Often, I have people ask me what we do for school. Usually, when someone asks me that, what they really would like to know is what curriculum I use, what kind of schedule do I keep, what kind of hours do we "school" - that sort of thing. When you ask me that question, be prepared to hear anything but what you were expecting.
We start school around 9:00 each morning - that is, if Baby Girl and Little Sister are cooperating at that moment. Then, we work until lunch. Well, we do have to stop for Little Sister to go potty, get a drink, turn on her movie. Then there are the stops for any phone calls I get that interrupt. And most work stops when Baby Girl wakes up from her nap, because she thinks the world revolves around her and her stomach. There are also interruptions due to low blood sugar (generally right as we're getting ready to start spelling), so we need to stop and have a quick snack.
In the afternoon, we work around the two little one's naps, and we try to actually get a little more accomplished. But more often than not, I find I MUST take a short nap in order to make it through until bedtime, because the baby rarely sleeps more than about three hours at a time at night. So we stop for quiet time, and by the time I get back to them, the baby is crying and ready to get up from her nap. Some quick schooling before time to fix supper, and then we're stopped again for a couple of hours of eating and clean-up. Usually, dad is home in the evenings, so we try to spend time with him, or at least wind down from the day and begin bedtime chores - like pajamas, potty, book, blood sugar check, snack. Before you know it, the day is gone. What happened to all my time?
So how, you may ask, do I get ANYTHING done with the kids by way of learning, when our schedule is start-stop-start-stop-start-stop. I'm so glad you asked! With our crazy "kid-friendly" schedule, we need something that works FOR us, and not AGAINST us.
First, I want to point out something very obvious, but something that most people miss completely. School is not an 8am-3pm deal. Life is school, and school is life! Every day, all day, your children are learning. They are learning as they are going about their day - that is, if you take the time to teach them as you go about YOUR day!
My children help me cook, at which time I teach them math as we learn fractions and doubling recipes, chemistry as we watch what happens with baking soda or yeast, and home economics as we plan meals that are healthy, inexpensive, and will feed everyone. As we are taking care of Baby Girl, we are teaching parenting skills and child care. When we grocery shop, I teach my children budgeting skills, basic math, nutrition, government business - by way of taxes (a real shocker for my kids when they first learned they had to pay taxes!!) - and people skills as they speak to the cashier and pay for their own items. Every time we go to the park, we are learning nature science while walking the trails and looking at the flowers and pond, and as we visit the zoo, we learn animal science while talking about each animals characteristics, eating habits, habitat, and whatever else. As we go together out to our garden to prepare our raised beds and plant our seeds, the kids learn earth science as they watch and study ladybugs and earthworms, nutrition as they are planning what we will be eating in a few weeks, math as they calculate how much needs to be planted to feed all of us, and physical activity.
We talk about everything we do. We talk while we are doing each activity in our day, and I tell them the hows and the whys about every part of it. I want my children to understand the real life reason for learning what we learn. I don't want them to think that school is punishment that I make them do each day. I don't want them to be forced to sit at a textbook for six hours just to think that the reason for doing it was simply to fill up a notebook. I want them to be allowed to use their imaginations and be creative in every aspect of learning. I don't want them to be boxed in by a curriculum that tells exactly what they are to learn and when. Which brings me to another part of our schooling.
We are very eclectic! What that means is this. I pull from many sources, take what I want to use, and leave the rest. We have no textbooks - at all. If I were to try to have my kids finish a textbook in a year, I would absolutely pull my hair out from stress! But I do spend quite a bit of time at the library and on my computer. I decide what it is that I want my children to learn, and I go to work finding books that fit my criteria for learning that subject. Then I find a way to incorporate it into our day and our life.
I do lapbooks with some of our learnings, which is nothing more than a scrapbook of your child's work. Also, I have three-ring binders for each child and each subject for notebooking. Notebooking is simply doing a page on a subject, three hole punching it, and adding it to your three-ring binder. With either of these methods, you are free to add any amount of information you like. Do only one page if you just want to touch on a subject, or go much more in depth and have lots of pages to add to your notebook or lapbook. I like both ways equally as well. The reason for doing this is, not to be bound to a book, but to simply have a way to keep your child's work and have something for them to look back on and see what they accomplished. No, we don't only TALK about the things we are learning about, but we do lots of activities with each thing! One thing I DON'T do is busy work. I don't bore my children with worksheets of problems just to give them something to do so we can say we filled out a page today. But we do many fun, interactive, creative, complex projects that give them lots of hands-on time with what we're learning.
