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Our Homeschooling Year 2011-2012, Kicks Off!

October 6, 2011 By Laura 9 Comments

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Well, forgive me for the delay with any updates about our new homeschool year we’re in the midst of here!  Once we kicked it off at the beginning of September, we’ve been very occupied finding our groove, with our new schedules.  Things are quite different for us this year! With the kid’s respective ages and levels, life has opened up new and exciting opportunities, of experiences and learning, for all of them.  Not to mention new territories for us parents!  We have a high schooler now, for example, and with it comes all kinds of things.  But the younger ones are also following their passions and gifts, more so than ever.

Some of you may know this, but for those of you who do not, we are year round homeschoolers.  We keep a lighter (academic) schedule in the summer, and begin a whole new school year/grade levels, in September.  It’s always a very, very exciting time, as we love to plan out and begin a new school year!  We’re really blessed that our kids are enthusiastic students, who love school and learning.  This coming school year, was filled with more anticipation than ever, and it’s been as CrAzY and exciting of a ride, as we expected.

I always take the kids’ new school photos on the first day of school.  This year, it was almost a week later, but we got it done.  We have also ‘always’ taken their portraits in the school room, at the side of the cabinets.  But if you follow our blog, you may be aware that we drastically changed our school room set-up, and those cabinets are gone!  You can see the  old and new set up of our school room, as well as the style of school photos we were taking in all previous years, in this recent post.

So this year, I did all of the kids’ school photos outside.  These photos will be in the sidebar quite soon, so that new comers can see the kiddos who make up our homeschooling world.  In this post, we wanted to share with you a little about their (book) subjects they are studying this year, as well as some other little interesting tidbits of information.  In coming posts, we’ll be sharing a lot more, including activities/learning experiences outside of their academics, some deeper thoughts and observations I have had as a homeschooling parent, and lots of other fun and interesting homeschooling related posts. We hope you’ll join us for it all, with discussion and sharing of your own!

 

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This is our oldest daughter/student, Alexis Grace (14). Also known as {A} around the blog here.   She has been homeschooled (not necessarily at home…right? lol),  since 3rd grade, and just started 9th grade this year. We can’t believe we have a high schooler now!  That means I worked hard over the summer, researching, and piecing together a serious 4 year college prep plan for her. And maybe panicking, just a little. The girl scares me, and excites me, and makes us all proud, all at the same time!  She has huge aspirations, and her heart set on really great colleges.  We cannot let her down, and we believe in her, because she is so unique in her focus of her life at her age.   She is so faith-filled, determined, intelligent, tough, independent, and firm on the path she is laying out for herself.  What fascinates me, is it’s all a far cry from anything her father or I ever dreamed for ourselves, or were interested in.  But that’s why each one of us has our own calling, and why it’s important as homeschooling parents, to help shape our children’s character, and foster the calling they feel God has put in their heart, as the work He has meant for them to do, in their life.   It’s all about guiding and supporting them, to be the people they are meant to be.

Throughout this past summer, Alexis taught the 4th Grade Religious Education at our parish (2 weeks), and ran the games activity for the kids of Vacation Bible School (1 week.)  She also earned herself a Catholic High School scholarship, that has covered all of the expenses of her academic and extra-curricular school year. We’re proud of her, and grateful as well!

This school year, as a high school Freshman, Alexis’ courses are:  Language Arts (Alpha Omega /LifePac),  Algebra (Math-U-See), Biology (Apologia), History/Social Studies (Streams of Civilization-Volume 2 Cultures in Conflict Since the Reformation), Latin (Latina Christiana), Spanish (All Bilingual) , Art and Music (Piano – private lessons, and the Recorder – all kids at home.).

Alexis is also playing sports now, for our town’s public South High School! She is really involved there. That is a whole other exciting post. I could easily ramble, so I’ll save it, but suffice it to say it’s been really wonderful for her so far, and exciting for us.  It is extremely time-consuming on a daily weekday basis.  But I’d say we best get used to it and keep making it work.

