Aquatic Adventures

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Minecraft Crazy vs 1000 Hours Outdoors

In the last month, we have really revved up our homeschooling schedule. We have had the wonderful opportunity to be a part of creating community for ourselves with other homeschoolers. While we have been a part of an awesome co-op, a number of women I hve grown to know in the past year have come together in a very intentional way to create a social group for ourselves and our children. Among one of our first endeavors was to challenge ourselves to get our kids outside All. The. Time. Everyday. With Spring finally here, we've barely been inside and Minecraft feels like a friend who has gone on sabbatical.

 

Many a family finds life upended by a child's absorption with computer games. You may find his behavior has deteriorated as he constantly negotiates for more screen time, neglects his chores, and speaks of nothing but the game. Know that it's normal for kids this age to fixate on things, and their obsessions are usually short-lived. Computer games can be addictive, however, so stick to your guns about gaming time limits. Explain that it's your job – no matter how unfair he thinks you're being – to make sure he's healthy. Too much computer time is as bad for him as eating candy for dinner every night. It may also help to figure out why he's so attracted to the game. Does he like to immerse himself in a fantasy world or get caught up in the competition? Or does he like it because his friends are playing it, too? Once you uncover the reason, you may be able to steer him to more productive ways to get the same payoff, like playing board games with you or reading sci-fi books together.

 babycenter.com Your 6-year-old now

I read this newsflash (hardly) back in the dark days of Winter and wondered if I would ever get James outside again. Now that Spring is here, we are doing Nature studies, watching birds, playing, tennis lessons...and more playing. In case you were wondering, for kids, play is learning. It's actually educational for them to go outside and play in the dirt. Jump in mud puddles. Run around like maniacs to their heart's content. For you readers that need to see the evidence-based reasons, here you go: 1000 Hours Outdoors. 

Many of us in our community group have boys. If you have ever seen a group of boys up close, you will come to the conclusion that they desperately need time outside to run around and play and pretend...and wrestle. I told the other moms last week that I was going to set up a wrestling ring in the backyard and invite everyone over for wrestle mania homeschool-style. They all laughed!! And no one said, "That's crazy!". They said, "When! Let me know! We'll come!!". Moms know. 

We are attempting 1000 hours outdoors!!!

Did you know...skipping is a pre-reading skill?

As I am home again and thinking about all I learned at the NCHE conference, I am able to take a deep breath, let it out....and wait. That's right. Wait. "For what?, you ask? So glad you did! Charlotte Mason, who was an educator in England in the late 1800's and early 1900's, believed education was 3-pronged: it was an atmosphere, a discipline and a [way of] life. Her philosophy included lots of play and "hours in the outdoors" for small children; time to explore their world and study Nature. She also supported the delay of academics until the child was 6 or 7 years of age. Now I understand why. When young children get the opportunity to play and explore outside they are paving their way to a preparedness for academics.

All children are born with over one billion neurons in their brains but all those neurons are not yet fully connected to each other by synapses that are strengthened through "active interest and mental effort by the child". Active interest + mental effort= play! This is the start of early education! Young children (preschoolers) need opportunities to develop gross motor skills, develop bilateral coordination, cross their midline, work on fine motor skills and ocular (eye) motor skills. There are seven eye muscles that are important to a child's eye development so they can focus closely to something (like words on a page). Their eyes won't fully develop until age 6-8 AND many pediatric eye specialists confirm that children's eyes are made primarily for distance vision. James has been asking for an Xbox 360 since Christmas. I have told him that Daddy and I are thinking about it as a birthday gift. After learning about eye development, he is getting a bicycle for his birthday!

So. Skipping is a pre-reading skill. And here are some others:

• riding a bike without training wheels (bilateral coordination, gross motor skills, fine motor skills)
• can do jumping jacks (bilateral coordination, gross motor skills, motor patterning)
• pretending (visualization)

At this point, James can not skip, do a jumping jack or ride a bike. Those skills need to be practiced and perfected before he has the ability to sit down and attend to doing academics. And you know what? I am totally fine with that. I think that's how we (parents, teachers, anyone who loves the child) instill a love of learning. We wait and we watch, looking for those teachable moments. And if we try it and it doesn't work, well, we wait some more. And when they are ready, they will be willing and it will be easier for them. The hard part? Dealing with Society's perceived expectations. I can predict it now: "James is _____ years old and he isn't reading yet? James is ____ years old and he isn't doing addition and subtraction yet? Well what ARE you doing?" "For now, we are....playing.", I will reply in the most sweetest voice I can muster (for the record, I don't think it's very sweet so who knows what it will actually sound like)

Sources for this post: www.simplycharlottemason.com and Susan Chrisman whom can be found at www.lifelonglearnersonline.com

Math, Handwriting, Science...Check!

