Finishing the Race!

Well its the middle of May and we are so ready for a vacation!  It's a struggle every year to finish strong and complete as closely as we can, our goals that we made at the beginning of the year. [or adjusted goals back in January or March!] So when we do meet a goal it is a good reason to celebrate.   Today Lillian completed List I4 in SWR by adding her sentence at the bottom.  As the youngest of 7 with many years between them she's had the cynical view of school way younger than her siblings ever did.  She's got college and adult siblings that moan about annoying professors, unreasonable papers or projects and those dreaded finals.  Not a happy picture of school really.  I wish I had never  called our time together 'school', but instead called it one-on-one time or mommy and me time- something she wouldn't associate with her worldly knowledge of that word.   Because of this she's had an ornery attitude from pretty much the beginning of our very loose,  fun, relaxed introduction to the basics.  For some reason, she loves math, so no problems there, but spelling and phonograms?  Not so willing.    Since she is young and I've had a few later readers, I decided to take the nonchalant approach.  So I am very satisfied that we completed the  suggested K grade track for her first official year with the program.  Next year I will let her know she's expected to do more with less attitude, but for now, we'll celebrate! 

The plus side; she's well on her way to automaticity in reading. My summer goal is to simply read, read, read together; preferably in a hammock under a tree.  

I really appreciated Janet Spitler's post on the IEW website on finishing the year well. I agree with her whole heartily and plan to use all three habits here during our last week or two of formal schooling. 

Discouragement

Recently I answered a post by a homeschool mom that was feeling discouraged. I thought I would share my response here as I think it may be useful to all of us. 

I think feelings of discouragement are more common than we admit.  We see those other posts, read those magazine articles or look up statistics and we wonder what we're dong wrong. Why isn't my child making leaps and bounds? Why isn't my child succeeding in that way?    It's an easy thing to slip into, but we need to be aware and watch for it.   We need to keep our focus on our own kids and make sure our goals actually fit for them. Not what we want. Not what those other kids are doing.  

While in the mean time, we should review and revisit our tools. Any other profession will have continuing education or conferences of some type. Professionals know they have to keep on top of their game.  So, why don't we? A refresher course- re-reading the book, watching the video or attending the class again- all ways we can refresh our teaching.   Our job as teachers is worth the effort or expense for extra or updated training.  

The other thing most professionals do as well- is refreshing the 'spirit'. They might not call it that. But some time reflecting on why we do what we do is also very helpful. I have loved attending the real refreshment retreats. [http://blog.apologia.com/live/ ] So much so, that I also keep the program  with my notes in it for re-reading throughout the year. I highly recommend it.  If you can't do a 'real refreshment' you may want to do your own. Set aside some time where you can reflect on why you do this, where is God leading you? What is He calling you to do in this manner? What scripture verses speak to you? Mediate on Him. 

My children are never going to make those great leaps or probably ever be 'above' grade level in some areas,  but they are continuing to progress in all areas at their own personal rate. [bumpy and uneven at that] Sometimes I need an attitude adjustment to help me see how very talented and smart my kids really are. . . I have come to accept that my children and my homeschool will not look like anyone else's, even if sometimes, I need a reminder. 

blessings,

Unmet goals, growth and new paths

Okay Dad, so I didn't really meet my homeschool goals for this past year, but hopefully I've experienced a lot of growth for myself.  I spent a lot of time working for volunteer organizations and spending some mom time.  My new path or goal is to really push the SWR for April and May.  We had a few really good days recently and with other activities winding down* soon, I'm hopeful for a strong dash to the finish line. 

SWR List O-2, my homophone 'art'

For this list I worked with Cordell and Melodie separately. It worked out really well. I was really able to give them each the attention they needed. The drawback: I spent so much more time at it!  I think I will have to swap days- rather than try to do them both on the same day.  Right now though, I am trying to get as far in the Lists of spelling words as possible since we missed so many days this year.  It probably doesn't really matter, but I just want to be close to our end of the year goal. 

Lillian is now joining us sometimes when we review the phonogram cards. To ensure we cover 'hers' first, I marked them with a red dot, that way she can wander away later and not miss them. So far, I have only introduced about 9 cards, the ones in her name and the 'clock face' letters. 

I have cut a corner off each card so they are easy to assemble 'right side up' I marked the toddler's with red circle dot stickers across the cut corner.

This is a phonogram review activity for the 4 year old. She is to match her cursive cards to the pocket of the bookface counterpart.  I taped the file folders together so it folds up accordion style for storage and stands up on it's own when in use.  She decorated the file folders a little and helped me assemble it, so it was like a lapbook project.  

*winding down, doesn't really look like it or the next few weeks because we are getting ready for a dance recital, poetry presentation [multiple times], curriculum fair, and a big birthday party! How we will get consistent seat work in during all the prep time needed, I wouldn't know.  Dreaming of a beach. . .