Out with the old, in with the (sort of) new {making changes in school}

A couple of weeks ago I had a rough few days.

Not that having rough days is anything spectacularly strange. Regular, more like.

I had a virus going through the house, with children dropping like flies, succumbing to a cough and a raised temperature. Wouldn't you know, but it hit the first "proper" week back to school (because every home school has a kind of "breaking it in gently" week first, right?... ).

The devil always seems to want to get in and pull me down whenever we come back from a break. I was armed and ready. I was expecting it. But, alas, my sleep deprived self didn't handle the attack very well.

I was feeling downright discouraged, and I had a morning filled with child "Ping pong" where I was going between one child and the next, trying to resolve issues in various subjects.

I wasn't quite ready to throw in the towel, but I was thinking "I can NOT go on like this - it will run me ragged".

So, I did what every self respecting homeschooling Mum does - I turned to valued friends and asked for help! I think, if nothing else, home educating teaches the parents a healthy dose of humility. Quite frankly, there's nothing so good as demonstrating that you do NOT have it all together, than to try teaching your children at home. It's less the content, and more the logistics. ESPECIALLY when you are a mum of many. Trust me. It's a leveller. Other parents are always willing to lend an ear, and give encouragement where they can. It's part of the job description. "Help and support your fellow mothers in the trenches". (Check the small print, if you didn't already realise....it's there, honest)

One of the things I was struggling with was grammar. Maths, they need to work at their own level. You can't do it any other way. Well, I certainly can't seem to. But, grammar. Could I be doing something different?

I loved the content of what we were doing, but with one child a slow reader, and needing me to read it ALL to them, and others just feeling it was hard work, I wondered if we could change it up.

To my surprise, one VERY experienced home ed Mum, who also teaches writing as a subject, said "You know you don't NEED to do grammar with younger children, right?" (Or words to that effect...)

WHAT?

SERIOUSLY?

I thought she had maybe lost the plot, but I remembered "in the multitude of counsellors there is wisdom".  Wisdom. That's the application of knowledge. Her knowledge of the subject said, no, you don't need to. And, I thought it sounded wise. And I needed to apply her knowledge. Wise.

However, I wasn't quite ready to take a complete leap in that direction. *hides*  I thought, rather, that we could go down the "one room schoolhouse route". Pitch lessons at a level they could all "get" and keep it simple.

I remembered that I had previously used a book called "Fix It! grammar", written by the wonderful Andrew Pudewa, and produced by the Institute of Excellence in Writing. (Having just checked out the link, I have an older version of this, but the same principles apply). The principle is simple. It works through classic literature texts, taking sentences, throwing in errors, and getting you to fix them. It's designed to be used by individual children, with them correcting it themselves, and rewriting it with the errors fixed. You also identify certain grammatical points, such as the subject and the verb in each sentence.

I figured it was something I could do with the children TOGETHER. I could write it on the white board, and they could "fix it".

All well and good if you can FIND the Teacher's Manual you need.

Yup.

Searched high and low, I did.

Until I found it in a box, with all my other English materials, all just nicely collated together. Too organised for my own good, me.

*insert huge eye roll*

I also remembered a lovely book called "Daily Grams". This has a few short exercises for each day, again, perfect for the white board. It goes through all the grammar concepts, and gets the children to do simple exercises in identifying errors, or finding concepts in a sentence. It doesn't take long, but covers a great range of basic concepts.

Once I had it all found, I was ready to start.

And, wonder of WONDERS, the children are LOV-ING it!!!

They ask me EVERY DAY - "are we doing grammar yet?"

*jaw drop*

All three - 8, 9 and 11 - think it's SO MUCH FUN!  Yes, you heard right - FUN!

Do these children look miserable to you? No. They do not. No payment involved. No coercing. Just genuine straight up and down delight. 

We even stepped it up a notch today, and I got adventurous.

I ADDED some extra things into the lesson! 

WHAAAAAAAAATTTT?

 I know. CRA-ZEEEE.

We fixed our sentence, and then we found ways we could have written the sentence with more detail.

We had been learning about "-ly" adverbs, so we threw in a couple of those. Then we conjured up some fun adjectives to boot. 

