Fidgeting drives me nuts.

I’m just going to be honest and throw that out there.

When Drama Queen was learning how to read and she was sitting on my lap, she wiggled like something crazy and it drove me batty! I wanted her to sit still because I can’t focus like that — but she NEEDS to wiggle! After I figured that out I had her sit next to me instead of on my lap and we were able to work that out.

It’s already obvious that Little Prince needs to keep his hands busy while he listens. He doesn’t sit still well either. Sometimes he just hops up and runs to his room to get another car or action fiure! That also drives me batty. He’s so funny, though. I’ll call him back and he’ll call out, “I’m listening!” As if to say, “Keep going, I’ll be right back.” Most of the time he doesn’t look like he’s listening either, and sometimes I get a little frustrated. I’m quickly finding out that he really IS listening more than he looks like he is. Most of the time he has more answers than the girls do.

It’s crazy for me to think about because I like people to LOOK at me when I’m teaching or giving some instructions. When I’m imparting something important I need to make eye to eye contact. But my son can barely make eye contact and to connect with him you really need to hold his hand or touch his arm. Drama Queen needs to be told to listen carefully and repeat it back. Princess is most like me, making eye contact, confirming what I want her to do and running off. She doesn’t like distracting noises or movements when she’s learning, either. She has her own set of challenges though. She does get bored sometimes and sometimes I catch her drifting off into space daydreaming. That doesn’t really go with this post, though. ; ) Point is, it was really hard at first for me to see what my youngest two needed and to see their fidgeting and wiggling as something other than disobeying and not paying attention.

So my frustration with it is getting better as I try to keep it in perspective and just make sure that they’re still listening. But I do want to have at least a FEW ground rules. You know..like no hopping up and running off in the middle of the reading. I haven’t actually laid out any “rule” rules, it’s more like I’m trying to pay attention and guide them into appropriate behavior. In addition, I’m trying to work WITH their needs so that I get less frustrated – like sending Little Prince to go pick out a few action figures and come take a seat on the floor in front of me before I start reading history.

One more thing I’ve been thinking about doing is creating a little box of THINGS… quiet things… that they can pick from while I’m reading. Notsomuch during math but I read science, history and bible worldview aloud. Things for keeping hands busy, things with textures and movement and even things for visual interest to not leave Princess out. It’s a thought. I’m wondering if anyone else has tried something like this?

Fidgeting during lessons is just BOUND to happen I suppose. Maybe it’s during math for one kid and while listening for another but all kids are bound to get bored and fidget at some point. I suppose it’s probably how we handle it, and how we teach them to handle it, that matters the most — don’t you think?

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This post is a part of the ABC’s of Homeschooling series by Dawn @ The Momma Knows. You can find all of my ABC posts here.

Wow! I received LOTS of feedback and suggestions for “E” words on my Facebook page. Thanks, y’all rock! (If you need ideas that’s the place to look!)

I try to pick a word that’s very relevant to the way we do school, or at least to where we are at that point in time. Today I chose “Extra Math Practice.”

There are a handful of common concerns among homeschooling moms, regardless of their methods and goals. One of those, almost universally, is math.

Math (and grammar/writing) is so fundamentally important, can be difficult to grasp, is often greatly affected by learning style and interest, and one of the biggest things homeschoolers will be judged on. It’s true. Raise your hand if you’ve ever had a friend or relative tell you they were concerned that “Little Johnny” couldn’t do math in his head fast enough or that “Susie” was still trying to count on her fingers? Or, raise your hand if you’ve ever suffered thoughts like these:

“Am I teaching it well enough?”

“Do they understand it well enough?”

“Are they fast enough? Proficient enough? Correct enough? Strong enough?”

“Are they ‘behind?’ Do they need more work?”

Yes. Many of us homeschool moms do allow these fretful thoughts to take over on occasion. I try not to fret too much and just stay suitably aware instead. Being concerned about these things is not a sign of weakness or insufficiency (well, there’s something to be said for OVER worrying or caring what others think…) but instead it’s a sign of a present and concerned mother who wants the best for her kids.

Believe it or not, it can be hard to express concern sometimes,.. afraid that naysayers will take the opportunity to accuse a homeschool mom of slacking off or failing. It is OK to say, “You know, I think my kids may need some extra math practice, to brush up on their skills and gain some proficiency.” All kids don’t grasp all concepts at the same pace. ALL kids CAN benefit from some extra math practice, I’m just sayin.

All that said,.. we’re at that point now.

Right-brained, artistic, visual, Princess has always struggled a little with memorizing math facts. She has NEVER been great at doing math in her head quickly. As we’ve worked with her I’ve seen great improvements with her memory recall and even some improvement with her mental math speed. Though to be honest, I don’t care about her mental math speed. She’ll get it, it just takes longer. If you want the answer faster hand her a pencil and piece of paper. She’s VISUAL. It’s how she’s made. But as she’s getting ready to embark on Pre-Algebra, the time has come to make sure that she’s prepared and that her math facts are strong and her memory recall is good.