In the light of sharing all of their subjects in this post, I feel it’s important to mention, that we live our personal faith, which is Roman Catholic. So it’s not a subject the kids study for school, but more something we are always teaching them, and they are always living and learning it as they grow. Just as we still are as adults, actually. That said, they do begin each day all together, with a Scripture, discussion, and prayer.  As a tool, we still really love Living Faith-Kids!!

 

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JackMichael (9), the first-born of the triplets.  Also known as {JM} around here.  He and the other 2 have the same academic subjects of course, being in the same grade level and age.   As I said, I’ll be posting more about what they love to do outside of their academic studies, and I’m excited to do so, because they are all so unique, with their interests and personalities. And yet, the differences from within their unique selves, meld together so well with each other.  It’s fascinating to me, to observe, frankly.  But anyway, for today, here are the subjects all 3 of them have this year:

Language Arts (Alpha Omega / LifePac),  Math (Delta / Math-U-See),  Science (Exploring Creation with Astronomy-Apologia), History/Social Studies (Christian Liberty Press / Our Nation Under God, and, History Stories for Children), Writing Strands, Spanish (All Bilingual), Latin (Prima Latina), Art and Music ( Recorder – all kids at home).

 

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Olivia Faith (9), the second triplet born. {O}, which we tend to call her 1/2 the time, ourselves. The boys especially, refer to her as “O”, a lot. And you know what she calls them, when she’s talking to the both of them? “Boys”. It always cracks me up, because there is such a motherly air about the way she says it. So….our own little baby boom is “O and the Boys”, I guess. It has a cool little ring to it, now that I think about it. : )   Oh, speaking of their names, and {name initials in brackets}, I know we’ve been a little all over the place with it.  The thing is, using initials for any sake of privacy or protection, is pretty irrelevant by now, considering they’ve been on TV a few times now, (related to our Catholic faith) as well as the newspaper, for different things. All times with full names.  On the flip side, I have found myself continuing to use their initials in brackets sometimes, for the sake of brevity.  As you can see, my posts tend to be perhaps a little lengthy, so I need to use all the brevity tricks I can.  : )   The kids are all well aware, lots of people know who we are by name, but the reverse isn’t necessarily true. (Especially around our town, and the people we meet and run into in person.)


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Shane Jacob (9), the last born of the trio.

(Reaching for ‘brevity’ now………..).  Shoot. I forgot what I was going to say. Ummmm. Oh yeah.  You see that beautiful little school desk in the background?  That is Michael’s, from when he was a little boy!!  What a treasure, huh?  That sweet and sentimental little antique is going to be another blog post coming up, that I am planning, as well. There’s some story to tell, and some specific things that are part of the desk, that you will not believe!!  Michael’s antique school desk, is not the only one we have to show you, either. So if you’re interested, be on the look out for that post too!

homeschooling-new-year-5 I am glad I thought of doing a quick ‘class picture’ of sorts, while we were at it.  I sure love my class!!

Honestly, I’ve struggled a little with this homeschooling section of the blog, right along. It’s a lifestyle to us for sure,  but one that is just so normal to us, I think…”What is there to blog about?”.  But I know there is LOTS.  Lately, my realization of that has really broadened, and in the process, I have realized why I am not as active in this section. Which is crazy, because I so passionately love homeschooling my kids, and living this life I do with my family, that it hardly makes sense.  But I see now where it comes from, and I think I’ll be sharing those thoughts very soon too.

So stay tuned!!  This homeschooling section should be picking up steam, real soon!   You should know, we love comments and hearing from all of you! But if you are a homeschooling blogger as well, we especially encourage comments with your blog-linked names, so that we can visit your stories and shared, comment, and connect with you all as well. Our hope and goal is that we are all an inspiration and encouragement for each other, in raising and educating our children, as homeschoolers or not. homeschooling happens to be the route we have happily taken, with a deep love and passion for it. So our posts will derive from that life we live, as a homeschooling family.  But proving a great education, however any of us do, is the more common thread.  So thanks so much for stopping by, and please DO again!  God bless you all!

Gosh, I promise I’ll work harder on that brevity thing, too.