Another thing we have been doing is listening out for grammar we have been learning about, whilst having our read aloud sessions. 

And can I tell you, C S Lewis uses a LOT of -ly adverbs. 

I regularly have children shouting them out, during my reading of "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe", much to the annoyance of their eldest sibling. 

"Enough with the adverbs, guys...."

I think they've "got" that part of speech....

This is a sample page of the "Daily Grams", As you can see, there is not a lot, but it covers quite a range of topics in one short lesson.

One of my favourite parts of it all?

No paper. Not exercise books. Nada. Just me an' my white board.

Sweet.

Another joy is that it requires no writing from the children. It is absolutely possible to learn a LOT without having to produce screeds of writing. I would rather get them to write when they REALLY have to, and produce something wonderful, than have them write in EVERY SINGLE SUBJECT until they are sick of school. ESPECIALLY boys, in my experience, limited as it may be. Being able to identify grammar concepts requires eyes and a mouth, but not necessarily a pen and paper. I lie not! Save your battles for the really big things. This isn't one of them, in my opinion. 

(Just to add, lest you think me completely negligent, my friend said that when they hit High School, they will turn the grammar thing up a notch, and still grasp it wonderfully.)

All my changes were confirmed to me when I then read a SUPER article put together by Sarah McKenzie, from "The Read aloud Revival".  She wrote it in 2009, and it is an overview of Ruth Beechick's teaching ideas. Ruth Beechick is a super experienced and respected veteran home educator. She has done extensive research and is someone I respect. I haven't read all her books, but what I have read I have loved. 

If you don't read anything else for your homsechool year, read this. You can find it here. It made my heart LEAP! It confirmed what my wonderful fellow home ed Mums had suggested to me. It was a real word in season, and confirmation that my changes I was making were not as "way out" as I may have first thought! 

I will share more about Sarah's own book very soon. It's another "Must read".

How about you? Are you struggling through the mire of frustration because something you have always done isn't working any more? 

BE BRAVE! "New" is sometimes EXACTLY what you need. Maybe not even new curriculum, but a new way of doing it. I am using things I already HAD, but weren't what "fit" our way of doing things more recently. Now, they are just perfect.  Don't be afraid of change. It could be just what you need to reignite the fire of enthusiasm that you have lost in your homeschooling life. 

The same could be said about ANY part of your life. Routines and schedules come and go, and we need to be willing to bend and change according to the season we are in. It's ok to say "let's switch things around, and change things up". REALLY fine. "Not working" doesn't mean failure. It just means that you need to look at things a bit differently and try again. 

Change can be one of THE most freeing things you can do. Saying "no" to one way, and "hello" to another, can turn your frown upside down. 

Truth.

Back to school {my top tip for home schooling mothers}

Today's the day.

We started back school.

Quite frankly, I don't even feel we've had a summer. The joys of pregnancy nausea, and a pretty busy schedule, had meant we haven't done much. (well, the children took days on end to tidy their rooms - their choice, their loss...)

Such is life, however.

Our life involves a lot of children and a new pregnancy, right now.

Our LIFE.

Our HOME.

We HOME school, ergo, what our life is like at home is how our school is shaped, NOT the other way around.

It's taken me YEARS to get to this point. Years, I say. If my words of wisdom just help ONE other worn out and devastated mother, whose first day plans have gone awry, then it will be worth it.

Plans are good.

Plans are GREAT.

I have a whole post planned on planning for school.

In fact, as planning goes, I have been best prepared on the planning front, EVER.

All the best planning in the world - all the best intentions in the world - all the best intelligence and wisdom in the world - does not mean TUPPENCE when "home" life happens.

Not tuppence, I say.

Did you, for example, end up way busier than you thought, resulting in your workbooks not being bound when you hoped?

Nope?

I did.

Did you, per chance, get woken up at 6.30am with a daughter announcing she'd been ill in the night, and vomit covered sheets were your lot?

No?

Shame.

I did.

Did you, maybe, have great plans to have everyone start full pitch the same day, only to realise you hadn't been as organised as you hoped, and older children needing help pushed your youngest child into the sidelines?

No?

That was me.

