Cooking 101

We had our first homeschool cooking class last week. I have several friends who homeschool, so we are planning to get together twice a month and do some extra-curricular activities with our kids. This is in place of joining a co-op, which is too hard to do with daycare kids. :-(

One of my friends let me pick apples from the tree in her backyard, so my friend and I decided to have the kids make applesauce. They had fun, dumping in the ingredients and helping stir it all up. While the applesauce was cooking, they helped mix up pizza dough and then created their own pizza pockets.

It was a fun day (without too much stress), they were able to enter time spent in math AND science after the cooking class.....plus, we got to taste all of the "experiments".
That was the best part!

Do you think the kids would go for making sushi next time? (One can dream..... ;-)

{Putting all of the yummy ingredients in with the apples}

{Stirring it up....}

{Making the pizza dough.....Ellie did not like the smell of the yeast. LOL}

{Mommy and daughter bonding time}

{The finished pizza pockets!}

To see the finished applesauce, check out the recipe over on my other blog!

An apple for the teacher, although mine prefers an iced mocha

Today is the official "first day of school" (although we knocked off a few lessons last week, just for practice). I feel much better about it this year, because I have a solid plan in place. Last year was kind of a disaster at times.....sadly.

I thought I would share some of the things we will be doing differently this year (in case any of you actually cared--haha!). A few of you are using the K-12 program like me, so this may give you some ideas......

{1} We are doing our lessons block-style.
In other words, we do all of our lessons for a particular subject for that week on the same day, rather than spreading them out over the week. I found with teaching 2 kids and trying to watch 3 preschoolers, this worked out better. My kids seemed to retain more because we finished up ideas or specific subject matter all at one time. So our weekly schedule looks like this:

*Monday: Math (3 lessons) and Art (2)
*Tuesday: Language Arts (5)
*Wednesday: Science (2-3) and Music (2)
*Thursday: Math (2) and History (3)
*Fridays: Extracurricular :-)

As you can see, I split the math up because it is a new, more involved curriculum this year. This will be easier for me and the kids! I love how this way of scheduling works out for us.......it took alot of the pressure off, and made it easier for the kids to concentrate.

{2} I offer more incentives this year.
Last year, I tried to keep them motivated to work hard, but I was not consistent and frankly.......my incentive program stunk. ;-) This year, the girls have two different ways they can earn "prizes" for working diligently:
* Whenever they finish a lesson, they can put a sticker on their calendar. For every sticker, they earn 10 minutes of computer time. So potentially, they could rack up 50 minutes of computer time a day, which is beyond exciting for them! (Hopefully they will continue to be obsessed with computer games for a long, long time. lol)
* The second way they can earn a reward is buying keeping their candle lit. What??? My homeschooling friend gave me this idea.......buy each child a jar candle, and light it at the beginning of each school day. As long as they are working hard, with a positive attitude, it stays lit. But if they slack off or have a disrespectful attitude, their candle gets snuffed. The goal is to burn your candle all the way down--then you can pick a special "dessert date" with Mom or Dad. They are very excited about it, so this just may work out!

{3} We will be having cooking class once a month, as well as a monthly field trip and sports lessons of some kind.
Because the girls are older this year, and have been removed from "normal school" for a whole year, I want to make sure we are incorporating time with their peers. I want them learning to work with others, and to experience some of the normal parts of school, like field trips. I have 4 friends who are taking on homeschooling this year also, so it should be fun!

{4} Our schoolroom is more "user-friendly" this year.
I set everything up differently this year, and switched the girls to work spaces on our big table. This works better for all of us, as I can sit next to them and help them at the same time.
I also set up a reading area, with a beanbag chair and a CD player, where they can read or listen to music/stories on head phones while they are in between lessons. I am hoping this will cut down on the "too much time on your hands" situations that popped up last year, and caused classroom chaos.

I am very excited for this year, and very thankful that God led us to this opportunity. Although it has its "moments", I wouldn't trade it for anything else right now. I love being able to shape my kids' lives through every part of the day, and love the opportunity to incorporate Biblical truth into everything they are studying. Now if we can just keep on schedule this year.......

We ARE that homeschooling family.....kind of.....

