family matters: when siblings are best friends

I have uncovered yet another surprise benefit that comes with homeschooling your children: friendship.  True friendship cannot be forced nor broken by another person, and I have actually watched this develop in my very own children.  Two of these children, less than 2 years ago, were fighting and arguing until separation was the only solution.  And now, as I speak, they are willfully closed in my son's bedroom, making a fort out of blankets and a bunk bed, delighted with their co-creation.

But it doesn't stop there.  Where else would you find an 8 year-old and a 2 year-old who are growing into great friends?  Because the girls share a room, and because M8 is not away at school 7-9 hours a day (including transportation time), this friendship is continually growing and being nurtured between them.  Yes, M8 becomes irritated with N2, but isn't that the case in all friendships?  I am amazed when I think that there are times throughout the day when M8 thoughtfully takes N2 aside and plays with dolls or puzzles, reads books, or fixes her hair...just because she wants to.

Honestly, this discovery brings tears to my eyes.  The thought that if M8 were away at school (and M6 as well!) her limited time at home would be filled with homework, chores, and sleep makes me so very thankful that God led our family to make this decision to educate our children at home.  And now another reason to be thankful: Because we've had the privilege to watch our children grow from siblings to friends.

Dealing with Plagiarism

***Update***  M8 wrote a new story, with which we were both very pleased. She did wonder how she would know if someone else had written a story just like hers that she hadn't heard yet. :)

We had our first bout with plagiarism yesterday.  I assigned M8 to make up a story about the jungle, the unit study we will begin next week, to post on her blog.  She loves to write and usually whips out a creative story in just a few minutes. 45 minutes later she brings the laptop to me with lines and lines of a creative, yet funny, story.  While I read it aloud (per M6's request), he informed me that they had actually heard that story on a video earlier in the week.  M8 insisted that it wasn't the same, that she had changed some things. And the lesson-learning began.

How to handle plagiarism?  Plagiarism in its simplest form is stealing.  Taking the words or ideas of another person and pretending that they are yours.  The ten commandments and the laws of this country forbid stealing.  Although M8 had no idea that (1) she had stolen anything, or (2) that there was a big fancy word for pretending that she came up with a story that someone else had created, she learned that she is still responsible to uphold these laws.

Needless to say, after a moment of fear and a few tears, a great lesson was learned.  Today we will attempt the creative writing exercise again, and hope for much better results.

Space Unit: Sun, Planets, Moons, and Stars

We are now doing a unit about space in our homeschool.  We began this unit by learning about the sun, we will learn about each planets and their moons, and end by learning some of the constellations.  M6 chose this unit during the summer, when I asked each of them to choose one thing they would like to learn about this school year.

While studying this unit, we will learn when each subject was created by God in the seven days of creation, several facts about each of them, and will take a trip to the planetarium in Richmond, KY for a first-hand view of our solar system. We are also making a lapbook to go along with this unit, and have already made a petal book with facts about the sun.

M8 and M6 love making lapbooks, and because it is their own work, can remember the things we've learned much easier than if I were to just quiz them about the unit.  In addition to the space unit, M8 is learning compound verbs, several tenses of verbs, as well as helping verbs.  She is also learning to carry and borrow three-digit numbers, and her 1s and 0s multiplication facts. M6 is now reading (!) and is enjoying this new-found independence.  He is also learning to count by fives and tens, count money, and to tell time.

Parenting: Attitudes

With homeschooling comes a tightrope that a parent must walk between teacher and nurturer.  As a teacher, you must not coddle your child, nor be too rigid.  As a parent, you must be able to love your child, as well as discipline him.  But in both roles, there must be a balance.  As I have seen some of our days too full of raised voices, talking back, and selfishness, I picked up a book borrowed from my MIL, Dr. James Dobson's, The Strong-Willed Child.  From this book, I have found a wonderful chart that our family will begin using at the end of each day.

Until now, I would have never described either of my children as being a strong-will child. However, at times, they each have the tendency to be selfish, defiant, and - yes - strong-willed.  And this disrupts our classroom, and life.

Because my husband and I realize that we still have the dominant influence on our children's lives, I've decided to take a pro-active approach and hold our children accountable for their attitudes.  I pray the Lord helps us to use a kind and loving manner, no matter the end result, and that our children will become more aware of how their behavior affects others.  I will update at the end of the year as to what changes (if any) have taken place.