******




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Filed Under: Foreign Language, History / Social Studies, Homeschooling, Math, Middle School Homeschooling, Reading / Writing, Science, The Big Picture Tagged With: Catholic-blogs, Catholic-families, Catholic-homeschooling-family, Home Schooling, homeschooling, homeschooling-blog, Living-Faith-Kids, triplets

Now (Book) Reporting |Elementary Homeschooling

July 7, 2011 By Laura 7 Comments

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It’s always nice to have friends, who care about your kids in a sincere way, almost as much as you do.  Don’t you think? I have had a friend in particular like that, for 13 years now or so.   About half-way into our friendship, I began homeschooling our oldest, and at the time, only child. Eventually, we added 3 more students to our school, 😉 and are now transitioning into our 7th year of homeschooling . As of this post, the triplets are 9 years old and ~ 4th grade level.

My friend had 3 kids of her own, all close to my daughter’s age, adding a 4th along the way. She has also happened to be a teacher.  But somehow, all along, those two facts or common interests, have never really come together between us.  Until this year.  Oh, I may have, at times, happened to say something to her about our schooling, as a friend would in sharing what is happening in their life in girlfriend chit-chat. She in turn, has talked about her teaching, as a friend would in catching up as well.

Mind you, we are good friends, and see each other frequently enough. Our families get together here and there.  So it’s always apparent we care about each other & each others’ kids.  But I was especially impressed when on one day she came over this past winter, she brought something for my kids.

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A big bag full of books, for them to borrow!  She knew how much they loved to read, and perhaps I had mentioned to her how difficult it always is, to keep up with keeping new material around for them to read as well.  They devour them, tending to read every book 2-3 times, because they’ve read them all. And we can only hit the library so much, you know? With 4 kids who aren’t easy to remove from the library once we’re in, I think twice some days!  Oh the guilt. So, I was thrilled with this surprise delivery!  So were the kids, gathering around.

But wait….she had more….

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She then told them that she brought each of them their own journal, and she wanted them to write book reviews in it.  She kept the suggested format simple, and their excitement grew.  Because she’s not only a very qualified & passionate teacher who loves kids, but a mother too, she knew just the manner in which to communicate with them. Her presentation was exciting, and so they were inspired. I was smiling inside, a great big grin!

The very simple and casual format she suggested they use to write, following each book they read, was as follows:

  • Book Title
  • Author
  • Whether they liked the book or not, and why.
  • What their favorite part was, or what part they really did not like, and why.

She told them she really loved so many of these books herself, and she couldn’t wait to read all about what they thought of them.

And they were off! They couldn’t wait to get to work.

Now honestly, my kids need no encouragement to read, as you may have gathered by now. Writing, they actually don’t mind doing too much either. But I like them to write as much as possible.  Not for the sake of penmanship, but for the sake of formulating thoughts, organizing them, and putting them down on paper in a meaningful way. As a homeschooling educator, I strongly feel that developing strong writing skills is critical.  So needless to say….but I’ll say it anyway….This ‘surprise activity’ was one I thought was FABULOUS!

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On the other hand, some of the kids’ penmanship can always use more practice too! In the course of our school days, they have days where they print super-neat, and days when they don’t.  That depends on one thing: effort!  Sometimes, they are excited to express what they want to say, or are just in a hurry for whatever reason, so they just whip it out at lightening speed! So it comes out messy.  Some of them need to practice s l o w i n g  d o w n, and being a little more mindful of each letter (or number) they are forming. Other times, they are not focused enough on the use of space between the lines: being sure capitals go to the top, and lower case are around half the size of the upper case.  They need to practice adjusting their letter sizes, to the kind of paper they are writing on.

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But for their book reviewing, in these journals, the qualities of their penmanship, was not a factor that mattered to me to press at all. I mostly wanted them to focus on their thoughts about the story they read, and what they had to say about it. Keeping it a fun and leisure activity, was the approach our friend gave them, and I wanted to maintain that.  I had them for all of their schooling, to address the rest. And I sure do. 😉  Also, correct use of punctuation, spelling, indenting, paragraphs, proper grammar.  < I’m a freak about these things, Yo. >  😉 

I was amused to find a book in the pile,that brought back some fond memories for me …..

Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson.