Now, I'll bet right about now you're thinking that you wished you hadn't asked me how we school after all! You're probably more confused now than if you had just continued to wonder. Not too many people school like we do. There are many who are afraid to go without worksheets, workbooks, and textbooks. They need the structure of what someone else has already put together. And then there are others who simply think that the way we school just isn't school in the first place. And I would say this to you. For those who are afraid to step out of the norm, you can do it! It can be done, and it can be done well. But it all depends on your level of dedication to teaching your children every minute of every day in every detail of life. And for those of you who think it's not really school, I would invite you to spend a few hours with my children. You will walk away amazed at the things they know - things that most children their age would never even be exposed to. Because of the way we school, I have time to spend with each one of them individually learning things that most books don't have the pages enough to cover.
Life is school, and school is life. Go live it!
Monday, September 14, 2009
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Five Red Apples
The kids and I have been hard at work with our homeschooling these past few weeks. Britches an My Man are learning tons of things and having a great time doing it! But...
Lately, I have had a time with Little Sister, because she is always asking to play with My Man and Britches. I send her to go play or watch PBS Kids, but in no time, she's back under our feet. After sending her away several times, I begin to feel really guilty that she is all alone in there and we're having all the fun. But she's just not old enough to do what the older ones are working on.
But she IS old enough to do her own "school." So I dug into my memories of days gone by, and began to think of the things I did with the oldest 2 when they were her age. When they were small, we did all kinds of learning together, and we had so much fun with it all! One of the things I did a lot of were lapbooks. It was always something Britches and My Man liked, so I decided to start one with Little Sister.
Lapbooks are really nothing more than scrapbooks that are put together using your child's school work. My friend, who originally introduced me to lapbooking, is EXTREMELY creative with her kids lapbooks. But being the un-creative person I am, mine usually stay pretty simple. The point is, if you're a creative and crafty person, make it more elaborate. But if you're like me, keep it simple. The point is to have a cool place to store your child's work, so you aren't just stuffing it in a box in the top of a closet somewhere. Also, it is something tangible that your child can pull out any time, look at it, and remember the things they learned.
So I told Little Sister one morning that she and I were going to learn all about apples. (Amazingly, my 2 oldest - who think she is a "baby" - stopped what they were doing and wanted to participate. I told them they were out of luck. This was our project, and they were working on the project they needed to finish that was more age appropriate for them!) Little Sister was so excited. I didn't send her to go play by herself, and I didn't sit her in front of the TV, so I was pretty excited myself. Here are some pictures of our fun.
To begin a lapbook, you need one manilla folder, legal or letter size depending on how much stuff you have and how big you want it, and in any color. We used a letter size red folder. Open it up flat on a table. Then, fold each side in to the center. Use a ruler to crease the folds. You now have a folder that looks like 2 shutters opening. This is your book. Then you can begin the fun stuff!
First, she colored a picture of an apple with a worn in it. If you notice, she decided to color the worm with 3 colors at once. Very pretty. I helped some, because she wanted me to, but I tried to get her to do most of it. I wanted it to be HER work.
We made a game that I printed off a web site that I came across. It was called "Five Red Apples." I used contact paper on the game pieces, so, as she was playing with them, they wouldn't get bent or torn. Then I let her glue the tree to the back of our book. She had so much fun playing this game over and over and over.
I glued the poem inside on the top left hand side, and I made a pocket to hold the game pieces under the poem. The pocket was made out of a piece of card stock that was held on with packing tape. I taped one side down, and then I stuck my finger under it a little to be sure there would be room for the pieces. Then I taped the other side and the bottom down.
I had given Little Sister a piece of paper to draw an apple. But when I came back to check on her, she told me she had drawn a cloud, like the cloud in our apple game. So I wanted to include that in her book.
Little Sister learned that there are 4 seasons, and she made a book showing the differences in an apple tree in each season. She also learned that apples are ready for picking in the fall!
We also made another similar circle picture chart - or whatever you want to call that thing - that we glued in the center of the book. It showed the apple tree in each of the different seasons. Also, at the very bottom center of the book, we taped down the seeds that we counted from an apple we cut. After we cut the apple for our lunch, she learned what a half and a whole are, and she was able to tangibly learn that it takes 2 halves to make a whole apple.
And these are the pictures of our finished book. She was so proud of her work. On the front cover, I cut her apple picture in half, and I glued half to each side. Also, I let her take a bingo dot maker, and she made red "apples" all over the cover. I came behind her with a green marker and made stems and leaves on them.