Unit Study: I and Indiana

M6's 'Explode the Code' books are still working our wonderfully.  He is learning the last of the alphabet, which are the vowels, only has three more vowels to go!  He has begun reading, spelling, and sounding out words.  His spelling tests will change next week from writing down the letters I name, to actual words that he has learned to spell.  What an accomplishment!  This week he is learning the letter 'I'.

So, while M8 is off on a trip to the beach with her grandparents, M6 and I are doing a 'mini-unit' on the state of Indiana.  Because I have relatives in Indianapolis, we are traveling there for a few days.  M6 will learn many facts about the state, and we will visit several places that he learns about.  I've made him a notebook which includes printables of the state flower, tree, flag, and bird, as well as facts that we will discuss throughout our stay.  We plan to visit the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, as well as the Eagle Creek Park and the Earth Discover Center which is found there.

As Maya's trip was a spontaneous one, our trip is as well.  I'm hopeful that we will find more things to do once we get there and talk with our relatives.  M6 is taking along his math workbook and his Explode the Code book, so he will be one full week ahead of M8.  Wonder how long it will take her to catch up?  :)

Have a great week!

Reading, Writing, and Field Trips

We've entered the month of October and have officially begun the Book It! program.  M8 will be reading chapter books and writing about one of the them per month.  She has 'starters' to choose from for each book, and her writings will be posted on her blog.  I will read specific books to M6, and he will draw pictures about them, create a model, or tell me the answers to questions I have prepared for each book.

We have also changed the way M8 practices her spelling words.  Instead of just writing each word several times, she uses them in sentences or stories at least two days per week.  This takes the place of her 'grammar' on those days.

M6 has begun reading and writing words! I had no idea how long it would take to reach this goal, but am shocked that it happened in our eighth week of school!  His determination to be able to read like M8 has been the deciding factor in hitting this milestone.

We took a field trip last week to the Creation Museum, which was a huge success for all the children.  As we have been talking in depth about God's creation in our study of Autumn, this was a great trip for them to visually learn about what we've discussed.  M6 particularly enjoyed the planetarium, the dinosaurs, and the film about dragons.  M8 was fascinated by the depiction of Noah and the ark.  We are now looking forward to our first co-op meeting this week, and getting to know the families involved a little better.  What a busy life the homeschool family leads!

Unit Studies (General)

A Unit Study is an approach to learning in which the bulk of the school day revolves around studying one particular subject, and usually lasts between four and eight weeks.  This subject can be anything from the solar system to the human body, the rain forest to the desert, or an event that is happening right now.  This approach gives the teacher the option to study in-depth where there is a lot of interest, or just hit the high points when it is something that doesn't keep the children's interest or is very difficult to understand. As we are entering our second unit study, I have found several pros and cons for this approach.

 PROS:

• Concepts are better understood by children when the information is repeated, or revisited, then built upon on a daily basis
• Information is better understood and retained when it is discussed across the curriculum (Bible, math, history, science, etc.)
• Finding books about a particular subject encourages children to think creatively (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, etc.)
• The children know what to expect next, and look forward to what else they can learn about a subject
• The teacher has the freedom to see what events are taking place in the world or what her students are interested in, and teach the things that they are interested in learning, while still reaching pre-set goals for the school year
• The teacher can extend a study or follow a unforeseen path when there is a need or desire from the student
• Varying ages can learn together, though the expectations are not the same

CONS:

• There is a lot of homework to prepare to teach a unit study, organization is key
• It is still necessary to use textbooks in some subjects (spelling, grammar, etc.
• Information must be found in many different places (internet, textbooks, library, etc.
• It is difficult to plan in advance the many activities that a unit may require, so many options should be prepared

I have downloaded four of Amanda Bennett's unit studies, and have really enjoyed them. My children love making lap books, and they will have them to look back on in the future to refresh their memories of the things they learned. It also gives them a sense of accomplishment when they see their very own book! I've also gotten a lot of information ideas from KONOS, which is very detailed and filled with activities from across the curriculum.

So far, my children have enjoyed this approach and have really enjoyed learning so much about each subject. We've studied the five senses, and have begun studying the four seasons. Fall is upon us, and I have found that there is a vast amount of information to discover right under our noses! Although I planned this unit to take six weeks total, it appears that it will take eight. As long as there is interest and the desire to learn more, I am going to fill their minds with whatever we can find.