My memories involving this book, make me smile.  When I was a kid, I started a new school, in 6th grade.  I had only gone to one other school, in my whole entire life. 😆  It was scary to start at a whole new school, with all new kids.  But I got a teacher that I not only loved, but my whole class loved.  Mrs. Curry made everything o.k.  She was petite, and pretty, with dark eyes and long black hair, and she had such a soft-spoken voice, with an accent….that was really fun(ny) to listen to.

And we got to listen to her a lot!  Because every afternoon, for a little while, she took off her shoes, climbed up on an empty student desktop and sat on it, facing us, with her bare feet on the chair, and she read to us.  I loved watching her read, and listening to her voice. Soon, however, we learned Mrs. Curry was going to have a baby.  We watched her belly grow, her walk turn into a cute waddle over the weeks, and how she started sliding up on to the desk with her big belly and arched back, rather than the way she so used to so casually just hop up there before.  She read us many books throughout that year.  But the only one I really remembered, was Bridge to Terabithia. I think the story line drew me in enough at one point, to make me forget about focusing so much on how nice Mrs. Curry was, that I was actually, truly listening.  Studying the book cover that faces us, as we listened, was another part of story time, for me.  I was an illustrator in the making, so the cover was almost everything.  If the cover was lousy, I’d probably never find out if the rest was good, because I wouldn’t bother reading it.  I don’t remember now, exactly what this book cover (of Bridge to Terabithia, that year in school) looked like, but I recall quite enough to know that it was different than this illustrated cover above, from the kid’s bag. The one from 6th grade had a brilliant yellow/orange/red color fade, and I believe a silhouette of kids on a bridge.

Or something similar.

Turns out, my own daughter (the girl triplet) loved this book best too….

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So strange to to think of it, too long.  As I do.

A full circle of sorts,  from my own grade school life, to my own childrens’, and this book.

My daughter’s book review reminded me of more of the story, than I originally remembered.  I think it effected her in a deep and sad way, as it probably did for me.  Maybe that’s why it is the book I remembered most?  Possibly. Disturbing things do tend to stick with me.  But tragedies are a part of life, and it’s likely best to start grasping that reality through books first, in our young lives, before we are faced with such difficult circumstances in real life.

Come to think of it, I think that was the last book Mrs. Curry read to us.  And perhaps it did prepare me for an imminent tragedy in my own life.  Well…through the perspective of a 6th grader, anyway. But not enough for me.

Mrs. Curry announced she was leaving.  To be at home with her baby on the way that summer.

I was devastated.  Sr. Cathy, who replaced her, was just o.k., on a really good day.  She was a far cry, from Mrs. Curry.

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Our oldest (14) got her own bag of books, being of an age that was suitable for more mature content.  She is a true, true book lover.  A collector already, I would say. In fact, maybe I should be sure she returns these books she took on loan from our friend, come to think of it. ; )

Along with her books, came this from our friend too……

This is a scan of just the front page. In reality, it is 9 pages, stapled together, full of writing prompts.

Wow.  No excuse for ‘Writer’s Block’ this time, huh?

(Gosh….maybe I should grab it, for my blogging! ; )  )

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As I said, with schooling, all 4 kids write a lot, anyway. It’s required in my school here.  Their reports for me are actually much longer than these brief book reviews they do.

But the point of these was to encourage both reading & writing, and keep it in the light of a leisure and enjoyable activity, that is always available to us throughout our lives.

To update you as to how they did with all of this : 

When the kids quickly made their way through the first bag of books, my friend picked it up, and brought another to replace the first. : )  As a multi-grade-level teacher over the years, she has en enormous collection of books, off the shelves of her various classrooms.  The younger kids read probably 95%, if not every book, she has brought, and they have written reviews for….far fewer than that.   They started off gung-ho with the writing part!  But it lost some fizzle along the way, as they jumped straight from one book to the next, to the 8th, to the 14th, in a matter of a week or 2, before I thought to casually ask if they were continuing journaling for each.  “No, not for all of them.  But some!!” And that’s ok, because again, there is plenty of writing not only in school, but willingly on their own for other things as well, such as personal journaling, poems, notes, copying (they do this for fun? lol…), recipes, and more. They have all read 100’s of books, besides this bag, as well, since February. They just blow through them.