Well, my research has paid off! After figuring out what exactly a kindergartner needs to know, I found my focus. We definitely need to spend money on curriculum for Reading, Writing, Math, and Science. I am quite confused about reading curricula however. Everything is phonics, phonic, phonics. I honestly don't remember learning how to read using phonics and I am not sure about it. (If anyone out there has some information that will enlighten me I would greatly appreciate it.) So! I am sharing my picks below and I want to point out that what I have chosen thus far fits nicely into the Charlotte Mason approach to education AND the Classical Education approach. Score!

READING: I really have no idea right now. I am hoping to stumble across a booth at the NCHE book fair next weekend. I hope it has a bunch of neon lights all around it with a banner that says, "Connie! Over here! It's this one you want!". That would make it so easy. I tried the "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Lessons" about a year ago but James was NOT ready for it. I may try that again this summer to see if he is ready or if he just doesn't like it.

MATH: I have definitely decided to go with the Math U See curriculum. I LOVE their math! I was absolutely SOLD on it when I went to the website and saw a video demonstration of a sample lesson on place values.  Go to Math U See Primer and click to watch the second video on the page. James caught me wathcing it and crawled up on my lap to watch it with me. He seemed to like the idea of eleven being called "1-ty 1" instead. ;)

WRITING: Handwriting Without Tears This page from their website shows the teacher's guide and it has some really great videos that show their writing sequences. I think it's ingenious in it's simplicity!

SCIENCE: The Backyard Scientist: Series One  by Jane Hoffman. I should have picked up the first one this year but we will do some fun stuff in the Fall! I found this on one of the Charlotte Mason websites.

What I will spend:

• Math U See Primer Set: $85.00

• The Backyard Scientist: $6.00

• Handwriting Without Tears: $21.00

Grand Total (right now without reading curriculum): $112.00

In a recent post, I set my budget at $400 for curricula. So far, I am doing pretty good. This, however, is strictly for curricula and does not include fun books to read, pencils, pens, arts & craft supplies. I WISH I spent more on arts and crafts but James is just not interested in coloring or drawing or big art projects. He is a "Wiggly Willy". He wants to MOVE! And he wants to TALK! Anyway...This also does not include field trips or sports teams that he may want to try next year either. But! I am excited! I am developing a plan and a path for us and all the while remembering that "kindergarten" means "a child's garden".

Preparing for the NC Home Educators Conference

I have been doing some reading and some homework to prepare for the NCHE conference coming up at the end of May. I have about a month to prepare as I am hoping to be able to purchase some curriculum at the ginormous book fair this year. I have managed to attend the past 2 years without purchasing a single thing. That. Is. Amazing. The temptation is so strong to go ahead and invest in this or that so one feels prepared. I am trying hard to NOT purchase the wrong thing only to have to buy something else later. The book 100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum has been great so far. There is a workbook style approach in the beginning of the book so one is really pressed to consider WHY homeschooling is their choice and then sort of forces you to set the priorities for your teaching. Things like budget, how many kids you have, time restrictions, confidence level, philosophy and your teaching style/your learning style and those of your kids. When all was said and done, I scored high marks for Charlotte Mason-style education and the Classical style of education. This was not a surprise but more of a confirmation of the direction I wish to go. Currently, we are using the Calvert School curriculum and while it has served us well, I find that I do not like the rigid structure that does not make it a very individualized course of study. But on the other hand, I am a beginner and I wanted the "hand-holding" that comes with Calvert. The teaching manual is very thorough and I find that each morning I am not scrambling to find the things we need to focus on. However, Calvert is expensive and I would like to spend less. (tuition for the complete Calvert Kindergarten curriculum is $693.00). Now that I have done the "homework" in the "100 Picks" book, I can begin to narrow down the curriculum choices for each subject James will be tackling as a kindergartener next Fall.