What I realised, or what I guess I had to REMIND myself, pretty quickly, was that we HOME educate. Being at home means that life happens, and you get the proverbial spanner thrown into the wheel on a fairly regular basis. You just simply CAN'T let it get you down, or feel like a failure.

I had a crazy summer, filled with nausea and exhaustion. That was simply life in my home, so it shaped our HOME school.

A child was ill - TOTALLY out of my control (which is why I hate children being ill!) - but it was more important to deal with that, and not stress about how it affected our first day of school.

Half of my children's knowledge had clean DROPPED OUT THEIR HEADS over the summer (please tell me that's not just me that experiences that phenomenon?), which meant a lot more one-on-one with them than normal. My oldest needed guidance in doing more self-led planning of his week. We needed to get that established today, as a priority. Will my sweet little 5 year old, who is already learning faster than light just from HOME surroundings, be bothered that we don't start "formal" schooling today? I know he won't! He didn't know he was SUPPOSED to do anything today!

The home part of "home schooling" is what matters most. We have our children at home for them to learn more than literacy, numeracy and everything else under the sun. They need to learn kindness, flexibility, patience, diligence, helpfulness, and numerous other things that don't come with having your nose in a book.

Today, we had "home" happening, as well as school, and that's ok!

My top tip? Don't forget that HOME happens in homeschooling.

I was able to implement my "second from top" tip, too - adapt, change, and don't worry about it!

Flexibility is your friend. Inflexibility is your enemy.

We still did "school". It just wasn't how I envisioned it. Instead, we had home life that happened, and changes we had to make, but we still learned a whole lot at the same time.

I knew my day was going to work out, no matter what, in any case.

I have a verse that I have claimed as my "home ed Mum" verse.

The visiting preacher on Sunday morning read the whole of James 1.

My devotional in my Homeschool Moms Bible came from James 1, so I  then carried on and read all of James 1.

I needed wisdom for today. I need wisdom for EVERY day. And, God never disappoints. He gives to all men LIBERALLY, and doesn't hold back.

So, whenever you start back after summer on your home ed journey-  or even as you meet EACH NEW DAY - remember that the home part of homeschooling matters as much as the schooling part.

Early Years resources { and other limited time offers, you shouldn't refuse!}

(this post contains affiliate links)

So, today, I finally got round to having a REALLY good look at the Build Your Bundle sale options.  I am simply blown away, and super excited, about what I am "walking away" with, from my shopping trip.

(Don't you love those kind of shopping trips? The kind where you don't need to pack all the children into the car, endure a journey with fighting and moans, trail them around umpteen shops, then bring tired, grumpy children back home in the car, where they fall asleep, then don't want to go to bed when you need some peace and quiet???)

I am not one to keep something great from those I care about, so I want to highlight some of the fab items I have bought - especially the resources for the younger years.

Early years education is an area that divides in the home-edding community.  Many will use highly structured pre-school programmes.  Many will say "do nothing - they will learn from having fun!".  There is merit in every camp, but I particuarly felt I needed to give my littles something more structured to do - more to keep them occupied, than anything else.  I also felt that I was missing out in focussing on character training - teaching them whilst they are young.

Having had all this on my heart, imagine my excitement when I looked at the bundle for "Tots and Pre-school", and found lots of wonderful resources, particularly focussing on character!

This bundle is great for ANY parent, whether you plan to home educate or not.  Every small child needs to be taught about godly character, and how God expects us to live!

First off, there are several different character training resources, all offering a slightly different focus.  As you may know, repetition is a GREAT thing for children to learn more efficiently, so by working through all these different resources, certain qualities will be emphasised more than once, making it more likely to be remembered.  At the same time, it gives you variety as the parent and teacher, which is always good!

Raising Rock Stars is a foundational preschool program based on God's Word. It begins with the foundation of learning, memorizing and applying a verse each week, taken from the awesome book, My ABC Bible Verses. Kumon inspired learning with colors, numbers, and sight words incorporated along with early reading skills.  There are lovely tracing cards, fun lollipop stick props (I LOVE these!), and many other helpful printables. It would be a brilliant addition to any phonics programme. 