So the book-reviewing in their journals is stop & go, giving random reviews in their journals along the way. But the book reading is non-stop, in their day-to-day life.  They play hard outdoors, and everywhere we go.  But they have always used reading as their way of resting.  I love that!

Oh the places they have been, and the places they will go, through the pages of a book.

I’m really so happy to have such a good friend, who deeply understands the joy of teaching and encouraging children in their learning process, and watching the rewards of their development in them, along the way.  It’s one more mutual appreciation, we can share now.

So I’ve shared all of this with you, for your consideration in getting your own little scholars a journal for some book reviewing, suggest the simple format above, or your own ideas, and see what they do with it.  You may just find you have new & entertaining reading for your own enjoyment!:  their reviews!

Happy Schooling!


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Filed Under: Elementary Homeschooling, Elementary Homeschooling READING, Homeschooling, Reading / Writing, The Big Picture Tagged With: Bridge to Terabithia, elementary-book-reporting, elementary-homeschooling, encouraging reading and writing with kids, homeschooling, kids-book-reports

Fun Word and Picture Puzzles: Building Important Skills | Elementary Homeschooling

January 10, 2011 By Laura 2 Comments

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I know I’ve blogged about puzzles before.  But, that was puzzles of a different kind.  I believe all of the studies, that all puzzles, are just good for our brain – young or old. (People, or puzzles, for that matter.)  They can help keep our brain active, quick, and sharp, and God knows I could use all of that. (Ask Him!)

So when a puzzle sort of exercise came up in my triplet 8 year olds’ Language book, we ran with it.  Puzzles come in many different forms.  Any exercise, of trying to figure something out, can be considered a puzzle, in my book. It’s the search in your head, for a solution – whether it be for a problem in life, a jigsaw, or 17 Across. Regardless, I love puzzles.  (OK, I actually do not love the jigsaw kind.  They are o.k. on occasion. )

As I was saying…..when a puzzle sort of exercise came up in…..uhhhh, my 3rd grade  Language Arts class ( <—solution! ; )… I was thrilled.  Because, puzzles are beneficial for the above stated reasons.  But these particular kind we came up to in our daily lessons, I saw how they had other benefits to offer, after accessing them.  Here’s in what other areas: Comprehension, and following directions, through reading words that direct one’s actions, is pretty important skills for our kids (yours and mine, collectively speaking), to develop.  Right?  Kids especially, need to have opportunities to develop these skills, to continue succeeding in their advancing education, eventually in the workforce of their choosing (if they want to keep their job), and naturally for everyday occurrences in the process of living.  That’s what these exercises, I called puzzles,  would help develop.   But…..it just-so-happens, they are FUN too!  And as I have always said, having fun is always the best way to learn!

So, without too much more chatter, I thought I would share with you first, the two puzzles my three 3rd graders did, show you their results following them, and then welcome you to print them off  for your kids to do, if they are in the appropriate age range, and would like to do them, too.  (But I have to tell you, I’d enjoy doing them myself. So if you are inclined to print them off for yourself, I won’t tell a soul. ; )

Puzzle ONE

1. Draw a circle.
2. Draw an upside down ice cream cone above and on top of the circle. ·
3. Draw a half circle on each side of the big circle.
4. Draw a U in the big circle.
5. Make two dots over the U.
6. Make one dot lower than the two dots, but above the U.
7. Make a circle on the point of the upside down ice cream cone.
8. Make a W under the big circle.
9. Color your picture!

WHAT AM I?

If directions were followed carefully, the drawing should look something like this:


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That is just one of my student’s puzzle solution /drawings, after following the directions.  Of course all 3 of them had similar results, with only slight variations.  But all were correct in terms of following the directions correctly.

* If you would like to print off the directions to this puzzle, just click on the link above named ‘Puzzle ONE’, or click here.  It is a downloadable  and printable Word document, if I did it right.

Here’s another:

Puzzle TWO

1. Draw a big circle.
2. On the left top of the circle, draw an upside down V.
3. On the right top of the circle, draw an upside down V.
4. Draw a big W inside the circle, near the bottom.
5. Above the center point of the W, draw an O.
6. Near the left side of the W, draw a V lying on its side with the point of the V toward the W.
7. Near the right side of the W, draw a V lying on it’s side with the point of the V toward the W.
8. Near the middle of the circle, draw two small circles beside each other.
9. Color your picture!

