Are they Socialized???

I home school. And when I tell people the first thing they look to see my boys to see if my boys look like they are socialized. If they truly new them... they would know that they are probably overly social. I know lots of people have questions about those that home school so I'll try to answer some of the most common ones that I get.

Why did I chose to home school? When we were in Arizona, James was in a Pre-K program. He came home one day and during dinner he told me that he "hated school"  I thought how sad that in pre-k he was having these feelings. So I pulled him out. I talked to a mom that was in my ward and any one else I could about homeschooling. I figured that I couldn't screw up kindergarten so away I went. I did a ton of research and talked to who ever I could. I joined a few Yahoo groups and asked a lot of questions. The thing that really helped make a decision was talking to a friend of my husband. Nathanial was his battle buddy in the army and was deployed with him and he was homeschooled... and he was normal!!

Do I have a teaching degree? Nope. But I didn't need one when I taught the boys how to talk and use the potty. I am learning a lot right a long with the boys. When they ask a question that I can't answer right away we look it up. We find out what we can about the things they want to know.

Do I really think I know everything to teach? Oh, heavens no. Even with James in second grade I am learning right along with him. I have many friends who are teaching higher grades than I am. I ask a lot of questions and I bounce a lot of ideas off of them. One thing that I have noticed about the homeschooling community is that people are always willing to share and help. Honestly I don't remember anything that I learned from high school Chemistry {do you??} so when we come to that point I will either relearn it with the boys or I'll find someone or a curriculum that can teach it to them.

What about being social? Have you met my children? We are out and about all the time. On Wednesdays we go to the park for a playgroup. {it's nice for me too! I get to have some adult conversation} Then on Friday we go to a Co-op. Different mom's teach different subjects. There is even a PE class that they take. James is taking violin, Tommy does piano and I seem to be the hang out for all the neighbor kids every day. They are very social.

Is it all about religion? I wouldn't say "all about" but yes, we do a lot of scripture study. The boys are currently memorizing all 13 Articles of Faith {yup... even Tim} We will move on to the Scripture Mastery List scriptures once the AoF are memorized. We are learning the primary songs and we read from the Friend We start the day with a devotional and anytime I can talk about the gospel I do. When we are learning about Ashurbanipal who was King of Nineveh, we also talk about Jonah who was commanded of the Lord to go and preach to the people at the same time. The gospel is a big part of our life, not just on Sunday, but every day.


Do you have a curriculum? I have started using the Critical Thinking Company and I love it! It gives me enough to know that we are progressing, but leaves things open enough to do what we like. We use the program Math U See for math and we are doing The Story of the World for history. I probe the boys for things that they are interested in and we go from there. Previous to this I did just pull together a simple curriculum that worked for us, but Benji is so busy now I wasn't having time to get everything done that I needed to do.

What time are you done? We start our day at 9:00 and we usually end about 12:00-12:30. There are only 3 of them so a lesson on nouns and verbs takes only 10 minutes instead of 30 minutes. I'm not one to kick a dead horse so if the boys get it we move on. When we are done the day is theirs. If I have had a doddler the afternoon is the time to finish any left over work.

What do I do with Tim and Benjamin? Tim is with us for our devotional and for our group learning {history, science, social studies} After that he is free to play or color. Most times he want's to "do school" with us so I have a workbook to give to him. He is learning how to read so we focus on that and on his handwriting. We all work together so even when the boys are doing their work Tim is in the room with us. Benji is just there with us. We work around him as best we can. The boys are a great sport to give up their desk if he is squawking to much. He is getting better at sitting a playing with things for short times but most of time he is just into everything!

Are my kids sheltered? Oh, probably. I'm sure as much as your 8, 7, and 5 year olds are. Just because they don't go to school doesn't mean they are complete oblivious to the world. StarWars is their favorite movie and the play Pokemon every day. I do monitor what they watch on TV... how much time they play on the computer and video games... and who their friends are. But to me that is just good parenting and I'm not going to apologize for that.

Are my kids shy since they don't go to school? Have you met my children. I have one that has no personal boundaries, and another that will talk your ear off. My kids are far from shy.  Some kids who go to school are shy some aren't, going or not going to school doesn't make kids shy.

Are we happy all day every day? No! We have our days of tears and days where I have one doing school work until 5:00 and others yelling at each other. I do have to say that most days are really good, and we get through our day pretty quickly, but we do have our days.

Do I homeschool my kids because they are brilliant? Well like any mom I think they are brilliant, but if I were to have them tested I'm sure they would be like any kid that has strengths and weaknesses. They have their talents and I try to nurture those and help them grow.