Talkative, energetic, short-attention-span, Drama Queen is at that 2nd/3rd grade pivotal point where they’ve just gotten the hang of addition and subtraction and now you’re adding multiplication into the mix and there’s so much going on at one time. Her math curriculum in particular takes a spiraling approach and is a bit challenging. For some reason Drama Queen has been resisting memorizing skip counting, number patterns and times tables. (Say what? She’s auditory and talkative! What’s up?) She’s been relying on adding in her head. And since she can, and she’s faster at that that Princess, she can fool you for a while… until you get to those bigger numbers. And then “Aha!” Houston, we have a problem. We definitely need to make sure that she’s remembering how to skip count and learning how to recognize and remember math facts without adding them in her head!

Boisterous, class clown, hands on, Little Prince is learning how to add. The little stinker has been doing it without my permission. He somehow learned how to count to 100 when I wasn’t looking, too. But with Little Prince I see an opportunity. And an admonition. I have an opportunity to give him good math facts habits from an early age. As he observes his older sisters practicing and participates with us, he can get pick up some good habits. But I also need to be careful that his seeming affinity for math doesn’t throw me off and I don’t let him slide by too unchallenged. If math is something he’s good at and interested in then I need to make sure his brain is getting the challenge and excitement it needs. He’s only 5, soon to be 6, I’m not talking about pulling out Algebra. But if he’s ready to do “big kid” adding and subtracting there’s no reason he can’t!

So I knew going into this school year that math was something that I wanted to provide a little extra practice for regularly. How do I do that?

Here’s a few of our favorite resources, and a few new ones that we’re really loving.

~ Family Math – math games for the whole family. The 5 year old gets in on this, too. We’ve done a few of them.

~ Kumon workbooks (we have Multiplication One and Two for the girls. I have them in sheet protectors for use with dry erase markers.)

~  Timez Attack – we have the full version. I’m planning on buying the Divison version soon. AND.. they’ll be coming out with Addition and Subtraction versions very soon! The 5 year old TRIES to do this, I let him play at it til he gets frustrated. An addition version for him would AWESOME.

~ Math Wrap Ups – We just got these! Love these! The 5 year old is learning/practicing with the addition set. The 8 year old is doing everything but division and the 11 year old is practicing all of them.

~ Khan Academy – has been helpful for Princess a few times, watching them go through and explain things differently than I do. ; )

~ Right Brain Math –  Hubby bought this for Princess,… we only just started using it, but it really does demonstrate the visual patterns of multiplication and Princess seems to like that. I’ll keep you posted.

~ Math Missions CD-Rom, Grades 3-5 – Racing to save Spectacle City, kids practice “real world math,” using addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, decimals, weights and measurements, time,… it’s got everything, the kids love it, and I’m just heartbroken that ours is too old to work with the computer we have this year. I NEED to replace this!  I was wrong! This is one of the few cd-roms that actually still works! Drama Queen proved me wrong and popped it in yesterday. Check her “celebrating” getting an answer right by spinning the chair around and waiving #1 fingers in the air. Yes, she’s dressed like an Indian. Tiger Lily to be exact. (P.S… while I was looking on Amazon I saw there’s a K-2nd version. Ooh! I want it!)

I’m also hoping to purchase Times Tales and the DVD at some point this year… I hear good things about it and I like to hit all of the learning style bases. =)

What do you use for a little bit of extra math practice? How do you fit it in and make it fun, too?

This is a part of the ABC’s of Homeschooling series hosted by Dawn @ The Momma Knows. You can find all of my previous ABC posts here.

Oh, Netflix. I adore Netflix (even after the price hike – we use it enough we’re still getting a good deal.)

One of the many things we watch on Netflix are documentaries. I adore documentaries. So do my kids. Mostly.

We use documentaries to supplement in areas we’re already learning about, learn about new things we’re just curious about, or my favorite-for educational “entertainment” on teacher sick days. Yes. You heard that right. Having a sick day? Pick out a documentary. Everyone find a cushion, open your ears, clothes your mouths and enjoy!

Documentaries can be a bit tricky though… you never know when you’re going to end up with a total dud. But mostly they’re good. We’re only on Week 8 of school but we’ve already watched many this year. Here’s a list of some of the things we’ve watched (or have in our queue, I’ll mark them.)

Science & Nature Documentaries

Saving the Ocean: Shark Reef

Secrets Beneath the Ice: Nova

National Geographic: Seas Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure

Deadly Dozen (A series of episodes about the deadliest animals on each continent.)

The Vanishing of the Bees (I’ve watched it, it’s in our queue for the kids to watch.)