Another great set of resources is four different items from Character Concepts.  One is the Character Concepts for Preschoolers Mom`s Guide.  It's a teacher's manual with 36 weeks of lessons based around 12 character traits.  They suggest many ways in which you can apply and reinforce these characters, with resource lists and fun ideas.  Also from Character Concepts is Proverbs for Preschoolers: Through the Proverbs from A to Z.  This has a lovely selection of verses from the book of Proverbs, with pictures to colour, letters to trace, and verses to learn. They are nice and simple, for little hands to manage.  Then, there's Character Trails Flashcards. This set of 12 full uflashcards is designed to help you as you teach your children to hide God`s Word in their hearts! In order to apply character to their lives they must first understand what it is with simple, kid-friendly definitions (illustrated on the front side along with Bible pictures). On the back side they learn what God`s Word says concerning this quality (illustrated by pictures from the Boyer cousin story in Character Trails). In less than 5 minutes a day, children will learn and soon internalize godly character in their lives. Finally, there's Hands On Character Building. Create precious family memories as you dive into projects, activities, and games designed to teach kids obedience, self-acceptance, a forgiving spirit, meekness, hunger for righteousness, and a bold testimony.  These items normally cost $50 alone!! They really add to the bargain of this particular bundle!

Another one, which I am looking forward to trying out, is, Character Badges!  Character Badges is a system consisting of three charts (the Obedience Chart, the Disobedience Chart, and the Consequence Chart), a series of specially designed badges, and a set of flash cards which work together to make character training fun and rewarding for both you and your child.  It;s bright, it's colourful, and more importantly it teaches your children about character in an encouraging and positive way.  It's designed for children aged 3-12, so it is not just for your little ones, but it's good to start training them whilst they are young!

Another one, which I hope will provide me with some much-needed inspiration, is 101 Independent Activities for Tots & Pre-K.  This is an e-book packed with ideas of activities which can be done independently, by your littles! These sound perfect for any mother trying to juggle little ones, with helping older ones with school work.  I know we would certainly benefit from this!  My feisty 2 year old, and my emotional 4 year old, (never mind ALL my other children) could do with some encouragement in this area.

This is just a selection of what is available in the bundle.  

These items ALONE are worth $70 retail value, so by buying the bundle, you have a saving before you add any of the other great items!  

I am really pleased with it, and printing out the various components is now on my "to-do" list for the summer, because I have a very keen 4 year old who could do with an some letter work, in a fun medium, before he starts his formal schooling next year. 

I must reiterate that this particular bundle would truly benefit any parent.  There is so much of value in it, which would be a valuable tool in training your children. 

Head on over to the site, by clicking on the image below, to find out much more.  Whilst you are there, have a look at the other bundles, too.  I have gone for this deal...

Yes, I am a Scot, who can't resist such a great deal!

Don't forget that you can build your OWN bundle, choosing from any individual item valued at $19.99 or less.  ear in mind, though, that you'll  miss out on some doozies, but you'll also stick to only the items you really, desperately want.  Have a look around at everything, and choose your own adventure!

Right, I'm off to add printer ink and laminator pockets to my summer spending list!

Tapestry on a Tuesday {Spotlight on Geography}

I thought it may be worthwhile to do a mini-series, of sorts, about the different elements involved in Tapestry of Grace. Don't be put off if you don't use TOG (Tapestry of Grace), there will be lots of helpful information in there which would be useful to any home educating parent.

The main areas covered in the curriculum are

History

Geography

Literature

Writing

Arts & Activities

It would be logical to begin with History, but I had my geography books out yesterday, when I was putting together my Unit 3 Workbooks, so I took a few pictures of those to begin with that.

Where to start? Lets start at the very beginning, a very good place to start...

 (Singing a line from The Sound of Music in my head, now...and so are you, now - SORRY!)

At the beginning of every new year of TOG, there is always a general overview of world geography.  It suggests that you make sure the student knows the major continents, oceans and  landforms.  It also covers the major geographical terms, and suggests that your children learn or review these.

When we are covering these more general topics, we use some readily available atlases.

Our favourites are these....

My general point of view is that you cannot beat a good Usborne title! They are extremely thorough, and very child-captivating in structure and style.

