Amelia's Goals 2010-2011

Amelia is, of course, part of homeschooling as well and now that she will be 3, next school year I will "officially" do school with her. Which really means we will be doing the reading book. I have already done a few lessons with her and she really enjoys it. She's a bright kiddo and picks up on a lot already. So here are some goals specifically for Amelia.

• Learn Bible stories and memorize Bible verses (shorter than ones Caley's learning)
• Work through "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons," repeating lessons as necessary
• Show knowledge of counting and shapes
• Show interest in writing her name
• Learn conflict resolution with her siblings
• Potty Training

Year-at-a-Glance 2010-2011

For my reference, here is a rough schedule of our school year.

I am also planning on including:

• 30 minutes per week speech therapy at local elementary school (more on this later)
• 1-2 times per month co-op or field trip
• 1-2 times per month reading with seniors at Harbour Pointe Retirement
• library storytime

September

• KONOS- Attentiveness: Ear/Sound/Music
• Saxon K Lessons 1-12

October

• KONOS- Attentiveness: Eye/Seeing/Frontiersmen
• Saxon K Lessons 13-24

November

• KONOS- Attentiveness: Indians
• Saxon K Lessons 25-36

December

• KONOS- Attentiveness: Birds
• Saxon K Lessons 37-48
• Christmas Break Dec 20-31

January

• KONOS- Obedience: Authority/Kings & Queens
• Saxon K Lessons 49-60

February

• KONOS- Obedience: Military/Friction/Horses
• Saxon K Lessons 61-72

March

• KONOS- Obedience: Horses/Police & Crime
• Saxon K Lessons 73-84
• Spring Break March 28-April 1

April

• KONOS- Orderliness: Sequencing/Calendar/Seasons/Planets
• Saxon K Lessons 85-96

May

• KONOS- Orderliness: Animal/Plant/Rock Classification
• Saxon K Lessons 97-108

June

• Saxon K Lessons 109-112
• Summer Break June 3

Caley's Goals 2010-2011

Here are the main goals we will be working on next year for Caley. I purposely made these very general, which was difficult for me because I learned in grad school that a goal needs to be measurable and quantifiable. But for many of these goals I just don't know what to expect from Caley. It would be weird to require her to learn X amount of Bible verses and if she doesn't do it then she would have "failed" her goal. Not really my cup of tea. The whole beauty of homeschooling is we get to move at the pace appropriate to each child. Basically for next year my overarching goals (for Caley) are: Learn about Jesus, Get along with the siblings, Read Read Read, Have fun and enjoy learning!

• Learn and memorize Bible verses; teach to Amelia and Wesley
• Learn conflict resolution between siblings and familiar peers
• Show management of personal items; schoolwork for the day, cleanup after oneself, etc
• Continue to show interest and increased skill in reading; enjoy 2-3 types of literature (fiction, non-fiction, Bible)
• Enjoy reading her Bible , "read" to others
• Know basics about Jesus and the Gospel; be able to articulate and teach to Amelia and Wesley
• Independently wipe bottom after BM; wash and dry hands afterward
• Independently brush hair and apply a clip/barrette
• Prepare a simple breakfast or lunch (cereal and milk, sandwich, juice, fruit)
• Help with household tasks; empty dishwasher, sweep, sort laundry, fold laundry, put away own laundry
• Finish Saxon Math K book and pass assessments
• Write a letter to Grama independently (thank you, Happy Birthday, etc)
• Know full name, address, phone #, birthday
• Show appreciation/enjoyment of three types of music

And we're done!

The beautiful summer-y weekend combined with my parents taking the girls to Astoria this week means that summer is here and the school year is done! We did school last week and read a charming book called "Very Last First Time" by Jan Andrews. It's about Eva, an Inuit in northern Canada, who goes under the ice and walks along the seabed and collects mussels. We studied about arctic animals, talked about appropriate clothing for the season, counted and graphed goldfish crackers, did puzzles, read bible stories, and drew a spider that we had captured.

It was a fun week, but more importantly it was a fun and exciting year for our school! The countdown has begun for the fall when it will be officially Caley's kindergarten year and we will dive into this adventure we've been practicing for several years. I'm a little nervous. What if I don't have my lessons all planned out? What if she doesn't stay on track with the math schedule I've written up? What if it's raining and we can't do the outside project I planned? I think this adventure will be a continuous exercise in trusting God. I tend to feel confident when I've prepared as much as I can, instead of relying on God that he will teach me and the kids what he has for us! I'm excited for this adventure!

You might be a homeschool mom when...

...you find bugs and spiders in your house and get excited because it means you have a science lesson for the day!

...you get excited about going to Costco because it's a "field trip" to see the bakery and meat departments.

...you enjoy "school days" more than your kids because it means you can stay in your jammies all day.

...the iron is used for crafts instead of ironing.

...you stock up on paper plates and use them for crafts instead of eating on.

More Enrichment

In Sunday May 30th's Everett Herald, the front page article, Why more girls get the grades while boys struggle in our schools, caught my eye because it discusses the gender gap in local high schools. Girls have consistently higher GPAs over boys and the article suggests it's not because girls are smarter than boys, but that traditional high schools teach in a way more girls than boys can understand. Boys tend to be more active and need classes like gym and shop, which are being offered less at high schools.

To read the article click here.

This isn't a new or unique situation to Snohomish County. The bias against boys in classrooms has been noted before in The War Against Boys by Christina Hoff Sommers (which we have a copy of I've been meaning to read).

I enjoyed reading this article because it made me consider why we would continue homeschooling, especially for Wesley. It's hard to tell now how his temperament will be as a older child but I like the flexible nature of homeschooling in which if he (or the girls) need a break to run around the yard before doing their writing work, we have the option. Were they to be in a class with 25 other kids, it'd be less likely they could get their wiggles out before doing work they'd need to focus on.

Just some food for thought, and to keep this article in a place where I can find it again if I need to. ;)