Just to be clear, she and I did not try to make the entire book all in one day. We worked on the different parts for a few days, and then I came back, while she was playing one day, and glued part of the book. She helped with the dots on the front and gluing the game on the back. She also glued in both "tree" books. The glue stick was a BIG hit!!
So if you have a pre-schooler who just isn't big enough for "big school" but still is underfoot, try making a lapbook with them. It is a fun way to learn on their level, and it can include anything you would like to teach them. The biggest point here is this. Don't teach only to your oldest children. The younger ones will feel left out and neglected. This project really helped Little Sister to feel like she was included with "the big kids"! And I haven't decided what our next lapbook will be about, but I know it will be fun, and we will be starting it soon!
Lately, I have had a time with Little Sister, because she is always asking to play with My Man and Britches. I send her to go play or watch PBS Kids, but in no time, she's back under our feet. After sending her away several times, I begin to feel really guilty that she is all alone in there and we're having all the fun. But she's just not old enough to do what the older ones are working on.
But she IS old enough to do her own "school." So I dug into my memories of days gone by, and began to think of the things I did with the oldest 2 when they were her age. When they were small, we did all kinds of learning together, and we had so much fun with it all! One of the things I did a lot of were lapbooks. It was always something Britches and My Man liked, so I decided to start one with Little Sister.
Lapbooks are really nothing more than scrapbooks that are put together using your child's school work. My friend, who originally introduced me to lapbooking, is EXTREMELY creative with her kids lapbooks. But being the un-creative person I am, mine usually stay pretty simple. The point is, if you're a creative and crafty person, make it more elaborate. But if you're like me, keep it simple. The point is to have a cool place to store your child's work, so you aren't just stuffing it in a box in the top of a closet somewhere. Also, it is something tangible that your child can pull out any time, look at it, and remember the things they learned.
So I told Little Sister one morning that she and I were going to learn all about apples. (Amazingly, my 2 oldest - who think she is a "baby" - stopped what they were doing and wanted to participate. I told them they were out of luck. This was our project, and they were working on the project they needed to finish that was more age appropriate for them!) Little Sister was so excited. I didn't send her to go play by herself, and I didn't sit her in front of the TV, so I was pretty excited myself. Here are some pictures of our fun.
To begin a lapbook, you need one manilla folder, legal or letter size depending on how much stuff you have and how big you want it, and in any color. We used a letter size red folder. Open it up flat on a table. Then, fold each side in to the center. Use a ruler to crease the folds. You now have a folder that looks like 2 shutters opening. This is your book. Then you can begin the fun stuff!
First, she colored a picture of an apple with a worn in it. If you notice, she decided to color the worm with 3 colors at once. Very pretty. I helped some, because she wanted me to, but I tried to get her to do most of it. I wanted it to be HER work.
We made a game that I printed off a web site that I came across. It was called "Five Red Apples." I used contact paper on the game pieces, so, as she was playing with them, they wouldn't get bent or torn. Then I let her glue the tree to the back of our book. She had so much fun playing this game over and over and over.
I glued the poem inside on the top left hand side, and I made a pocket to hold the game pieces under the poem. The pocket was made out of a piece of card stock that was held on with packing tape. I taped one side down, and then I stuck my finger under it a little to be sure there would be room for the pieces. Then I taped the other side and the bottom down.
I had given Little Sister a piece of paper to draw an apple. But when I came back to check on her, she told me she had drawn a cloud, like the cloud in our apple game. So I wanted to include that in her book.
Little Sister learned that there are 4 seasons, and she made a book showing the differences in an apple tree in each season. She also learned that apples are ready for picking in the fall!
We also made another similar circle picture chart - or whatever you want to call that thing - that we glued in the center of the book. It showed the apple tree in each of the different seasons. Also, at the very bottom center of the book, we taped down the seeds that we counted from an apple we cut. After we cut the apple for our lunch, she learned what a half and a whole are, and she was able to tangibly learn that it takes 2 halves to make a whole apple.
And these are the pictures of our finished book. She was so proud of her work. On the front cover, I cut her apple picture in half, and I glued half to each side. Also, I let her take a bingo dot maker, and she made red "apples" all over the cover. I came behind her with a green marker and made stems and leaves on them.
Just to be clear, she and I did not try to make the entire book all in one day. We worked on the different parts for a few days, and then I came back, while she was playing one day, and glued part of the book. She helped with the dots on the front and gluing the game on the back. She also glued in both "tree" books. The glue stick was a BIG hit!!