We also, recently, added this to our collection, suggested by a fellow TOGster (TOG "sister").  It covers the major definitions of geographical terms, and bar a few odd ones, all the ones suggested in the TOG "terms to learn" list.

They are accompanied by fun illustrations, which would suit young and older alike!

The wonderful thing about TOG, is that they have maps provided for you to use. The programme is called MapAids.  Obviously, you have to pay for them, but they are well worth the cost! It's a one off cost - once you buy them, you have them forever. You can purchase them per Unit, or per Year, with the usual benefit of it being cheaper to purchase a full year at once. You can also purchase them already printed, ready punched (for 3-ring binders).  Although more convenient, these are less helpful for larger families, where it's perhaps more cost-effective to print your own for each child, as, and when, you need them. It's also not so handy as the digital edition, for those like me, who would have enormous shipping costs for anything that is a "hard" copy.  You don't even need to be a TOG user to use these maps!  You can purchase them through the Tapestry of Grace website, or direct from KnowledgeQuest, but they don't have all the updated ones available there. You could certainly get a taste for them, and see if it wets your appetite to look into TOG further!  Obviously, it's best if you have the WHOLE curriculum, in order to experience the maps in the way they were intended....

Having a map provided, for nearly every week - sometimes more than one -  is just amazingly convenient. They are high quality, and produced by Knowledge Quest, who are industry experts in educational maps. They are mostly black and white, with a very little pale colouring (not heavy on the ink!), on the way through.  I print nearly everything on "fast draft" and it still looks super.

The maps cleverly take you on a journey around the globe, throughout the four year cycle, alongside the curriculum, to explore the geographical areas covered within each week of the curriculum.  Every continent is traversed, as your children label major cities, highways, rivers, oceans, and other points of interest along the way.  Shading and labelling are the two main ways that this is done.  It truly brings history to life, as you begin to understand the man made and natural boundaries, obstacles and expansions, as cultures advance, grow or decline.

There is also the option to do a Transparency Overlay project, where the child uses transparencies and permanent pens to fill in information on a continuing theme, showing changes over time.  I think this sounds like a great thing to do, but it's not an area we have ventured into yet, despite my enthusiasm at the start of the year. I need a willing student, first!

If you want to see more about overlays, visit THIS blog post, by my friend, Pam.

(You can see that more detail has been added in the second image, with another transparency layer added on top of the previous one/s.  This one is based on the subject of the states which were involved in the American War of Independence - or, as they call it, the Revolutionary War!)

 TOG suggests various different resources for your child to refer to, when filling out their maps.  They vary throughout the years, depending on the period of history covered.  Sometimes the information may be in the books listed as general references books, or they may be books specifically relating to geography and maps.

These are a few we having been using, so far, in Year 1, specific to mapwork.

This first one is a top little reference book, for any Bible scholar.  Not only is it available as a pocket edition, but it's packed to the gunwales with Biblical references and factual information relating to the maps. This information helps you to grasp a better understanding of Bible events, and where they took place in relation to each other.  

This book is suitable for younger, grammar level students, or for any age group.  These next two are recommended for older students, and my Dialectic aged child is currently using them.

The Kregel Bible Atlas sits somewhere between the more simple Bible Atlas and Companion, and the Holman Bible Atlas.  It has factual information, accompanied by maps, drawings and photographs. Whilst the Bible Atlas and Companion deals with Bible references, the Holman and the Kregel delve into other events happening at the same time as Bible events, giving you a bigger picture of what was happening in the world. 

Next, we currently use Journey Through the Bible.  The emphasis of this is more of a "fill in the gaps" from a cultural and historical standing, as you travel through Bible events.  For each Bible event it provides you with scriptural references, a narrative of information relating to those passages, and pictures and maps to go along with it. 

 For example,  in the page shown below, the story of the sun standing still at Aijalon is covered.  There is Biblical reference of Joshua 10:1-28, information about the battle and who and what was involved, illustrations of possible weapons that would have been used, and a map outlining the battle strategy which was implemented, as well as a photo of what the valley looks like today.  It's all very useful information, and very easy to follow.

