By Design

That seems to have been my mantra for school this year…..by design. I am referring to how God designed our children right from the get go. And how if we would really pay attention, we could see it so clearly in everyday little things, thereby saving us LOADS of frustration and money and time.

Frustration because we try to put information into their little heads in a way that may make sense to us, or worked for us, but by design, is not being filtered correctly.

Money as we spend precious resources on products that appeal to US or that we think will be the best savings because you can use for ALL the kids! Wrong- been there, done that. What works for one does not always work for another. Go ahead and spend the extra money now and get what the child needs because you are going to anyways. Either now or in 6 years after you beat your head against the wall, and I do not mean the proverbial wall.

Time- the obvious. We waste time. Our most precious resource. Don’t fight, resist or deny the way God designed your kids. Study the different ways children learn and retain information. Honestly, the longer I homeschool, the less I know! I am still learning so much about how children learn. I wish I had some years back. Hind sight doesn’t need to be everything. Observe your children.

Let me tell you what I observed this week in math class. Oh, math class. With this unnamed child, I swear I am beating my head against the wall. Not that he can’t get algebra. He is very bright. Gets it. ( we are in Saxon Algebra 1). He questions EVERYTHING…he gets hung up on details. Little things in the word stories that DO NOT MATTER WHATSOEVER SO JUST DO THE PROBLEM….whew…..ok..We have gone past the silly questions like “why does it have to be an x, why can’t it be j?”…that was so last year. Now it is more like…”who sat down and figured this out? Why? didn’t they have jobs?  Can’t I do it this way? see. mom I did it this way and it worked so why won’t it work every-time?” and on and on and on and on. Very good questions. Very creative. I have nurtured him and taught him to question everything. Don’t believe just because someone said it. I am paying for those golden nuggets every day! I am not a math person. I can flub  and act my way through Algebra 2. But I have paid through the nose for the extra teacher solution manuals, I have studied in the late night hours for the next day, I have gone into the bathroom to practice acting confident so they don’t spot weakness (anyone who has four boys understands this!). But I don’t care about this stuff and I don’t know all the answers to the thousands of questions I face everyday.

Which leads to another son who had math class. Show him the formula. Show him what problems go with that formula. Write the formula. Replace the formula with numbers. Solve. Do this. Do that. Done. No questions asked. Done. Done well. Pride in accomplishment.

           

And here is where design comes in: can you tell which one is the United States Marine and which one wants to be a detective more than anything in the world??? Can you see what was already instilled and yes, even installed in them since they were created? I am telling you, this knowledge is the only thing that saves my sanity on a daily basis!!!!

Blessings,

Shannon

Change Can Be A Good Thing

The month of January evokes a desire for change in our eating habits, our exercise patterns, our daily devotions, our de-cluttering of homes and on and on. For some, change comes easy and willingly, for others it is a fearful thing to change the way that is known for something that has no guarantees. When it comes to educating our children, our time off over the holidays has provided us with a look at things we could change. You may not need to look at all these things, but perhaps there is one or two ways that could be considered.

 

C- Communication- Learn to communicate to the child in his/her own language. If what you have to say is important enough to be heard, then it is important enough to learn to say it in a way that the hearer can understand. What adults say is not always what the child hears.

 

H- Hands On- Most children learn by doing and not reading only. The kids will never forget how we made an inner ear under the kitchen table.  It was so much cooler than labeling a diagram. It requires extra effort, noise and a few extra minutes in the schedule. I have never regretted a hands on activity. I have talked myself out of many things that could have been a wonderful hands- on time. Not everything can and should be hands on, but if you do not normally favor this type of learning, perhaps you could change your monthly schedule to try one or two activities with this style of learning.

A-Attitude- I sincerely hope I am not the only one who needs attitude adjustments. That would be humbling AND embarrassing! It can take one long Monday to change the tenor of the week. Sometimes you battle with fears of doing this homeschooling thing all wrong and destroying the kids or you get to a place where you are complacent and forget to engage the child’s mind. The days we homeschool with our hearts are the days that make the difference with our kids. Change is always needed in this area.