I intended to blog about our homeschooling "journey" all year.....obviously that was a pipe dream of mine. ;-) Things just got way too busy, and that was the last thing I was sitting down to think about.

But now that the school year is almost done, I can sit back and take a look at the last few months.

I must say that after a school year of teaching my children at home, it turned out much differently than I ever imagined it would! I came into the year with preconceived ideas of homeschoolers, of how school should "look" and of how I would be as a teacher. Some of my preconceptions played out as I thought they would, but most things look completely different to me now.

After this year, I am by NO means an expert on homeschooling. But I do think that I have learned a few things, that might be of help to those contemplating homeschooling. It is often an intimidating step to take, and it always helps to know others have gone through the same thing and have found ways to cope.

Here are 5 things I discovered along the way this year.....things that may or may not help you as a new homeschooling family. But if you are anything like me, it is just nice to hear someone else say what you are thinking or feeling or wondering. ;-)

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1. You must choose the right curriculum/program for YOU. You will get lots of advice from everyone under the sun about "the best homeschooling curriculum" to use........but what works for one family might not work for you. You need to be fully convinced in your mind of what you are looking for and then seek out the curriculum that supports that. Several factors to consider when looking for a curriculum:

*What kinds of extracurricular subjects do you want your children to study?
*How much time will you have and what type of learning will your schedule support?
*What is your budget for buying homeschool materials?
*How "hands-on" do you want to be in the prepping/lesson planning part?
*Do you want a curriculum that is all-inclusive (meaning only from one place or publisher) or do you want to use different resources for different subjects?

2. You need to give yourself lots of prep time before the school year begins. Homeschooling is a totally different animal than sending your kid off to school everyday. You must be prepared mentally and environmentally (meaning, having your house prepped for homeschooling). We did not plan on homeschooling until 2 weeks before we started, so needless to say---I was NOT prepared! By second semester, I had worked out a system and organized the school area but it was kind of too late. We were so far behind by then that I still felt a bit overwhelmed. Next year, I will have everything in place BEFORE school starts, so that we can begin on the right foot.

3. Homeschooling is more productive if you engage your children in outside activities and in cooperation with other homeschoolers. By this, I do not mean that it is imperative that you be in a school co-op or something similar......but I do believe that kids need contact with the outside world. lol
Because I provide childcare in my home for several friends, this limits the amount of time we can go on field trips, etc. We do attend church regularly, so my kids had steady social contact every week, as well as playing with the (many) kids in our neighborhood. But next year, I am going to make sure our schedule allows time for us to meet up with other families, thus providing my children with interpersonal contact within an educational setting. I think it is good for children to evaluate themselves in comparison to others at times. We all need this, right? :-) If you only learn and study around your family, you may come to believe that your way is the only way, and that is not true by any stretch!

4. You need to make your teaching schedule work with your family's schedule. As I mentioned before, I babysit children in my home. Because of this, I had to take a "non-traditional" approach to a school schedule. I tried to do the 8-3 thing for awhile, but it was not working out. So I rearranged what subjects I taught on what days, and fit classes into slots that I had free throughout the day. And as long as I know my children are progressing and comprehending, I can stick with this schedule because it leaves us all feeling less frustrated.
That said though, your children DO need structure. So making your teaching schedule "work for you" does not mean that you throw all scheduling out the window and allow things to happen as they will. Children thrive under consistency and structure. You need to find a balance that will work for your family while teaching your children life skills about schedules for when they go out in the world alone.

5. I have learned much about my children this school year. Being your child's teacher allows you to learn about their learning style and to observe first-hand how they initially understand things. It also allows you to see their strengths and weaknesses and makes it possible for you to encourage or work on those areas. But being your child's teacher also means that you are the one who has to fight with them (at times) to do their work. :-) Make sure that you are prepared mentally for the challenge of teaching, and plan regular times for yourself to get away in the evenings or weekends. You will need time to re-group and de-stress. And always keep your child(ren)'s progress in mind.......your job is now to make sure they succeed educationally. The balance between parent/teacher roles can be tricky at times, but if you go into homeschooling with an awareness of that, you will do fine!

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These are just a few of the things I have learned this year. It has been a hard year, but I have learned so much about myself and my children. I think our family has grown closer, and I have had opportunities to teach my children things that I never would have, if they had been out of the house all day.