WHAT AM I?

Here’s the results of this puzzle, by one of my student kids:


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*Again, if you would like to print off the directions to this puzzle, just click on the link above named ‘Puzzle TWO’, or click here.  It is a down-loadable  and printable Word document, if I did it right.

The kids had such a good time doing these, that I thought I would  keep working with these puzzles a little more, but put their own writing skills to use.  In fact, I was reversing their role, from puzzle solver, to puzzle creator.   I gave them the assignment, of each writing their own puzzle directions.  Then later, they would have the opportunity, to solve each other’s puzzles the other 2 had written.  They loved the idea, and had a great time doing it!!

SO……I have their puzzles, that they wrote themselves, to offer you too! I am displaying them in this post, (as their handwritten papers, which I scanned) but their titles are down-loadable links for you too! Now this time the downloadable links are PDF documents, and they are just what you see below – handwritten by the kids.  Why?  Because I totally did not feel like typing them all over.  I think they are readable enough for you to figure out, and they have some endearing homemade character.  Especially, my spilled coffee stain, on {S}’s paper. ; )    Just keepin’ it real!


J’s puzzle

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O’s puzzle

 

fun-word-and-drawing-puzzles-for-elementary-age-kids-hoeschooling-4 –

S’s puzzle

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You and/or your kids,  may have more fun than you think you will, doing these puzzles.  If you do, I will take total credit for that. You may also have less fun, than you think.  That will not be my fault.  I am easily amused, and often presume everyone is as easily amused as I am.  : )

If you do download the kid’s puzzles, or follow them from the computer, YOU KNOW WHAT WOULD BE FUN?  (Or, you know, I think it would be…).  Letting us know the solution you came up with, for each kid’s puzzle!!  What does your drawing look like?  Let us know in the comments section below, afterward. Don’t worry.  We’ll tell you if you are wrong! ; )

Hope you enjoyed this post!  And hope you enjoy the puzzles too!!

Don’t sprain your brain, now! ; )



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Filed Under: Elementary Homeschooling, Games, Homeschooling, Reading / Writing Tagged With: building-comprehension-skills, building-following-directions-skills, educational-puzzles-for-kids, elementary-homeschooling, fun-activities-for-homeschooling, homeschooling, word-drawing-games, word-drawing-puzzles

The Joy of Reading – Elementary Homeschooling – 4 Recommended Chapter Books

November 1, 2009 By Laura 6 Comments

I thought we’d talk a bit today about elementary reading, for homeschooling kids or not. Last March I blogged about our then six year old triplets reading their first chapter book, Nicholas – A Massachusetts Tale.  Since then, they have continued to do lots and lots of reading, in the forms of shorter books, magazines, game directions, and what books their big sister has had in her gigantic collection for their age.   Since March though, our library trips have consisted of other exciting and urgent items on our reading or viewing list.  So just recently did we come around to getting back to the wonderful travels and tales of Nicholas, which is the series of books written by our local, gifted children’s author, Peter Arenstam.

Book One of the Nicholas series…. Nicholas – A Massachusetts Tale.

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Book Two of the Nicholas series…. Nicholas – A Maine Tale.

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The adventures and New England travels continue in Book Three, Nicholas – A New Hampshire Tale.

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….and there are yet still  more to the Nicholas series to request, and wait for that exciting phone message, ‘This is the library calling….the books you have requested are in, and we will hold them for you.    Please pick them up at your earliest convenience. “

We also picked up another charming children’s chapter book, Poppy and Ereth, by Brian Floca, which the kids found as much entertainment and amusement in.

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It’s easy to understand why!  Just the cover alone entices me enough to want to curl up on the couch with some cocoa, and read it…if I had time for such a thing this time of year.  Here is a description of the book, Poppy and Ereth.