So if you have a pre-schooler who just isn't big enough for "big school" but still is underfoot, try making a lapbook with them. It is a fun way to learn on their level, and it can include anything you would like to teach them. The biggest point here is this. Don't teach only to your oldest children. The younger ones will feel left out and neglected. This project really helped Little Sister to feel like she was included with "the big kids"! And I haven't decided what our next lapbook will be about, but I know it will be fun, and we will be starting it soon!
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
What a Mess
This morning, I awoke to BEAUTIFUL weather! The nights in Louisiana are turning cooler, so the mornings are very pleasant. I made a quick judgement call, and I sent the kids out the door. Originally, I had a full day of school planned, but since we don't get mornings like this often these days, I decided to postpone school until this afternoon. They were more than happy to head outdoors!
And with the kids outside and the baby asleep, I thought for a moment about getting some much needed housework accomplished, since we are having company in a few nights. But the day was calling me! I just couldn't stay in when the day was so beautiful! So after a quick peek at the sleeping baby, I took off to my garden.
My garden is my favorite place to be when I'm outside. It is one of my great loves, my place of solitude. But as of late, it has been less than inviting. It is nearing the end of the summer growing season, and my plants were showing their age. Many were overgrown and brown. Weeds had grown nearly as big as some of the plants. (OK, maybe I'm exagerating just a bit there.) It was a MESS!
So today, with the weather so favorible and such a nice breeze blowing to keep me cool, I took my scissors and went to work. First, I cut all the overgrowth. Then, when I got to the point of actually seeing my tomato cages again, I was able to cut all the string I had used to hold up my plants. I yanked weeds from their happy homes. And I ripped up all the dead plants that were no longer needed in my garden. What a MESS!
But now, I have most all of my raised beds cleaned out and ready to start refilling with fall veggies. I am already envisioning the salad that will come in just a few short months. And low and behold, as I was cutting down dead tomato plants, I happened upon a few new tomato shoots that had sprouted off the base of my original plants. So I carefully pulled dirt around them, and, if they live, I will soon have more tomatoes this fall. Yes, tomatoes will grow until the frost, if the heat of the summer doesn't kill them. So in addition to my fall lettuce, I may just have some tomatoes to go on my salad!
Not all of my plants have died. I still have 3' tall pepper plants. I have green bell peppers, purple bell peppers, red bell peppers, long sweet peppers, and some other kind that I can't remember. They are going strong, and if I keep them watered, they will make well into the fall. Also, I have perennial plants, like asparagus and onions, that will grow all year, die back in the winter, and start all over again next spring. So I do still have some beauty in my garden, even after cleaning out the mess.
And then, since the baby was still sleeping, I even had a little time to get to my herb garden. I pulled weeds and grass from around all my beautiful herbs, so you can actually tell what they are again. There was only enough time to do about half of the bed, though. The rest will have to wait until another morning.
All in all, today was a great day. My garden isn't the big MESS that it was, and I am looking forward to replanting in a few weeks. It was a GREAT morning!
And with the kids outside and the baby asleep, I thought for a moment about getting some much needed housework accomplished, since we are having company in a few nights. But the day was calling me! I just couldn't stay in when the day was so beautiful! So after a quick peek at the sleeping baby, I took off to my garden.
My garden is my favorite place to be when I'm outside. It is one of my great loves, my place of solitude. But as of late, it has been less than inviting. It is nearing the end of the summer growing season, and my plants were showing their age. Many were overgrown and brown. Weeds had grown nearly as big as some of the plants. (OK, maybe I'm exagerating just a bit there.) It was a MESS!
So today, with the weather so favorible and such a nice breeze blowing to keep me cool, I took my scissors and went to work. First, I cut all the overgrowth. Then, when I got to the point of actually seeing my tomato cages again, I was able to cut all the string I had used to hold up my plants. I yanked weeds from their happy homes. And I ripped up all the dead plants that were no longer needed in my garden. What a MESS!
But now, I have most all of my raised beds cleaned out and ready to start refilling with fall veggies. I am already envisioning the salad that will come in just a few short months. And low and behold, as I was cutting down dead tomato plants, I happened upon a few new tomato shoots that had sprouted off the base of my original plants. So I carefully pulled dirt around them, and, if they live, I will soon have more tomatoes this fall. Yes, tomatoes will grow until the frost, if the heat of the summer doesn't kill them. So in addition to my fall lettuce, I may just have some tomatoes to go on my salad!
