homeschool mother's journal: [september.28.2012]

In my life this week. . .

I have been figuring out how to balance. Balance between our outside activities and schoolwork at home. Balance for me with time with the kids and things for me (like running). Figuring how we are going to add in Chinese lessons to this mix. And also piano. But we are eagerly anticipating a small break next week for the Chinese National holiday. Andy also has the week off, but we have decided not to travel. We are excited about a low-key week here in Suzhou with maybe a day-trip to Shanghai thrown in the mix.

In our homeschool this week. . .

We started our unit on whales in science. We are pondering going to the aquarium during our week off. Though Becca is lobbying to wait until later in the year when we know even more. How do you argue with such logic?! We also had our second week of our writing co-operative class. I can see already how this class is going to be great for both kids. And T enjoys the time playing with friends while the other two are having class.

Places we're going and people we're seeing. . .

Scouts have started! And homeschool co-op has kicked off. While I occasionally have a driver to take me to the other side of the city where most of our outside activities happen, I am usually a public-transportation-girl. Just for my sanity, we try to limit these activities to just two afternoons a week. Mainly because our commute is around 45 minutes each way! But we are so grateful to have other families that are also homeschooling here in our city that we will happily make that trek.

What's working/not working for us. . .

I found several similar forms online, but nothing was exactly what I wanted. In the end, I created this:

This is helping me to balance my time with each of the kids and for them to manage their own time for the day. Becca, my planner, still wants timetables for specific classes. I keep telling her that homeschool is not the same as school. She was struggling with that for a bit, but I think that this has helped her to feel in control of her days and plan her time the way she wants.

Things I've learned this week. . .

Because it is not just our kids doing the learning as we homeschool!

Sometimes in the midst of a busy time, I have the tendency to just plough through. It doesn't matter if I have too much on my plate or the kids are getting stressed. I want to press on and drag them with me. But this week, as we just had a crazy-busy time, I stepped back and let a few things go. Yes, it will be okay if we don't finish all of our math today.  It will be there for us tomorrow. So, in this first year of transitioning home, I am learning that while we do need to press on each day in our learning, somedays we need to just stop. And take a breath. That is reason #559 while I love homeschooling already.

I'm grateful for. . .

Friends who know me and have walked through life with me. I am thankful for Skype that helps me to keep connected with friends even after several moves. B, I am especially thankful for our weekly chats about anything and everything.

I'm praying for. . .

The next steps in our adoption journey. That each piece of this would come together at the right time. I know that I have not been talking much about it on the blog, but things are happening. I am excited to see how this journey unfolds in the coming months.

homeschool mother's journal: [september.14.2012]

In my life this week. . .

We got the additional papers that we needed for our USCIS approval and should be logged-in sometime this next month (which in adoption-speak means that we will soon be matched with a little boy). What a LONG process this has been.

We have also been glad to have Andy back. He travels back to Taiwan again at the beginning of October. But I am thankful that most of the time, it is normally just once a month that he is gone.

In our homeschool this week. . .

We finished up our first unit of science. We are all really enjoying the Apologia: Swimming Creatures of the 5th Day. I think my favorite was when T (my 6-year-old) described a photo with: The pretty blue fish is nektonic. Until we started this unit, I had no idea what nektonic means (a creature that swims is nektonic). I am learning to balance the time between history and science. In theory, we alternate days between the two subjects. But I find that if we start digging in one of the subjects, the next day the kids are still eager to continue, and then we neglect the other subject. How do you all handle this? I am going to experiment a little more and hopefully we will find the right balance.

Places we're going and people we're seeing. . .

For us, we have found that we really need to be home and have the concentrated time of schooling Tuesday-Thursday. I might go to the grocery store and take 1, 2, or all of the kiddos with me. But for the most part, we are homebound these days. Mondays we work at home in the mornings and then are starting a writing class next week on that afternoon and both girls have Girl Scouts a bit later on. Then on Fridays, we finish early and meet up with friends. But since all of these activities happen on the other side of the city, when we venture forth each of the kids packs a bag for our subway adventure.

Josh's bag always has either his Kindle or the book he is currently reading.

What's working/ not working for us. . .

While our Science is working for us, I am still figuring out history. This is the one subject where we don't have specific curriculum. We are listening to Story of the World and doing some of the activity pages. I am also assigning some extra work for Josh and Becca to learn more about people or things related to SOTW. But while we are doing some interesting things, I am still feeling my way.

I'm cooking. . .

SOUP!

With the weather turning just a little bit cooler (by cooler I mean that our high is only in the low 80s and at night we might even cool off to the low 70s), I have been in the mood for soup. This week I have made black bean soup with homemade salsa, red beans and rice, and chicken tortilla soup. I am craving pumpkin soup as well as potato leek soup, so I am sure that those will make it on our menu sometime soon.

I'm thankful. . .

that our kids are enjoying the transition to homeschooling. I wondered how our older two who spent years in the international school would do as we made the change. There are some bumps in our days, but overall they are enjoying our time. I just love seeing them light up and get excited about what we are learning. They are confirming to me that we made the right choice in bringing them home.

I'm praying for. . .

each of our children (including the one we are in the process of adding to our family) to know and serve God. For them to have a deep love of learning.

Hope that you each had a wonderful week!

homeschool mother's journal: [september.7.2012]

In my life this week. . .