Tornado Intercept (In the queue.)

National Geographic: Incredible Human Machine (I’ve watched it, it’s in the queue for the kids.)

Coral Reef Adventure (In the queue.)

400 Years of the Telescope (In the queue.)

Disney Nature: Oceans (In the queue.)

God of Wonders (In the queue.)

Historical Documentaries

National Geographic: Lewis & Clark: Great Journey West

America: The Story of  Us

National Geographic: Jamestown

The Great Ships: The Pirate Ships

China’s Terracotta Warriors

Greeks: Crucible of Civilization (In the queue.)

National Geographic: Alexander the Great (In the queue.)

Wild China (In the queue.)

Discover Atlas: China Revealed (In the queue.)

Ancient Mysteries: Forbidden City -Dynasty & Destiny (In the queue.)

The Revolution (In the queue.)

Biographical Documentaries

George Washington: American Revolutionary

In Search of Beethoven (In the queue.)

Marco Polo (In the queue.)

Here I Stand: Martin Luther (In the queue.)

History’s Mysteries: Lincoln: The Untold Stories (In the queue.)

The Lincoln Assassination (In the queue.)

Paul Revere: The Midnight Rider (In the queue.)

Previously Watched in 2011:

National Geographic: Secret Yosemite

The March of the Penguins

National Geographic: Ultimate Cat

The Blue Planet: Seas of Life: Ocean World/Frozen Seas

The Blue Planet: Seas of Life: Open Oceans/The Deep

The Blue Planet: Seas of Life: Seasonal Seas/ Coral Seas

The Blue Planet: Seas of Life: Tidal Seas/Coasts

The Natural History of the Chicken

Incredible Creatures that Defy Evolution

Science of Dogs

Atlas: Uncovering Earth: Atlantis

Esther: The Bible

National Geographic: Great Pyramid

National Geographic: Egypt: Pharoahs

As you can see, we really use Netflix to our advantage. Our favorites are clearly science and nature related – Little Prince will choose shows about animals without any prompting whatsoever – Deadly Dozen is one of his favorites! We also do like some history (though the kids are generally more skeptical of those because we’ve seen a few dry and boring ones!) We also like to watch shows that show you how things are made or work or done, like How It’s Made, Storm Chasers or Dirty Jobs. We’re either very curious over here or we just like to know many things to be know-it-alls.

Documentaries.

Don’t knock’em ’til you’ve tried’em. ; )

This is a part of the ABC’s of Homeschooling series by Dawn @ The Momma Knows. You can find all of my ABC posts here.

So if you haven’t noticed already, I have a thing for books. I’m building our library with good supplemental and living books to keep on hand. Having kids from age 5 – 11, here’s a list of anatomy and health related books for my library. I’ve marked the books that we have already and the others are books that I hope to add to our library soon.

The Kingfisher First Human Body Encyclopedia (Kingfisher First Reference) (We have this one already. My 5 year old science guy goes through it again and again and again!)

Inside Your Outside: All About the Human Body (Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library)

Oh the Things You Can Do That Are Good for You!: All About Staying Healthy (Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library) We have this one, too. It’s a good one. Oh yes, and it does mention exercise. Ouch, my toes.

Eat Healthy, Feel Great (And we also have this one, too. I figure while we’re studying the human body it’s a good time to talk about good nutrition to fuel it!) =)

Good Enough to Eat: A Kid’s Guide to Food and Nutrition

Supermarket

The Healthiest Kid in the Neighborhood: Ten Ways to Get Your Family on the Right Nutritional Track (Sears Parenting Library)

Last weekend I had the distinct pleasure of attending Apologia Live in Austin. They had invited me (and a few other bloggers) to come attend so that we could come back and let you all know just how stinkin’ awesome it is.

Okay, they didn’t say that but I will. ; ) It was just so good.

Back Row: Rachel Carmen, Katie from Boasting in My Weakness, Myself // Front Row: Liz Corson, Jennifer from the Kindle Crew, Christy from Devotion Mama, Heather from Sprittibee // Photo: Christy's cellphone!

Apologia Live is neither a conference nor a retreat,…it’s a little bit of both combined. The Apologia Live team ministers to, worships with, encourages, prays over and comes alongside homeschool moms. From talking to these women and listening to them speak, I see that they truly have a heart for homeschool moms. Their passion for homeschooling and their love of God also comes through when you listen to them speak.

Panel Discussion with all the speakers: Rachel Carmen, Anne MacCallum, Debra Bell, Zan Tyler, Heidi St. John, and Elizabeth Smith

What can you expect if you attend an Apologia Live retreat? First, you can expect chocolate! I don’t know if all the retreats get that much chocolate or if ours did because it was so small. (Seriously, Y’ALL… we gotta get the word out for next year to have a bigger turnout! EVEN if it means less chocolate!)