   

This final book is also an invaluable title for any Christian home, but is specifically suggested for Rhetoric level students.  It's a larger, "meatier" book, with far more written information than the one above.  The maps are more detailed, and varied, and it also includes charts with timelines, as well as 3D maps and photos of current day locations connected to the historical information.  These allow you to grasp the majesty and beauty of many Bible land locations, not fully grasped when reading the scriptures.  Although this final one is suggested for Rhetoric students, it is a useful reference tool for any child and level.

Above and below are examples of  a 3D map, and a timeline list.

Another tremendously helpful tool in MapAids, are.. the TEACHER maps! Yes, there are reference maps, to allow you to see what the student should have filled in on their maps.  For the first four years, I would end up printing this map off if we struggled to find all the details we were supposed to be filling in.  It took me four years, but I came up with a nifty solution.  Given my love for binding, I printed off the entire year of teacher maps, and bound them together as our "Teacher Maps" reference book! When things get really tricky - and only if we REALLLLLY can't find the information elsewhere - it becomes our reference for filling in final details. In essence, it's simply using another "atlas", in a slightly cheating way, but as it's like "copywork" for maps, it's still a valuable tool in our homeschool setting.  It's better to have the maps filled in fully by simply "copying", than to not fill in the detail at all.  FINDING the answer for yourself is ALWAYS a great way to learn, but needs must, at times!

It looks just like our Student Workbooks, but is labelled according to which Year the maps are for, and that it is the Teacher's book.  It lives with my  TOG files, rather than on the shelf with the other atlases, and is only given when a child requests it, upon exhausting all other means of finding the answers.

Meanie teacher...

I was about to wind this thing up, when I remembered something else, which we haven't done in a LONNNNNNG time, but is immensely fun (though rather messy.... hence explanation of the length of time since we last did it. *aherm*)  It's making a SALT DOUGH MAP! You mix up a batch of salt dough, and recreate a geographical feature, or region, relating to your studies.  It helps the child grasp the topography of the area, as it's in 3D, as well as the flora and fauna, as your paint it according to the ground cover, and geographical features, of the region. I particularly remember doing on of Italy, and I can still remember where the mountainous regions are in that region!  If your child is very hands-on, then this method of learning geography will be RIGHT up their street.

This is one of Italy, which we did at the start of Year 2, first time around.

This is the children doing one of an imaginary island, containing major geographical features. I must have not taken a photo of the finished product, though! Sorry!

Alternatively, if you have a sweet tooth, a COOKIE DOUGH map may be your ticket.

Geography + a sweet treat = why, yes please!

(Image kindly donated by my TOGster, Pam. Find more about making these yummy maps in her blog post here.)

(This one is from another TOGster, Tricia. Read more about it on her log post here.)

Another clever one which Trica did, was PIZZA DOUGH maps! Yes, the food theme carries on with great aplomb!

I think I have covered all the bases for Geography, but if I think of anything else, or one of my TOGsters lets me know I missed anything, I will come back and amend the post.

I hope this has been useful to you, whether you already use TOG, are thinking about it, or just if you need a few ideas for geography in your own setting.

I'm linking up with Lisa, over at Tales of a Homeschool Family, if you want to see other posts from TOG users.

                                                           <a href="http://talesofahomeschoolfamily.taberstruths.com "><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZVjH-0bvNzKE1rVWy2SYutdXb7la861Gje-K_Aj20qbmn2YTYrKkRdhVBwnh2X755RLaAPd7xLD3xuH4tPKyNzBkwL6yTyB3bBxPa7ILJ3N-XagPxLqy-OQrfJ_oxPU1_va4a7E2fdaTN/s125-no/tapestry3.jpg"/></a>

Tots on a Tuesday {fun ways to count and learn numbers}

I realised, recently, that a couple of my little ones didn't quite have their number recognition sorted.  The older child was understanding certain maths concepts, but not able to recognise the number in the sum!

So, I set out to find some fun and interesting ways to tie up number recognition, with counting.

I conventiently viisted The Range, just as I was about to set out doing these activities, and I picked up a few items that would be helpful.  These are all things that you could find in other places - not necessarily the identical item, but similar, and still able to function the same way.

So, what were they?

