See what I have to put up with?
Jordan captioned this naptime photo: Hmm... What should I do to aggravate them next? I'll sleep on it.
But! We are getting it done! We are settling into a comfortable routine comprised of approximately 75% unschooling. The other 25% is me helping Suzi develop her reading skills and practice writing, do basic hands-on math, and learn social information I consider important. I'd like to keep her somewhat up-to-speed with her group-schooled contemporaries. By law, we are required to homeschool 180 days and cover reading, writing, math, science, and social studies. Science and social studies are just so easy to cover by reading a book and then letting Suzi's interest take flight on its own. She asks questions, we find the answers, and she's happily learning. It's awesome!
For instance, we found this book about the Wright Brothers at Goodwill. We read it a couple of times (at Suzi's request). We got to talk about how airplanes have impacted travel and, therefore, society. Social studies! Then we made paper airplanes--two different kinds. Hey, why is mine diving instead of flying straight like Ivey's? Science! We probably spend a good bit more time on social studies and science than kids in school do, but we don't always "count" it.
John the Spider continues to spark Suzi's interest. She enjoys watching documentaries about different kinds of spiders. We watch videos of spiders spinning webs and catching insects. Suzi draws pictures of spiders. She has also taken a recent interest in bats, although I have no pictures of that at the moment. Both are quite interesting to me, as well. I am learning as much as she is!
She found the other day that she loves Spider-Man. A friend introduced us to the cartoons on Netflix. We added him to her word book so she can write about him later.
After talking about dinosaur fossils and archaeologists, Suzi took an interest in fossils. She thought it would be so cool to find a real one! The other day while we were browsing in a local antique shop, I found this collection of small fossils, complete with information cards and a little magnifying glass. The girls enjoyed holding them and looking at them. I'm sure we'll get them back out for another look soon.
We attend a homeschool co-op, All Things Bright and Beautiful, on Monday mornings. It's lovely to get out, spend time with friends, and learn some new things! This Monday was rainy, but we had a great time playing inside.
I already got our Halloween books out this year! Just couldn't wait any longer. That first one is my favorite from when I was little and my parents read to me. The girls and I read and read and read. Of course it counts for the reading requirement, but books also spark many of our science and social studies lessons. I am always on the lookout for math storybooks, too. I would like to read even more than we do, but Robert makes it hard to get through a book. While we try to read he'll be throwing a fit, or getting into mischief, or climbing on me and trying to rip pages out. In a year or two we'll be all set--Suzi will be reading some on her own, and Robert will be sitting and listening to stories!
Cuisenaire rods are fun! I found some for $3 at Goodwill and looked up an addition worksheet online to try with Suzi. It took her several days to finish this one. Obviously these rods are a handy manipulative, but I love how they add color to math. Color instantly puts me in a happier mood, and I think it does the same for Suzi!
Suzi is still getting some of her numbers backwards, but practicing them with pencil and paper is awfully dull. I found this salt in a pan idea somewhere on the internet--maybe Pinterest? I used a glass casserole dish and put a green piece of paper underneath so her numbers would show up in her favorite color.That's all for now! Who knows when I'll get to post again--hopefully before the month is out. We are getting things done, though, and that's probably why I'm not posting. So don't worry.
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