Do I push my kids academically? Yes I do. Tommy is reading on a 4th grade level... do you really think I'm going to school him at a kindergarten level?  But there are things that they struggle with. If they are not ready for something... usually in math, we wait. I have had to pull math completely out for a week or two and then come back to it. James just gets stuck so rather than more drills we just backed off for a week and then picked it up again. After that he usually gets it and it click so we moved on.

I love homeschooling the boys. I know it's not for everybody, but it's definitely for us. If anyone has any other questions please feel free to ask me.

Valentine Flowers

I'm sure many of us got flowers for Valentine's. What sweet spouses we all have!

As my flowers were starting to pass rather than to throw them away we cut them open.

We looked at all the different parts of a flower and pointed them all out.

We looked to see how the flowers are different and how they are the same.

I look forward to the next time Steve gets me flowers!! I'm thinking tulips and roses..... those would be fun to pull apart and cut open.... be lovely sitting on my counter.

Fun with Letters

I found these little foam blocks at Target in the dollar section.

At first I wasn't sure what I was going to do with the blocks. I had a couple of ideas but I wasn't set on anything.

Well... Tim is learning how to read and I was going to just make him some cards with letters on it, and let him play with that.

I thought that these would be better.

I put a letter on each block and let him have it.

I made a worksheet with a bunch of words on it and had Tim trace over the words and build them with the blocks.

I also had Tim build his own words and write them down.

I like them because they are big and easy to hold onto for small hands.... and they don't get crinkled like paper. They are really sturdy and will hold up well over lots of use.

Hand-eye Coordination

Many kids will claim that video games will help with their hand-eye coordination. While that may be true there are other ways to learn that.

When we were on vacation there was a games area and there was a fuse-ball table that the boys really liked. I stayed and played a couple games with them.

I was watching the boys as they were playing I was watching them, and noticed that this would be hand-eye coordination at it's finest. They were talking and laughing {and trash-talking} with each other. And there hands were working! They had to turn the little men the right direction at just the right time.

Pulling, pushing, turning.

Have you played fuse-ball lately? Next time you get a chance challenge the kids to see who has better hand-eye coordination.

$7 and a Screw Driver

I was at the thrift store picking up some last minute things for our costumes for Halloween, and I found a VCR for $7. I bought it and brought it home.

For the next hour and half {after I had to explain what a VCR is to the boys} took it apart piece by piece. They had a great time, and I only had to help loosen a couple screws.

This is a great idea for anyone with kids that are fascinated at taking things apart. Buy a bunch of stuff and let them have at it. Kids are so curious about how things work and the inner parts of things. For your older kids let them see if they can put it back together and get it to work again.

You don't need to buy anything to expensive... just what ever you can pick up that the thrift store will do.

You may want to pick something up for each kid. The boys did good taking turns but next time I will get them their own piece of equipment to take apart.

I LOVE contact paper!!

I totally love contact paper!! We don't have the money for me to laminate everything that I want to. The next best thing.... {and personally I think.... THE best thing..} is contact paper. It's found next to shelf liner and I have seen it in two different sizes.

I have found that the best way to use the contact paper is to cut a piece out and lay it flat. I like to place my paper face down {that way any bubble that might happen end up on the back}

Then cut your second piece of contact paper and lay it down.... sticky side up. And lay your first piece on top of the empty piece {am I making sense?} that way you cut down on the wrinkles you might have. Smooth it all out and WHOLA!

Cut it out and you've got it. I 'laminate' almost everything. You can use dry erase markers on them so they are great for thing that are going to be used over again. I also did playdo mats. I have some which I love... it doesn't help with the mess... it still gets everywhere, but it's fun to see the boys pull them out and use their imagination to create different things.

I'm always looking for cheaper ways of doing things. What are some of your favorite... cheap things???

{not sure why the pictures came out yellow...}

Art all around us.

I'm trying really hard to make sure we get a little art in. Tommy really likes art, but James... it comes in waves. James like learning about the artists and what style they used rather than just color.

By accident I found that freezer paper works really well to paint on. One side is paper and the other side is wax so there is no mess even if there is a lot of paint. This is my favorite thing for art work!!
You know you gotta love the dollar section at Target! I found these little ceramic mushrooms that you paint. {and a good lesson on not eating mushrooms that are not given you by mom and dad :) }

The boys have also been learning to sew. They made these little "gathering bags" {like the Egyptian children use to use to gather food} This actually went over really well and they are getting better at it.

We have also taken a look at Cubism. Some paper and a little tape and whola!!

I like being able to use what I have on hand and help the boys learn and love art. And seeing what they create is really cool!! It's neat to see the talent that they have. And I like seeing them pulling out paper and letting their imagination take over with out any prompting.

I am putting together an art bin for the summer and after the Benjamin is born. This way everything is at hands reach for them. {hopefully Tim will keep the art to his paper and not on his body....}