Poppy, a deer mouse, and Ereth, a grumbling porcupine, have been the best of friends for as long as the animals of Dimwood Forest can remember. An unstoppable pair ever since they defeated the tyrannical owl, Mr. Ocax, Poppy and Ereth have enjoyed many happy adventures together. But when a swirl of bitter winter storms buries Dimwood Forest in snow and Poppy’s husband, Rye, dies suddenly, all Poppy wants is some privacy. “Dancing doorknobs,” Ereth mutters to no one in particular, “how can she not want to see me?” As he waddles back to his log, Ereth fears he may have lost his dear friend forever.

But Ereth has not lost Poppy, at least not yet. As the ground begins to thaw, life returns to Dimwood Forest and Poppy ventures out in search of excitement. Suddenly, swooped up by Luci the bat, Poppy is flying high over the forest and unexpectedly embarks on her greatest adventure. Meanwhile, Ereth, left to his own devices, manages to convince himself that Poppy has died and, as only the old porcupine can do, sets about to give her the best memorial service the forest has ever known.

The last episode of the Poppy stories, poppy and ereth is a rousing adventure befitting one of the great heroines of children’s literature as well as a final, heartwarming celebration of the life, love, and friendship of two most unlikely companions.

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There is a follow up book to this one, titled Poppy Returns.

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All 3 chapter books, were eagerly consumed, page by page, by all 3 of the little ones, even in time to be returned for their first due date!  No need to renew, because they were all done. Which says something, because with the Nicholas series being books by a local author, their regular ample time is not allowed for the books to be out!  Regardless, they really, really enjoyed not only reading them, but discussing the adventures of this charming mouse, the predicaments he finds himself in, and the friends he meets in his travels to reclaim his family’s journal.   Lots of chatter about Nicholas and his friends, as well as Poppy and Ereth.  It’s like having our own In-House Kid’s Book Club!!

I am all about kids getting lots (and lots) of exercising….running and jumping, swinging and swimming,  climbing and shooting (hoops, that is),…… but you’ll never hear me complain for a moment about a kid sitting around and reading for awhile either.  I am so glad our kids find SO MUCH JOY and THRILL OF ADVENTURE and wonderment, within the pages of books, the way they do.

These books are truly delightful reads, for any children, anywhere. But if you are from New England, as we are, they are all the more special. Wishing your children hours of enjoyment, lost in their vivid  imaginations through these beautiful and adventurous, fun-filled tales.

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Filed Under: Elementary Homeschooling, Elementary Homeschooling READING, Homeschooling, Reading / Writing Tagged With: author-Peter-Arenstam, elementary-books, elementary-reading, homeschooling, homeschooling-elementary, Nicholas A Massachusetts Tale, Nicholas-A-Maine-Tale, Nicholas-A-New-Hampshire, Poppy-and-Ereth, recommended-reading-books-for-New-England-elementary-kids

Elementary Writing Skills Development- Homeschooling

April 27, 2009 By Laura 4 Comments

Today’s topic of thoughts. WRITING.  More specifically, children’s elementary writing skills development.  If we need to take it one step further in this case…MY children’s writing. : )

pencils-erasers

As a home schooling Mama, I have to say that this vocation is one amazing journey.  Daily, really. Although some days are less smooth than others, they most always are very enjoyable for all of us, and collectively, absolutely REWARDING. I feel so blessed to not only teach my children, but witness them learning!

In the span of given time, they learn to write their name, and then little words, and then bigger words and then sentences.  They learn to read little words, and then bigger words, ……. little books and then bigger books. They learn to spell little words and then bigger words.  They learn about compound words, contractions, capitalization and punctuation, and a host of other little important things, and the proper times and places for them all.

And then one day, you witness all of these components come together, and it’s a beautiful day!  The angel choirs sing. The birds are all chirping in harmony. The sun gets brighter. Flowers dance. They are WRITING!  Really writing!  Telling stories of their own, peppered with their personality, on paper, with seemingly magic pencils.  And to Mama Teacher….they are beautiful, heart-warming, hilarious, brilliant little pieces of work………..

elementary homeschooling writing skills development

elementary homeschooling writing skills development

elementary homeschooling writing skills development

For context, these writing samples are my triplets, who are 6 years old.  Also, please note that they are required to write their whole first name. I just edited out because I don’t use their full names on this blog, while they are still this young.

