at least 5 pounds over the past couple of weeks.  I haven't had time to go to Jazzercise and I've been going to bed early every night. Even though I haven't been eating any more, and perhaps even less, I haven't been burning it off.  It's depressing when you're trying to find a new Easter outfit.

Andrew's Letters

His two favorite passtimes are: 

1.  Making Nicholas mad (so he will chase him); and

2) Writing letters - with an occasional number thrown in occasionally!

Learning his letters

After having no interest in reading - or letters at all for that matter - Andrew has finally picked up an interest.  We're having fun doing Montesouri type stuff.

Then today he picked up a dry erase marker and started writing and drawing and having so much fun.  He wrote an upper case (he likes to call them upper version) A, E, F and M and even a lowercase (lower version) e.  I was so proud of him.   

Next he drew some pictures of some guys, giving them eyes, a nose, a mouth and legs. 

(I conveniently left out the first thing he decided to draw - part of the male anatomy!)

I guess everyone who told me there was no need to worry about him was right.  The great thing about homeschooling is that you can wait until the child is actually ready to learn!

Project Day

Our Beatitudes project is complete and on display on the top of the piano. 

Fresh squeezed lemonade is in the fridge.

And thanks to Megan we all enjoyed our homemade pretzels that spell out Andrew's name.  Yummy!

A Week Off?

It may be a week off of formal homeschooling, but it's not really a vacation or anything.   It's time to get busy around here de-cluttering and cleaning and redecorating the house to make it attractive to potential buyers.  I'll be dusting, rearranging book shelves and putting away all the family photos.

To make sure I don't waste my time running around town instead of working, both of my vehicles are somewhat out of commission.  My mini-van has needed an alternator replacement for a few weeks now, but of course the resident mechanic has been very, very busy with other things - like a job, painting the old and building a new house.  So I've been driving the spare/vacation vehicle - a 1989 Chevy conversion van - which began sputtiering and spitting  yesterday.  It drives ok on the highway, but as soon as you have to idle it starts acting up.

Lee called the best mechanic he knows - Cousin Paul - who diagnosed the condition from 200 miles away as a carburator choke malfunction - or something like that.

I decided to skip Jazzercise this morning because it would involve many stop-and-goes, but I am going to brave it to go to piano lessons this afternoon.  Fortunately the teacher lives only about 10 minutes away. Lee says if the van starts acting up I just need to floor it!  Hmm... this might be fun after all!

Beyond Five in a Row

We finally started our first Five in a Row this week and we're loving it!  I bought a couple of books over the summer for use to break things up in the middle of the year, and last week it suddenly occurred to me that we  haven't been doing enough read alouds this year.  So out came our copy of The Boxcar Children, and the kids can't get enough of it.

This book goes with Beyond Five in a Row which is for 8-12 year olds.  I tried to read it while Jacob, 13, was doing his other work, but he was enthralled from the other room.  To go along with the chapters, we have talked about mostly science topics because that is their favorite subject I think.  We talked about soap, the  water cycle and the food groups and the difference between a puncture, laceration and abrasion.  Tomorrow we'll be discussing/demonstrating rust as we try to clean an old rusty horseshoe.  In our discussion of pioneer life, we're going to try to make butter.

The Boxcar Children is so good for my kids to read because it is about 4 siblings who are helpful and cooperative with each other.  They have to be to survive.  They live alone in a boxcar and they seem so happy.  There are numerous  opportunities to discuss human/sibling relationships while reading this book.

I also have plans to begin doing the original Five in a Row Volume 1 with Andrew.  I've been trying to interest him in learning his letters and reading to no avail.  Hopefully a little work in the literature department will encourage him.  The funny thing is that he is so advanced in math, but language he is behind.  One of the beauties of homeschooling is that I'm not too woried about it right  now and we can do things at his pace.

Profile of a Slightly Unusual Homeschooling Day

Begin with a decade of the Rosary.  We had to do it on the back deck because I over-boiled four boiled eggs and caused a big mess, including smoke and a yucky smell all through the house.  The kids really liked praying on the back deck, and I think we'll do it again.

Next was the Saint of the Day.  At this moment, I can't tell you who it was.  I know yesterday was Guardian Angels and Monday was St. Therese, but today's saint escapes me at the moment.  All I remember is that at one point  he was into demonic rituals, but somehow manage to return to the Church and dedicate his life to God as a layman.

We began with math, and then due to time constraints, we skipped dictation and copy work today and moved straight into geography.  I finally got their geography notebooks put together and we worked on that for a while.  The kids colored flags of the countries they are studying:  Hungary, Poland and Romania.  I found this awesome resource called the Geography Coloring Book which has been priceless to us in our studies.

Later we had science class followed by science lab. The boys made a model of a neon atom out of clay:  (Please ignore the Santa Claus picture  on the plate!)

Next, Alex worked on his Book of Centuries while Jacob wrote about the experiment for his science notebook.

While the older boys were working, Nicholas and Andrew were hitting baseballs:

Oh, I mean clay balls:

 

Jacob had an afternoon physical therapy appointment:

Nicholas lost a tooth while we were waiting:

When we arrived home, it was time to get ready for Nicholas' baseball game:

Among other things, he played first base:

Now we're home, bathed and ready for bed.  They're catching a little bit of the Red Sox vs. Angels game.   It's time to rest up and prepare for another slightly unusual homeschooling day tomorrow.  Who knows when things will get back to "normal" or if there really is a normal! 

Something Old andSomething New

Our formal lessons have changed somewhat, and we went on an incredible field trip to accompany our art lessons.  Please click here for more information.

Poetry Memorization

My favorite class so far this year is poetry memorization!  We skipped this last year, and now I really regret it because it is turning out to be soooo much fun.  The boys tell me how much they hate poetry and beg me not to make them do it, but then when they get into the recitation, they are so proud of themselves. 

Tonight they sat at the table and recited their poems to each other over and over again.  I think it is a competition thing.  I hadn't assigned one to Andrew, but he picked up on Nicholas' poem, which is a Robert Louis Stevenson poem.  (Nicholas says he thinks Robert Louis Anderson sounds better - at least it is easier for him to remember.)

Anyway, I can't wait for them to get their entire poems memorized so they can do a presentation.  Jacob is doing The Star Spangled Banner by Francis Scott Key, and Alex is doing The Flag Goes By by Henry Holcomb Bennet.  I got these selections from Laura Berquist's The Harp and Laurel Wreath. 

I think I'm going to video them doing their presentations.  That should be fun for all.

My apologies for being light on photos over the past week or so.  Schooling is in full swing and time is short.  I've still got some great Hike-Inn photos I want to post.  Maybe this weekend!