Rainbow pom poms, wooden numbers and clothes pins with hearts on the end!

The heart pegs, I numbered from 1-20, with a Sharpie, on the heart end.  There are loads of things you could do with them, but I decided to grab some items I had in the house, and use them to do some counting. I got the tu of "children's" buttons (not my nice ones!), and got them to first put the numbers in order, then to count out the correct number of buttons into each section in the egg carton! They had a lot of fun doing this!

You could easily find similar, small, wooden pegs in a craft store, or even a hardware store! I have found similar ones in Poundland before.

(Keeping it real - this is what happened when Simeon got the buttons!)

Then, we got to using out wooden numbers and our pom poms. Now, when you want to use any item to count to ten, and want to have the exact number of items to do so, it's helpful to know you need 55 items... my pack had 50! Not to self - buy more pom poms!)

 I just love rainbow things, so these were a real find! As I say, I *MUST* buy some more!  Once again, though, you could use any pom poms, or any other manipulative, like buttons, counters, and such like.

Another activity we did, which I don't have a picture of right now, is having them draw around the wooden numbers, then draw items matching that number - 1 bee, 2 flowers, etc etc. A year ago, Abi wouldn't have enjoyed doing that, but she enjoys drawing much more now. Elijah? He would draw until the cows came home! You could use these numbers for kinesthetic tracing, getting them to trace the number with their finger on the actual number, or inside the shape once they have drawn it.  That all reinforces, in their brain, how to form the number.


We did another couple of activities, with some items we already had.  First off, we used some printables from Confessions of a Homeschooler.  I think I may have shared them before, or perhaps the alphabet ones?

You can easily find these wooden, geometric shapes, in online stores such as Amazon.  I have a set of them.  I also have a set of shapes, very similar, in our Spielgaben set (which is something I plan to tell you about very soon!).  I have these printed out for 0-20, but we just focussed on the 1-10.

Taking great care to do it precisely!

It's funny how older children appear when the younger ones are having fun!!

One final thing I also want to share, is building numbers from Duplo.

As I have mentioned before, it's nice to be able to use toys, to make education more fun!

Once again, mess, just out of shot! 

There are absolutely endless ways to work with numbers - we did more than I have shared today, and I can share that another time!

If you have any fun ways you have worked with numbers and counting, please link up or share in the comments below.  

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New Year, new project {making Tapestry of Grace student workbooks}

I have now been using my main curriculum, Tapestry of Grace, for 4 years.

Let's have a trumpet fanfare and a big cheer, for making it back to the first year again.

Yup! We're starting that cycle all over again, with my children 4 years older, and new ones joining in this time. THIS is the exciting time I have been looking forward to, when I hopefully hear my children say "Oh YES! I remember doing this before", and spouting some long-stored facts from the recesses of their minds!

She says. Hopefully...

It *IS* one of the wonderful facts about TOG. As it runs in a four year cycle, and you switch your child up through the levels of learning (lower grammar, upper grammar, dialectic and rhetoric - all classical approach), you could end up going through the 4 year cycle about 3 times in their schooling. Each time approaching the information in a more in-depth and applied way. Each time soaking in the information in a more long-lasting manner. Bravo, Tapestry of Grace, for designing it to be so!

This year we are adding in a couple of new approaches, which we haven't used as yet. I do feel it has taken me these first four years to become fully confident and able to implement some of the changes we are making. The first year was a bit of a flounder, being new to the whole concept of a curriculum where I had to do anything other than hand my children their workbooks, all purchased ready to use, and assign them page numbers every day. Thankfully, Tapestry is rather forgiving, and as it is designed to allow each family to make it fit their own schedule and requirements, I have gradually been able to add elements as I feel able.

This year I decided to tackle "paper mania" head on. You know, when you have umpteen pieces of paper floating around (obviously not literally, but on a bad day, it's possible...), and you have to constantly fight the battle of paper migration? Loose papers in the kitchen. Loose papers in the lounge.  Loose papers in the dining room. You get the idea.