Not all of my plants have died. I still have 3' tall pepper plants. I have green bell peppers, purple bell peppers, red bell peppers, long sweet peppers, and some other kind that I can't remember. They are going strong, and if I keep them watered, they will make well into the fall. Also, I have perennial plants, like asparagus and onions, that will grow all year, die back in the winter, and start all over again next spring. So I do still have some beauty in my garden, even after cleaning out the mess.
And then, since the baby was still sleeping, I even had a little time to get to my herb garden. I pulled weeds and grass from around all my beautiful herbs, so you can actually tell what they are again. There was only enough time to do about half of the bed, though. The rest will have to wait until another morning.
All in all, today was a great day. My garden isn't the big MESS that it was, and I am looking forward to replanting in a few weeks. It was a GREAT morning!
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Make and Share Monday - Update
It seems I am making a habit of having my Make and Share Monday post on Tuesday. I apologize. Yesterday, we spent the day in town at the doctor with my littlest one who had been sick all night. So, needless to say, I didn't get much done in the way of crafts.
However, today I didn't actually want to share a craft at all. I want to share with you an update of a craft I did 2 weeks ago. If you remember, I made a homemade card to send to a very sweet lady in the church. Here is what happened.
After I finished making the card last Tuesday, I put it in an envelope and set it with the other mail I would be taking out in the morning. Wednesday morning, I put my card in the mail, and off it went. Really, I didn't think much more about it.
Sunday morning, I stayed home from church, because I wasn't feeling well, so I wasn't able to see this sweet lady. But Sunday night, after church, she was there, and she came rushing up to me very excited! She said, "I just have to come and give you a hug and thank you. That was so sweet of you to send me that beautiful card in the mail. And for you to take the time to MAKE me a card, that was extra special. My husband and I had a hard week, and that just made it so much better getting your card in the mail. Thank you."
I was thrilled! She liked it, and she DID realize that I had thought about her and spent time making that card just for her. But there was more. Several other people in the church began telling me how this lady had stood up in front of church Sunday night and showed off her card to everyone. She had bragged on it to everyone. (I teach on Sunday nights, so I wasn't in there to actually see this.) This made it even more wonderful! I knew it had really blessed her.
So I tell you this, not to brag about what I did, but to encourage you to do the same. It took me a very short little while to make this special card for this special lady, but it blessed her immensely. Take some time this week to think of someone you could bless. Make a point to stop for a moment and write a card to someone, let someone know you are thinking of them. Take a break in your busy day, and call someone or send a card. You never know what is going on in someone's life and their day. You may be just what someone needs to cheer them up. And you'll be VERY glad you did.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Much Ado About Nothin'
The heat in Louisiana is nearly unbearable in the summer. For anyone who has never experienced it, we're not just talkin' hot - we're talkin' humidity! It gets so bad here that, for most of the summer, my kids don't even want to brave going outside to get the mail. And so I ask you, what in the world would cause me to want to take 3 entire months off of school just so my kids can be hot and miserable inside? Why would I want to vacation at a time like that? What would make me choose to be amongst a HUGE group of people paying outrageous prices for so-called "fun"? That just doesn't sound appealing to me.
So, being the out-of-the-box homeschoolers that we are, we use the summer months to take in as much learning as possible. We spend each long, hot day inside learning all sorts of fun things. So today, I wanted to post a few of the pictures that we took of our endeavors. Over the last few weeks, we have learned quite a range of things, and the kids have had such a great time doing it, too!! I hope you enjoy looking at our work.
One morning, Colby woke up and decided he wanted to play marbles. Seeing as how I, long ago, threw away all of our glass marbles that we had purchased, I told him how sorry I was, but that just would not be something he could do. So, being the problem-solver boy he is, he decided to make his own marbles. I had a bag of small wooden balls, and he set to work painting them. Later, he came back and painted 2 larger wooden balls for the shooter marbles. Here is his finished work.
We studied triangles for a few weeks. Yes, there is much more to a triangle than just 3 sides and 3 corners! So one morning, we learned the 4 types of triangles, and Colby decided to see which triangles would work best for a kite. He put 4 right triangles together, then 1 equilateral and 1 isosceles triangle, and then 2 scalene triangles. Any of these combinations worked well for a kite.
While we were learning about triangles, we built a pyramid. Actually, the kids each built their own pyramids. I wrote the directions on the white board. I expected their pyramid to have a 5" base squared and each side needed 5" at the base. Their triangles could be either isosceles or equilateral. Other than that, they were on their own. They had to use their rulers and protractors to measure precise angles and sides. Otherwise, the pieces wouldn't fit together well. And, of course, we had to pull out some paint to make it look even better!