The month before, they worked REALLY hard, for 2 or 3 days, writing their first animal report.  Honestly, when that assignment came up in their lessons, I thought “Oh dear.” I knew it was going to be a task, for 6 year old first graders. I wondered if they’d really be able to to do it, after only having written single sentences. But I wanted to be encouraging!  And it was a great opportunity to evaluate their capabilities and work ethic, at this point.

So they all chose their animals, and we got to researching some basic information on the computer, for each of them:  {J} chose dolphins, {O} yellow lab puppies (lol), and {S}humpback whales.  I printed out the information we found, and spent lots of time with each of them, reading and underlining the most important tidbits of information they may want to include in their reports. And then, before they got to writing their report, we talked about that all-important P word:  Plagiarism.  : )

elementary homeschooling writing skills development

elementary homeschooling writing skills development

elementary homeschooling writing skills development

elementary homeschooling writing skills development

elementary homeschooling writing skills development

What I really loved, was that they were enthusiastic about it, once they got going. They insisted on cutting out the images that were part of the info we printed out, and including them in their reports, by cutting and pasting them.  I thought this was an idea of their own….but turns out they were inspired by someone else-which I’ll talk about in a minute.

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elementary homeschooling writing skills development

elementary homeschooling writing skills development

I have to admit;  I have high standards and expectations – and I don’t think I could wrap my brain around just what a simple, simple animal report the lesson was probably really calling for them to do….as 6 year old first graders. Perhaps they were only expected to write a few sentences. But if you are reporting about the important factors of a particular animal, there are many facts that are equally as important about that animal, and therefore, omitting any of those facts could result in what appears to be an incomplete report. Right?  That would have been a lesson that did not serve the children well, come the next time they are expected to write  report. So, I may have ultimately pushed it a little. But in the end, they rose to the occasion, as they always do, when they are clear on the expectations of them. : )  And oh-how-proud they were of their papers.

Front sides…..

elementary homeschooling writing skills development

back sides….

elementary homeschooling writing skills development

Some days later, I realized where they got the incentive to paste these little images into their report. Granted, as already educated adults, we know that many times in-depth reports DO include photos or labeled diagrams of some kind. But I just wasn’t expecting them to do that yet, or to even know about that.  But, turns out, they had been paying close attention to their older sister (11), who had recently worked very hard for many days, on this report she voluntarily did on her favorite presidents.

She did it and submitted it to me as extra credit, because she had gotten a poor grade on a recent History test, and she was afraid it would really effect her overall grade. It was an excellent, and interesting, 7 page report.  The information she included for each of her favorite presidents were facts about them as a person,  such as:  the dates of their term of presidency, their political party, how many children they had, interesting tidbits events/actions they were known for, their former or latter occupations, and (something she always wants to know about people)….their religion denomination, if any, etc.

Back to the little ones, here’s another pay-off to these milestone days. Once they realize they are capable of these things, they want to do them all of the time!!   After {J, O & S} wrote their first story that day, that’s what they CHOSE to do right after school, for weeks, when their formal school day ended.  They would ask for paper, and write stories, filled with their imagination, or re-telling true stories they have lived.  They still do this, although more randomly. They continue to do it as an activity, because they find it FUN to express themselves.  To BE the story-teller. To make up characters, name them, make them look like anything they want, and have control over just what happens next in their story. And the best part….how the story ends.  It’s a downright exciting, being a story teller. Just ask my kids.  This is what happens, when you teach in a fun and encouraging way.

And for what it’s worth, I DO teach them that it’s “just not proper English to ever begin a sentence with the word AND.”

And they listen!  ; ) (I am personally of the mind-set, that once you know the rules, you can take creative liberty to break them! )

So, who knows, we may just be raising a bunch of authors over here. Among a zillion other possibilities we’ve seen glimpses of, in the course of their little lives. I guess we’ll have to see how that story ends, too.

The End.  : )

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Filed Under: Elementary Homeschooling, Elementary Homeschooling LANGUAGE ARTS, Homeschooling, Reading / Writing Tagged With: elementary-homeschooling-writing-skills-development, elementary-writing, elementary-writing-skills-development, encouraging-kids-to-write, homeschooling, kids-writing, kids-writing-reports, triplets, writing

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