As I had purchased my new toy tool, my comb binder, I feel it is good to use it as often as possible. I realised that pre-printing the pages I would need the children to use for TOG, and binding them in advance, would beat trying to file them away  as we go along after they had built up into a Mt Everest sized pile. (Let's be real, people....unless you are super-amazing-organised mother type, who files daily. Or is it just me who doesn't??....own up) If I have them in a work-book, it's neat, tidy, easy to grab for the child, and just plain simpler. No more printing every week through each Unit, just one mega-print once every few months. Additionally, since I feel highly thrilled and satisfied by the sight of freshly bound documents, it's a win-win idea! (Yes, weirdo home-schooling mother...)

This weekend, I DID IT!!! I finished them today, and they are sitting, just WAITING for school to start tomorrow. Full of promise and educational advancement.

I know that it may help some other TOG users to see what I have done, and perhaps inspire others to consider using TOG, so here I am sharing in my accomplishment.  Some of this may mean nada to you - if so, and you are not interested, please return to whatever you were doing before you saw I had posted  a new blog entry!

Right, so what went in, and what didn't make the cut?

Every workbook begins with a lovely cover. Which book is complete WITHOUT a cover?? I wanted a bigger image, but a lovely friend pointed out about how much ink a bigger image uses, and I was thankful for my choice! *grin* (Thanks Beth!)

As you can see, this one will be Joshua's. We are just beginning on Dialectic with him (excited, slightly apprehensive, squeaking noise being made - by him and me, both!!).

Here they all are, lined up ready.

First off, for the oldest 2, I put in the reading list. Then they can mark off WHAT they need to read that week, and also once they have read it.  The younger 2 will refer to the master copy in our book stand, if needed. You can see here, the reading selections are divided by level and by subject. 

Next, I put the Student Activity Pages. These outline all the suggested activities for that week. For Josh, at this higher level, there are also the "Accountability questions" and the "Thinking Questions" on these pages. 

Next, if I have any notebooking pages to add, these go here. I have put them straight after the pages that outline what we can do that week, as I will have them do this activity earlier in the week than the pages which follow. I am not sure if I have ever blogged about our TOG routine.  I shall look, and rectify that if I have not!  As you can see here, the first week is in Egypt, and they will do a notebooking page about the Nile River. 

Next, we have a mapping page. 

Some weeks there is one, some more than one, and some none at all!! This first week of Year 1, there are actually three, as they begin with an overview of world geography, as well as geography of Egypt. 

In addition, Josh will be doing a map overlay project. More of that in another post....

Next, we have the SAP (Student Activity Page) to go with their literature for that week.

Finally, I have included any Evaluation pages. First time through TOG, I did not utilise the Evaluations. Until someone kindly pointed out that they are a super addition as an extra "worksheet", if nothing else! 

So, if there is a worksheet type eval, I have included it. (Some are oral tests)

There we have it! My workbooks!

Oh, yes! I must tell you that I plan for them to write their answers to any essay type questions (and for Josh's thinking and accountability questions) in a shop bought, spiral-bound, notebook. 

(Like this, but a different design)

I didn't want to add pages into their workbooks, as they made need more or less than I provide. This allows a degree of flexibility, and also allows you to have the questions side-by-side with where you write the answers.  We will see how it works out.

I am really happy with them, and just know they are going to be a help both to the children, as well as to me.  Obviously, being a  "first" for us, we will see how it works out, and I can tweak it for unit 2, if need be. 

Over the next few weeks I will also tell you about the other elements I am adding this year. A cumulative map overlay project, having older students being involved in planning, and a timeline. (I still have not decided whether we should do the timeline as a family, or have the children doing it alone... or both!).  

I am really psyched up for starting back tomorrow, but I know it may not go as smoothly as I hope, so I am trying not to put too much pressure on my shoulders! I *DO* know, that, if I am excited about starting back, SOME of that energy is bound to bounce off onto the children and help them to feel motivated, too. 

I hope this helps out others  with their planning. 

Oh, and don't forget to nip over to this post, for a great give-away of the notebooking resource that I am using in my workbooks. 

*DISCLAIMER* - the pages I have shared with you are available as a free sample download of Tapestry of Grace. Please do not violate copyright laws by trying to reproduce these pages, or copy them. If you want to use the curriculum, buy the curriculum!