 

N- Narration- From youth to adulthood, we need to be able to take in information, muse on it, and submit an evaluation. Narration at a young age is the easiest way to develop this skill. There are benefits galore for learning to take information in and being able to replay thoughts in a verbal way. Many of us veteran homeschoolers wish we had focused more on this area. It transitions so well into writing in the older grades. Change now if you can!

 

G- Generalization- As homeschoolers, we have the ability to see the gifts our children are born with and to focus on those abilities with their school work. Fighting the way we generalize our teaching and curricula is hard to do. It would take extra effort and time. If you see one of your children struggling or losing their joy of learning, focus on the gifts bestowed to that child and change the generalization of their education- even if just for that day.

 

E-Evaluation- How you evaluate your child’s progress may need to change. If we tend to be all about the numbers, a child can be devastated over a test result. They knew Greek Mythology inside and out, yet they bombed the test. Your child takes a standardized test and scores low in an area or multiple areas. Do you evaluate your success based on numbers? Most of us will not see the full effect of our efforts until our children are well grown. Learn to evaluate your children and yourself with a broad scale.

 

Every year brings changes in our life, our health, and our families. Many of the changes are out of our hands. Try choosing an area of your schooling to change for the better.

 

Blessings,

Shannon Coe

Fortunately For You Books

www.fortunatelyforyoubooks.com

www.fortunatelyforyoubooks.wordpress.com

What a Pocket of Time Looks Like

Sometimes it is easier to see a visual. Here is what a completed Pocket of Time looks like. This is with the single pocket template:

       

I Have A Dream

 

Our American history is rich with stories of great men and women who have changed the path of a nation. Can you imagine the bravery to be one of the few speaking out on a topic that is controversial? If you plan to read about Martin Luther King, Jr. this month, we reccommend the Scholastic Biography. We made our Pockets of Time to go with this book, but as it is a timeline of his life, you might be able to use any book with this product. The cards are fantastic to use for various projects besides timelines. You can use them for copywork or typing class,  you can use the for book reports, outlines and even dictation. Take a moment in time and teach the kids what a difference one man can make and how we can honor a man for what good he has accomplished.

FREE WORKSHEETS!!

Did you know that for over a year we have had loads and loads of free worksheets on our site? We have chapter tests and vocabulary tests for Charlotte’s Web, A Series of Unfortunate Events (books 1-3), and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The unit studies do not have to be purchased to use these worksheets. We just thought you would like to have helps even if you are just reading the book. We LOVE books, we LOVE reading to our children, we LOVE when our children can learn new words………..this could go on and on! Use the worksheets……they are simple in concept, but some days you require simple and forthright.

Here is the link that will take you right to the unit studies. Click on the one you want, and you will see a button for free worksheets relating to that subject. Pass the word on!!

http://www.fortunatelyforyoubooks.com/new-unit%20studies2.htm

Blessings,

Shannon

OUR TOP 12

 

Everyday we will give you our top favorites for a school related subject. Kelly, Heidi and I have about every type of learner and age between us! Combine that with all of our years of shopping and purchasing for our homeschool and we have a fantastic review board of our own! We will highlight a subject everyday and share our favorites with you. Things that have worked and were worth the money! Feel free to participate and join the fun. We would love to hear from you!

Shannon

INTERACTIVE FRIDAY!!!

Enough math, let’s do science!

Easy, fun and intersting site. I mean, have you ever REALLY looked at a light bulb? Have the kids draw and label in their notebook. This is what Jesse is doing for science today. Makes my day just a little easier!

http://www.crickweb.co.uk/assets/resources/index.php?&file=lbulb2

~Shannon

Interactive Friday Activity!

This link is to a site that deals with making change. While it is true that most places have a cash register at work, one still has to be able to take a certain amount of money out of the drawer to give back. The cash register only tells you HOW much to give back. Our children need to know how to get that amount of money from various denominations. This site helps with that. There are three levels of difficulty. That makes it nice for multiple grades and for advancement. Besides just the counting aspect, there are very nice lesson plans about money: the history of American coins, American bills, using coins and bills together. I think you will find this site useful.