As I mentioned before, homeschooling is not for everyone. But if you are considering it as an option for your family, be sure to evaluate these areas before you make your decision. And make sure that your family avoids the stereotype of.........HOMESCHOOLER. ;-) Here is what I mean.........

Busy days of fall

I have been neglecting my poor little blog. My husband says I am too busy.....I think I am just "socially motivated". ;-) I AM working on some new features/topics on here though. They will be coming soon!

We have been enjoying the fall weather. Because we are homeschooling, we have been able to be outside more and go on some fun field trips. I am thankful for this freedom, especially in light of my babysitting schedule!

Here are a few pics from the last few weeks.....you will notice my "toddler" is not really much of a toddler anymore. Maybe I need to find a new name for my blog. :-) But I am not motivated enough to do that either! lol

At the Butterfly Pavilion...

Checking out the starfish....

With the Fire Safety Dog....Elijah wasn't too sure about him :-)
They got to hold the fire hose for the dedication ceremony of the new fire station
(Elijah even got on the news!)


Daddy finally got to go somewhere with us! The kids loved Heritage Square....
Of course, a hay maze for fall......too bad it was a lame one! :-)

Homeschooling: How it goes down at ToddlerWorld

So, here's the scoop so far.....

If you are:
a. not organized
b. not very creative
c. babysitting other people's kids
d. have a child with no attention span......

.....then the program we are using is for you! :-)


In all seriousness though, the program we are using (through the public school system in the next county) is perfect for our situation. We decided to homeschool 3 weeks before we started, so we did not have time to make a plan and gather curriculum. And I watch some of my friend's kids at home, so I needed something that was set up for me and easy to adjust to our schedule. This has worked out perfectly!

Here are the positives so far:

~~Everything is set up for us--we just have to teach it and log our hours.

~~Math and Language Arts are especially awesome! They sent us tons of manipulatives and books to go with the courses, and they really help the girls learn.

~~If we don't get to a lesson that day, the computer automatically reschedules it and adjusts your schedule for the next day. It makes it easy for us to catch up on the weekend if we have to.

~~Daddy is able to teach for an hour or two in the morning, which really helps me out. Plus I think it is great for Big E to spend time learning under his instruction (he is slightly smarter than I.....)

~~The girls are able to do some lessons together, or help out with each other's lessons. It is fun to see them learn together!

So far, so good......it is taking some time to get used to the way everything is set up, and we are still developing a workable schedule for our family. But all in all, God is blessing us and guiding us and we are so so grateful for the way He has led our family and will continue to lead!!!!

Next week, I will ask all you moms for some more advice. Start dredging up your wisdom now! ;-)
(And p.s......we have our classroom set up in our basement. Hence the dark, cold, cement walls.....we really are not schooling with Anne Frank. I promise.......

Home is where your (school) is

Calling all homeschooling moms!

I need your advice.

Don't you just love those 4 words? I think my heart gives a little leap whenever someone asks me for my advice. :-) Not that I think I am overly smart or perceptive......I just really enjoy hearing myself talk. No--just kidding. But I do love sharing my opinion. Sometimes too much, I am sure.... But isn't it fun to know that you might be able to help someone and that they value your opinion?!

Anyways, I need the help of my homeschooling readers. My husband and I have decided (through a series of events) to keep our girls home this year and school them. This decision was rather last-minute, so we will be schooling them through the online academy provided by a local public school system. Some of you may have opinions or advice about that, but I don't need it right now. Not to be rude, but it is the decision we had to make for our situation, and we are going to make it work for this year. :-) In the future, I may need your advice about curriculum, etc.

I DO need advice about what works for you. And I would love to hear all of your personal stories someday, but frankly--I don't have the time since I am frantically trying to get everything in place for the school year. I only need a short word of advice from each of you.......

What is your number one "saving grace" as a homeschooling parent?

It could be a scheduling tip, a resource you use, a book that has helped you, or the method that you teach by. I just want a short answer, one that I can take away from reading it and easily implement into my planning. Think you can keep it short? :-) (I don't know if I could......good luck!)

Later, I plan to blog a little about our experience starting out. I know it has been told by many others before me, but each experience is different and may encourage a person in the same situation. But that will be MUCH later...right now I just need to finish getting them registered. :)