While the oldest 2 were making pyramids, my 3 year old needed something to do for her "school." So I set her up with some construction paper, a glue stick, safety scissors, stickers, and pom-pom balls. She had a blast!
But I didn't want to stop there with her. Even though she isn't old enough to make a pyramid, she IS old enough to work with shapes. So she and I made a triangle girl. See the pom-pom skirt?
On the last day of studying triangles, we decided to make some stars to decorate the house. Yes, that seems like a fairly easy task. But not when you require precise measurements! First, the kids had to learn that a circle has 360 degrees. Then, we talked about the different shapes you can make inside a circle - pentagon, hexagon, octagon, etc... They learned how to use a calculator and divide the degrees of the entire circle by how many sides you want. For example, 360 divided by 5 to make a pentagon. After they had divided the circle, they connected the points and labeled them. And last, they connected the points inside the pentagon (or whatever shape) to form the pentagram inside. We made 3 stars each. So they ended up with a 5 sided, 6 sided, and 8 sided star. After the stars were cut out, they painted them with glitter paint so they would "shine." And lastly, we hung them from one of our door facings, so we can see them every time we walk through. It is a reminder to them how hard they worked, how much and what they learned, and how proud I am of them!
These are just a few of the things that we have been doing during these hot summer months. This is the perfect time for us to school. And in a few months, when it cools off some, we'll be taking a fall break to go on vacation - without feeling guilty for "missing school."
So, being the out-of-the-box homeschoolers that we are, we use the summer months to take in as much learning as possible. We spend each long, hot day inside learning all sorts of fun things. So today, I wanted to post a few of the pictures that we took of our endeavors. Over the last few weeks, we have learned quite a range of things, and the kids have had such a great time doing it, too!! I hope you enjoy looking at our work.
One morning, Colby woke up and decided he wanted to play marbles. Seeing as how I, long ago, threw away all of our glass marbles that we had purchased, I told him how sorry I was, but that just would not be something he could do. So, being the problem-solver boy he is, he decided to make his own marbles. I had a bag of small wooden balls, and he set to work painting them. Later, he came back and painted 2 larger wooden balls for the shooter marbles. Here is his finished work.
We studied triangles for a few weeks. Yes, there is much more to a triangle than just 3 sides and 3 corners! So one morning, we learned the 4 types of triangles, and Colby decided to see which triangles would work best for a kite. He put 4 right triangles together, then 1 equilateral and 1 isosceles triangle, and then 2 scalene triangles. Any of these combinations worked well for a kite.
While we were learning about triangles, we built a pyramid. Actually, the kids each built their own pyramids. I wrote the directions on the white board. I expected their pyramid to have a 5" base squared and each side needed 5" at the base. Their triangles could be either isosceles or equilateral. Other than that, they were on their own. They had to use their rulers and protractors to measure precise angles and sides. Otherwise, the pieces wouldn't fit together well. And, of course, we had to pull out some paint to make it look even better!
While the oldest 2 were making pyramids, my 3 year old needed something to do for her "school." So I set her up with some construction paper, a glue stick, safety scissors, stickers, and pom-pom balls. She had a blast!
But I didn't want to stop there with her. Even though she isn't old enough to make a pyramid, she IS old enough to work with shapes. So she and I made a triangle girl. See the pom-pom skirt?
On the last day of studying triangles, we decided to make some stars to decorate the house. Yes, that seems like a fairly easy task. But not when you require precise measurements! First, the kids had to learn that a circle has 360 degrees. Then, we talked about the different shapes you can make inside a circle - pentagon, hexagon, octagon, etc... They learned how to use a calculator and divide the degrees of the entire circle by how many sides you want. For example, 360 divided by 5 to make a pentagon. After they had divided the circle, they connected the points and labeled them. And last, they connected the points inside the pentagon (or whatever shape) to form the pentagram inside. We made 3 stars each. So they ended up with a 5 sided, 6 sided, and 8 sided star. After the stars were cut out, they painted them with glitter paint so they would "shine." And lastly, we hung them from one of our door facings, so we can see them every time we walk through. It is a reminder to them how hard they worked, how much and what they learned, and how proud I am of them!
These are just a few of the things that we have been doing during these hot summer months. This is the perfect time for us to school. And in a few months, when it cools off some, we'll be taking a fall break to go on vacation - without feeling guilty for "missing school."
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