In addition to reviewing curriculum in "100 Picks", I ordered The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home by Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise. They are a mother-daugher team writing this book together, tackling different chapters from their own point of view, and I find they make a great argument FOR the classical education approach. It is a thick book so from now until the conference, I shall be very busy reading. I also have The Early Years: A Charlotte Mason Preschool Handbook and Planning Your Charlotte Mason Education. The Charlotte Mason resources I have help a new homeschooler prepare their lessons/day/week/quarter/year. While there are some books associated with a Charlotte Mason education, I would be free to choose what I wish in order to teach reading, writing, spelling, grammar, math, history, science, geography, Bible, foreign language, etc each day. This would make it possible for me to include concepts of a Classical education.

I will be reporting about any purchases I make at the conference in early June. :) Wish me luck!

Gearing up for....Kindergarten!

Well, it feels like Spring outside so I am already looking forward to the NC Home Educators (NCHE) conference in May. I am really excited about attending this year because I feel like I have a direction for what we will be doing next year. In preparation, I just ordered two things from the Simply Charlotte Mason  website.

 


 We will start a Picture Study lesson when this arrives in a couple of weeks.



And I also ordered "Planning Your Charlotte Mason Education" printed book and DVD. In the DVD, Sonya Shafer is presenting. I have seen her and her husband at the NCHE conference. They do the curcuit of home school conferences. It's nice to meet these people and hear what they have to say. Sonya is very encouraging and her voice and presentation style have a calming effect on me. The terror subsides and I feel like I can do this and it will be fun and wonderful. If nothing else, the conference is worth that.



We are going to have a great year! I can't believe that I am making preparations for teaching kindergarten. Where did the time go? James looks forward to his lessons most of the time. He tells people he is already IN school and that Mommy is his teacher like there wouldn't be an alternative. :)

Child's Garden

It's only a few days after Christmas and I am able to sit down and think about education. I surprise myself. I did get two books I had been wanting to read though and that may have put my butt in gear. I got The Early Years: A Charlotte Mason Preschool Handbook and Better Late than Early by Raymond and Dorothy Moore. Both books speak to the idea of waiting to start a formal education for children. We're talking as late as 8 to 10 years old. That is just unheard of! The BLTE (Better Late than Early) book is a book of technical information and research about how a child's brain develops and through that research put forth the evidence that waiting to start a formal education is actually better for the child. Now, they are NOT saying to just sit around and do nothing with a child for their first 8 to 10 years of life. Heck no! They are saying that waiting to start the academics is better conducted when the child is more mature, etc. They have other arguments but I just started reading it. I can see that this one is going to be tough to finish. It is VERY technical. The CM (Charlotte Mason) book is quite different. She also says that waiting to start formal academics is best but she suggests starting at age 6 or 7. I love her theories and how she wrote. I could devour that one. The reason I wanted these two books has to do with a sort of knowing I have about how to best teach James. I have a strong conviction that slowing down the busy, activity-driven life that James COULD have is the right path. Society says that our kids should be playing soccer or t-ball and taking gymnastics or karate, music lessons and art class. No. I think waiting is the key and I need respected sources to keep myself sane. Well, easier said than done. It goes completely against the grain of what is the norm today. CM (Charlotte Mason) says that the early years of a child's life should be a "quite growing time". I love that. It makes me breath a sigh of relief really. Truly, in the early years, a child's education is self-guided. They are learning and observing EVERYTHING around them. It's a parent's job to guide the child to "right habits of thinking and behaving and nourishing their mind with loving, right and noble ideas". That's what Charlotte Mason said. Isn't that what we ALL want for our children? Did you know that the word "kindergarten" means "child's garden"? I am 40 years old and I never knew that. Is kindergarten these days like a child's garden where they can explore and play and grow? Kindergarten as we now know it was started in Germany by Friedrich Froebel. The main activities of his Play and Activity Institute was singing, dancing, gardening and self-directed play with basic toys or "gifts" as he called them. That ain't the kindergarten of today. But I want James' "kindergarten" to be a garden. It means Chris and I chose the influences around him right now. I know all the people in his life and the activities that he does. If he were in kindergarten at the public school I would have to accept that all the kids and the teacher in his classroom would possibly have a greater influence over him than me and that I would not know everything he does for those 6 hours he is away from me. THAT is unacceptable. I am pretty sure that his "garden" is here at home in our fun yellow room...and beyond.