Andy was in Taiwan. I do not get stressed about his travels, but there is a different rhythm in our house when he is gone. Our meals are a bit less structured. We will have pancakes at least once for dinner. But we are so glad that he is coming back tonight!

In our homeschool this week. . .

We completed our first full-week! I am still thinking through our schedule, but I have figured some things out in this time. I am getting an idea of how much time we need for various subjects. But I am also learning a lot about each of my children -- how they each learn, what their favorite activities are, and what is a challenge for them. I know that I will be learning so much about them this year.

Places we're going and people we're seeing. . .

We had some friends come see us as we mamas sat and planned a writing co-op class. We took the subway to the other side of the city to visit friends who just returned from the US and are also starting this homeschooling journey with us.

My favorite things this week. . .

I shared this in my last post, but I cannot tell you how much I am loving having Becca and Josh read to little T. Josh in particular, is so animated and engaging as he reads.

Questions/thoughts I have. . .

I wonder if our math curriculum is challenging enough. But realizing that I probably need to stop stressing about this one.

Things I'm working on. . .

Getting the last of the unpacking done. Everything is out of the suitcases, and the luggage is back on the shelves. But still there are a few piles lurking. I have been trying to tackle one pile a day, but we brought back a LOT of stuff!

I'm grateful for. . .

the homeschooling community here in Suzhou. No, it is nowhere near what you would find in many places in the US, but we have a community. And that is huge. I just know that they will be a blessing to our family this year.

A photo, video, link, or thought to share. . .

I just love this photo of the graph that T and I needed to do for her math. We needed to walk around our neighborhood and see what modes of transportation we found and graph it. The suggested categories were: truck, bike, and car. Hmm, didn't think that truck was going to be realistic, so Tori and I decided to look for China-appropriate-transportation: e-bikes (electric bike), bikes, and cars. The results were not that surprising. Only 3 cars were on our street while we found 6 e-bikes and 8 bicycles. How fitting for China! ☺

Join me with other homeschooling mamas as we reflect on life and our week of homeschool.

homeschooling

In so many ways, I am not a planner. There are piles all over our house. I know they drive Andy crazy. But babe, as the years progress while it is true the number of piles in our house has decreased, I don't think they will ever go away. Sorry dear. But then in other areas, I am crazy-organized. Andy calls it selective organization. Homeschool is fortunately one of those organized areas. When I was imagining how things would go as we returned to China, I wanted a week or so to recover from jet lag, unpack, and just organize my space. A trip to IKEA needed to happen. So I thought, we would get back and then start the 3rd of September. But do you know what I didn't count on?

That the kids would want to start early.

Truly, they all began talking about it after we had been back only a few days. And Becca in particular started lobbying to start sometime last week. I made a deal with them that if they helped me get organized then we would start on Wednesday. Then I was shocked by how willing they were to help. Who are these children!? Because my children generally will find just about anything else to do rather than help me organize. Can you believe the draw of starting school was such an incentive?

We started on Wednesday with just math and literacy (aka language arts). Each day we have added a little bit so that our schedule is starting to look like it normally might. And of course I am already thinking of the ways I want to change things. But they are subtle things that won't really change the big picture, and hopefully will just make things run smoother.

Things I am liking.....

How engaged each of the kids are. I feel like I can see the knowledge and joy of learning just soak into them. While I am sure that some of the newness of this will lose a bit of its luster, I hope that we can keep the passion for learning going.

Reading to T. Before starting, I researched how things would look homeschooling more than one child at various levels. And a friend suggested something that she does: having older children read aloud to a younger sib. I must say that it is an all-around win. The older child gets some "easy" reading. Tori gets read several books a day. They enjoy time together. I have time to work one-on-one with someone. Don't you love when things work like that?

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Challenges

Leaving the house. We didn't leave the neighborhood today. And come to think of it, we didn't yesterday either. I am still figuring out how looks to fit in my grocery shopping and other things in with our schooling time. While I know that we are here and diligently working each morning, our afternoons are going to offer a bit more flux. Unfortunately, because our fridge is tiny, I really need to shop every 2-3 days. I have hopes to turn these trips into outings and have B and J planning some meals, but right now I just want to establish the core things first.

T wants a playmate. This one is going to be my challenge all year long. As a first grader, she just doesn't have as much work that she needs to accomplish as the older two. Being the extreme social creature that she is, if she isn't working she wants at least one other person to not be working as well. Unfortunately, there are no other homeschooling families in our neighborhood. So far, Becca and Josh have told T to stop bothering them several times each day. Still pondering the best way to keep her active and yet away from the other 2!

Curriculum. Let me first say, that overall that we are really enjoying our curriculum. But I had a moment of panic when I started working with B on her math. Because for several days in a row, she was complaining how easy it was. Even J, who is not as strong in math, said that it was fairly easy.  I kept thinking, I lugged these huge books all the way here and now they are not the right the level!? AGH! But after further investigation, things later in the book will pose more of a challenge. But overall, curriculum is a challenge living on the other side of the world. I can't just change my mind. Or decide that I want to add something. Unless I can find it in pdf format, what we have is what we will use until we go back to the US. 

But just 5 days in, and things are going really well. We have some exciting things on the horizon. Several exciting trips. Girl scouts and boy scouts will start. We will be participating in a writing class with several other families. I love that I can just see that this is where our family and kids are supposed to be. ♥