No "NEW" math at this house

Anyone who has dealt with school recently has most likely encountered "new math". Likely one of the most complicated procedures I have seen in my lifetime.
As someone who struggled in math I can relate quite well to Kianne who also struggles in math and has since day one. There have been many tears and frustration and lack of help from me because the way she was learning in school was not the way I knew and really couldn't understand the "new" way to be of much help.
It was really quite awful :(
Well, now that we are learning here at home there is no need for "new" math! Good old, tried and true math is where it's at in this house ;) And you know what?!?!? The girl was doing long division today!!!! I was SO proud of her and I think she was pretty darn proud of herself as well considering she could barely multiply at the end of last year. (As an aside, multiplication was something the public school thought should be mastered in grade 4)
Poor Corey is super sick today unfortunately so he didn't get much done but that's okay. He has had lots of rest and hopefully will be feeling better tomorrow.

Great Weekend-Rough Day

We had a fantastic weekend and even managed to squeeze some "school" in.  With church and swimming lessons on Sunday it was already a busy day but with the gorgeous weather we thought a drive and visit to the Narcisse Snake Dens would be interesting. Jay has been wanting to take the kids for quite some time and with the snakes now heading back into their dens to hibernate we thought it would be a good time to see them.

Now I can admit this was not my idea of fun!  In fact I was pretty squeamish the whole time but Kianne loved it! I was honestly surprised how much she was into this. You'll notice though there are very few pics of my boys. I guess they are squeamish like me ;) 

Today though was a little harder. Kianne told me she wanted to go back to school. I was a little saddened because I thought we were really having a good time and she always tells people that she likes it and we do so much more and have so much fun.  We talked though and she was just feeling down and out of place a little.  Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.

What a week!

I cannot even begin to sum up our week in a little blog post but it was amazing! We learned so much and were so busy it was amazing! Not easy but amazing :)
We started and finished a unit on light and how it works, what it does, how it makes colour and it was all so fun. Within that unit we were able to learn so much more and work and question so many other things. I'm thinking that units are the way we will continue this year.
Kianne had been planning an "art show" for today since last week so that is how we started our morning. We finished our day with science experiments from our light unit including sundials, shadow puppets and rainbows!
Such a great end to a great week!

Free Day

I have decided today is a "free day" in the world of school. The kids have been working super hard and we have been trying to fit so much into one day that I think a little burn out on my end may be starting.
When I say "FREE" I don' t mean they can run around and do whatever they please. I'm thinking more of reading, hitting up the library for an educational but fun video. Working on the art show that Kianne has planned for Friday, playing scrabble etc...
We may sit down for some serious work when the littles are napping but we'll just have to take it as it comes.
I have realized how much the kids are taking in and absorbing by just reading and watching about educational things Something peaks their intrest, they ask questions and find the answers.  Plus it's a bonus when it is stuff they are interested in!
So far it's been a great week!

Totally Worth It!

My kids learned something today. I saw it with my own two eyes!!!! I literally had tears of joy as they both figured out different conecpts that they had been struggling with!  Even Corey cried he was so happy and I think he felt really good about himself.
If this has been overwhelming and stressful, moments like this make it totally worthwhile.
They are all outside flying paper airplanes now and running off some steam after an intense morning of learning.
Not much to this post except to express my extreme excitement and feelings of success!

Trying to balance it all

hmmmm this is really hard. I knew it would be hard and until we get into a good groove I think it will continue to be hard.  I find that nothing is getting done in the house, my work is sitting on the computer and emails have gone unanswered among other things.
I had to volunteer at Kids Spot this morning and I will continue to do that every second week. I figured this would be a good time for the big kids to do some independent reading, writing, work sheets etc... However, when there is a big old room full of toys and some 30 or 40 odd kids running around the idea of "work" is far from appealing. Even though the little kids are all preschoolers my big kids would still rather play with them.
Can't say I blame them ;)
One thing that did work well today was having them do their more serious work during nap time. I think we will try that again tomorrow.
I am also thinking that we will try a unit study type of project next week. Try and factor in all the subjects into one "unit". Even I'm getting bored with worksheets and stuff.
I had been feeling quite confident in our homeschooling choices the past couple of days but had a moment of anxiety this evening and wondered if my kids were going to learn anything?!?!?
I feel like my whole life has been taken over by "homeschool" everywhere I go people ask if the kids have a day off and then it turns into a huge dialogue about homeschool and patience, and socialization and any other stigma that may be associated with homeschooling.
I have to be honest and say that even though I work this weekend I'm really looking forward to it ;p
It's time for a break.

My Boys. The Artists

I think we would all be in a state of denial if we didn't know who the only true artist is in this household. Her name starts with a K and it's not me ;)
However, with that being said my boys sure gave their fair share today. It was such a gorgeous day that after the table work we headed outside for a good couple of hours to play at the park and gather leaves to glue, trace, colour, string up and just craft with in anyway we wanted.

First Day-Figuring it all out

Today was our first official day of homeschool. I think the kids were really excited about getting their chores done so we could start "school work" and break out the new supplies etc...
We started our morning with Language Arts and Math as I personally think those are really important subjects and I wanted the kids to be fresh and alert.
Keeping the two younger ones busy while this was happening was quite the challenge. I'm not sure if this is the best time after all. Really, this week will be a lot of figuring things out and what works best for everyone in the household.
We spent a lot more time at the table than I want to. I know for a fact that I DO NOT want to school at home. That to me is not the point of homeschooling. I do not want the kids to be frustrated and bored and I think if we spend too much time working on worksheets and stuck at the table this will surely be the result.
Of course getting through the "curriculum" is important however, the great thing about homeschooling is that we can do it at a comfortable pace for everyone.
I could tell that it was too long and it was time for a break. We went outside for some fresh air, bike riding, skate boarding and dog walking.
The units that the kids started needed to be finished but tomorrow will for sure only be one unit and not two to hopefully cut down on the table time.
After lunch we spent some at the library and stocked up on some good reading and audio books. The little ones and naps and the big ones read and some computer time.

Overall it was a successful day but far too long.  There will for sure be some scheduling adjustments.

Socialization

We had our first homeschool playday today and let me tell you there are fourteen thousand million homeschoolers in this city ;p
Just kidding of course but there were a whole lot of kids in one house. The kids had a blast with lots of other children their ages and the great part of course is they are all homeschooled as well.
I am left feeling exhausted and to be honest overwhelmed as this is a group that gets together every Thursday but it is kind of far from home and really busy. We'll have to take it week by week and see how it goes.
I'm looking forward to getting together with some other homeschool families this evening that meet up in the South end of the city so way closer to home!
So far this adventure sure keeps us busy and we haven't even technically started yet.

Not back to School-Fun

Well so far it has been a good day even though all their friends are back in school and they can't play with them during the day.
They have been playing so well together and I am honestly just waiting for it to all come crashing down ;)
I think I have already figured out to keep some of the surprises and fun stuff I had planned for times when meltdowns may occur.
For instance, if all of a sudden the work is not getting done and the whining is starting that is when we hit up a "field trip". I mean really if they are working well and interacting together nicely why butt in and ruin a good thing?
I'm super excited about our first homeschool get together tomorrow afternoon. There are quite a few kids the same age so it will be great for the kids to connect!
Here is some of what we've done today.

Not Back to School Breakfast

This is our first blog post in our new homeschool blog that will be hopefully like a journal of what we've been doing and experiencing as first time homeschoolers.
I'm excited to look back throughout the year and see the leaps and strides we've made in this new adventure.
We start the day today by going for a "Not back to school" breakfast. While all our friends are running off to the first day of school we have slept in and are heading out for some breakie :)