It takes a minute to load up the graphics. Be patient. At the bottom you will find the lesson plans. Enjoy!

http://arcytech.org/java/money/money.html

Blessings,

Shannon

Book Report Helpers

Someone mentioned to us this weekend how our POCKETS of TIME selections can be helpful to children writing a book report. We have already taken the main events and wrote them down. The children have already put these events in order in their pocket. For report writing, just reference these events for the main ideas. What a great idea! Sometimes it can be hard for kids to narrow a chapter down to just a few main events. Sometimes it is hard for us to do that when making the Pockets! This surely will be a good way to help the kids and book reports. Let us know if you have success with using the Pockets that way.

Blessings,

Shannon

INTERACTIVE FRIDAY!!!

I am so excited to share some sites with you on Fridays! When it comes to Fridays, I always feel this mad rush to just be DONE with school for the day. Problem with that is I feel it way to early in the morning! I barnstorm the weekend! Then on Monday I feel so slow to start. I am definitely at my peak on Wednesday and Thursday! If any of you are like me, then perhaps you will enjoy these sites. You can “cut” class, give them this site to play on. You get the break, they are still learning, just not with tons of paper work. I will give you the site, show you a couple of pictures and things I learned while playing, er, I mean practicing with the site!

http://www.wmnet.org.uk/wmnet/custom/files_uploaded/uploaded_resources/503/clock.swf

This first pic show the clock face. Having the second hand is optional. There are four buttons to the left that give you options.

If you hit the clock face button, you are given the choice to take time away, or add time. For instance, you can be looking at 12:00pm. You ask what time will it be in 10 min.? Your child tells you…(you can even ask where will the minute hand be in 10 min) then you hit the button that says 10 min. and you see your answer. There are different time increments to choose from: seconds, different min. increments, hours…..You can also ask what time WAS it 10 min. ago. Lots of options on that.

 

When you hit the night/day button, you get a picture of the sky. Very nice to see that as soon as you cross 12 pm, it is night sky. Sometimes kids have a hard time with PM because it is still light out.

The Words buttons allows you to  display the words. I like this feature. I like to be told the time in correct and intelligent words when I ask what time it is. Although it does keep the mind sharp when you  have to follow a child’s thoughts!

Here we have activated the digital clock. I really like that is doesn’t replace the clock face but shows both together. Our house has a mixture of both clocks. When I would ask Jesse the time, I found him racing through the house to the digital clock to holler up the time to me. I have used sites before and had to choose between the clocks. Apparently, I spent a lot more time on the digital one! Here you can give equal time to both clocks.

I think your children will like this interactive clock. It appears to be a very safe site. There are no other sites that link off this one, so you would be able to make a shortcut for a week or two to let the kids play on and not worry.

If you have made a gazillioin paper plate clocks, or have the hands broken off the nice clock  you bought for practice, just use this site. You should see some confidence with clocks quickly.

I was thinking of working with money and making change next week. Who knows, I may have to give one of these out before Friday. Not sure I can wait!! Let me know if you have any subjects you would like me to search sites for.

Check out our NEW POCKETS of TIME issues. We have started the Spiderwick series, the Series of Unfortunate Events, and Magic Treehouse series. P.O.T’s are timelines for literature. As you child reads a book, they place the flashcards of events into a pocket in the order  they happened. Each flashcard has a color code, so all you have to do is make sure the colors are in the right order to know if they followed along correctly. A Squanto story is coming soon, along with The Whipping Boy…..these are not unit studies, just timelines that go into little pockets. Check them out! There is a page on the blog here that shows a finished P.O.T. if you would like to see one. Have a great Friday and let us know if this site helped with clock reading!

Blessings,

Shannon

www.fortunatelyforyoubooks.com (books,worksheets,ebooks)

www.homeschoolestore.com(where we also have all of our eproducts)