Chocolate!

More chocolate.

And more chocolate!!

Secondly, you can expect encouraging speakers, lots of worship time and plenty of time for prayer. Rachel Carmen (wife of Apologia President, Davis Carmen) says: We spend a lot of time talking about how much we need to pray for our children and our homeschool… she wanted to make sure that this retreat actually gave moms time to pray, really pray. With two built in prayer times, I’d say Rachel’s goal has been well met. I came home with two pages full of things to pray for – both things to thank God for and things to give to God. In fact, I came home with so many pages of notes that I need to write a separate post about all the things that I learned, all the things that God spoke to my heart about while I was there.

One of the multiple worship sessions led by Anne MacCallum

Another thing you can expect is a refreshing little mini getaway! If you go with friends or family (and I hope you do) you’ll be able to enjoy a night away from home, in a nice little hotel, fellowshipping with friends (and maybe even some new friends that you make while you’re there,) enjoying food that you don’t have to cook and sleeping in a bed that you don’t have to make. =) It was nice to get away for a night. It was good to spend time with the blogging friends at my table, and the sweet homeschooling mom and her mother who sat at our table with us. I thoroughly enjoyed each speaker, every worship time and both prayer times. I ate so much food! I came back mentally, spiritually, emotionally and physically full! What a blessing it was to be able to go.

Breakfast and Blogging. = )

And I’ll tell you what you won’t expect. You might not expect to connect with other homeschool moms whom you’ve never met but if you take the opportunity you can! You may not expect to get so much out of such a short retreat but believe me, you will! You might not expect to feel so immediately comfortable listening to the speakers, but God has blessed them — and you will! You may not expect to like to the worship and prayer time but if you pretend that nobody is there and watching and just relax in God and let Him work in your heart, you will.

See? Don't I look all relaxed and refreshed? Well, except that I'm wincing because the flash on my cell phone is SO BRIGHT!

And these are all the reasons that the Apologia Live Retreat was just so stinking awesome. These ladies really blessed me, and I’m sure I wasn’t the only one. If you have the opportunity to attend one of the remaining Live retreats this year, or if you can plan to attend one next year, I truly recommend it.

In fact, all of these pictures are taken with my cell phone (that’s why the quality is low on some of them.) I’m really sorry about that. But since my camera is acting up I sometimes have to mess with it and mess with it to get it to take a picture. The truth is that the retreat was SO full, SO good, SO interesting.. I didn’t want to stop to mess with my camera. I didn’t even pull it out. I just didn’t want to miss a thing. = )

Additional Links:

Apologia Live

Boasting In My Weakness

Devotion Mama

The Kindle Crew

Cookie! Ok, not really. (Well, it is but I’m not Cookie Monster, so, moving on…)

At first I thought I would talk about “character training.” We have had some really great discussions, and I mean really GREAT ones, coming out of our character “classes.” For Instruction in Righteousness has proved to be a valuable tool for topically finding bible verses for whichever character trait we are studying. But then… I realized that I pretty much already covered this when I talked about “Virtues” back on the letter V. Well, snap!

I suppose I could just discuss “conversation,” about how important it is to have good, real, deep conversation with your kids. I’d basically be “talking about talking” and well, I talk so much someone who knows me in real life is sure to make a joke about that. = p It is, by the way. Conversation, I mean. Really important. Really.

Of course one of the first things I thought of was COFFEE. I mean, Coffee gets me through my homeschool day! That, and God. “God and coffee. Carrying homeschool moms everywhere.”

Hmmm….

Aha! A lightbulb moment.

CONVICTION.

C is for CONVICTION.

Because you know what, Mommas?? Homeschooling is hard work. Don’t let anyone tell you it isn’t. And let me also tell you that there are lots of dropouts. Why is that? It gets too hard. They aren’t convinced they’re good enough to teach. They catch flack from friends and family. The state regulations are too demanding. They get overwhelmed trying to teach multiple grades, or have babies and homeschool, or take care of chores and math at the same time, or whatever.

And getting through all that hard stuff, besides God and coffee, requires CONVICTION.

“I’m going to push through all of this hard stuff come rain, sleet or snow because everything worth doing takes hard work and it’s worth it.”

“I’m going to learn what I need to learn and practice getting better at what I need to get better at because my kids are worth it.”

“I’m going to keep my head up and press on in spite of criticism because the end result is worth it.”

“I’m going to keep up with state regulations, take mental health breaks, teach the kids to pitch in, delegate and get help where I need it and do whatever I have to do because this is what we’ve decided to do and seeing it through will all be worth it!”

Conviction. “A fixed or firmly held belief, opinion, etc.”

Coffee, God, and CONVICTION carry me through my day. What about you?

This is a part of the ABC’s of Homeschooling by Dawn @ The Momma Knows.