Math Continued

Continuing on math journey, I intentionally find and purchase board games and card games that utilize mathematics concepts.  Some days I just set these games out for the kids to discover and play, and other days I am more intentional.  I create time and space for us to play these games.  Amazon is a great place to find games, but I have found searching for games at thrift stores has been extremely successful.  I find a game for $2 with all its pieces to bring home.  We may play it once or twice before deciding it is not for us and donating it back, but most times these games become tried and true favorites.  

The bonus of thrift shopping provides the opportunity to use the living math discussed last week.  We can use our cash to find treasures or pieces for a project or desired experiment. 

Math

Math could be the most dreaded subject in homeschool circles.  It seems so systematic, precise, and in need of a guide.  My mind flounders between wanting to just unschool and discover math naturally to desiring a guide with a daily math activity and lesson.  I figure I can't be the only one with this problem and with kids who get bored to tears with worksheets and structured daily math. So I thought I would share some of my approaches.  

For today I want to share that any daily living math happening around our home, I involve our kids.  This includes typical things like baking, gardening, and cooking.  But we have some extensive hobbies so the kids work at sighting-in their bows, archery targets, sewing, knitting, quilting, fly-tying, football, baseball, hunting...
Anytime a mathematical obstacle presents itself, we work together to solve it or I hand it off to them to work on. This creates a mathematically minded person who is a natural problem solver.

Best Learning

Our dog has fostered some of the best learning in our home over the six years she has been with us.  Yes, we got her our 2nd year homeschooling and since then she has been there for every project, game, and read aloud.  Although that is not why she is the best helper in learning.  

Scout, our family do has taught each of us patience, compassion, and joy.  Both kids have at some point taken on the task of training her in different areas and being the please-er that she is they each enjoyed success.  Always ready for a snuggle, she is the best to read with on any given day.  Since she can not care for herself, responsibility for walks, food, water, and clean up detail has fallen to the kids.  This taught them to care for others and the huge responsibility a pet can be in a family.

 My son loves hunting with Scout.  These moments have created a special bond and love between them that allows this tough boy to feel compassion.  When she was injured on a hunt by stepping in a badger whole and fracturing her back leg, he was the first to seek treatment, keep her calm, and follow the vet's directions to the letter.

 I am thankful we chose to add this sweet dog to our family and all that she has taught us along the way and all the future learning she will facilitate in the future. 

Public Lands Display

This month the kids worked hard to create a display exhibiting all they learned in the past year about public lands.  With the display and many artifacts, they traveled to the capitol building to interact with legislators and employees of the capitol, explaining their work.  This opportunity is provided by our local homeschooling community to allow our lawmakers to see and speak with current home-schoolers in order to keep our freedoms here in Idaho. 

Reading And Nature

The book series mentioned last week, Hatchet and My Side of the Mountain, are ultimately stories of a boy surviving in the wilderness.  Each provide a different setting and plot, but give insight in the process of living in nature and all the struggles an individual can encounter.  I have found that children 8 years and older enjoy the window to adventure that these books allow.  

Once read and processed, these books and characters will come alive and be part of the the discussion on your next outing in the wilderness.  The earth science information given by these text also sink-in and become working knowledge serving the child far more than any given science textbook.  

Enjoy your time in nature, but don't hesitate to enjoy nature in a written form on days your just can't get out. 

Gateway to Nature

These books are an amazing gateway to keeping yourself and your kids in touch with nature on days or months when the weather or your schedule does not allow you to take your kids outside.  My Side of the Mountain series and Hatchet are amazing stories from the wilderness.  Both series include books easy to find at a local library or book store.  

Next week, I will explain the impact these books can have on your family. 

Book Win for Middle School Boys

I came across this book somewhere during my endless search to find a series to maintain my son's interest. While it seems silly and not an idea I wanted to promote, the reviews encouraged me to make the purchase.  Once my son started reading it, I knew I had made the right choice.  At each reading, he was marking passages to add to his reading journal and to read aloud to me.  It is written with humor that a middle school boy enjoys, yet in clean fun.  Once the book was half read, I order the other 4 books I could find in this series.  I am pleased to report that as I type, he has moved on the read the second book in this series.  

First Test

After moments of talking to me, my stance on testing is clear.  So much so that both my children have not participated any formal or informal testing since beginning kindergarten.  Recently, GM took our local Fish and Game Department's Hunter Safety Course.  She grew increasingly concerned as the classes began drawing to an end date where a final exam of sorts would be given to all students.  The requirement was a score of 80% or better to pass the class and receive the documentation necessary to purchase her hunting license.  Taking this very seriously, she studied hard, paid attention in class, and took notes to prepare herself for the test.  Being her first test ever, she was unsure what to expect and did need some instruction on completely filling in the bubble to correspond with her answer choice.  


How did she do?

Perfectly!  Yes, perfect 100%.  

Why?

Maybe she did so well because this test mattered to her achieving other goals.  Maybe she did so well because she studied hard and paid careful attention to the instructor.  Maybe she did so well because she had not been desensitized to testing.  Maybe she did so well because she tests well and doing well is important to her. 

Any of these reasons or others could be the answer to why, but what is important here is that home-schoolers experience the world through a different lens.  They see classes, tests, and learning as a way to meet their desire to achieve their goals not as some silly hoop to jump through.  Of course, I am proud of GM and we celebrated her achievement toward her goal of hunting along side her family this year.  

Reading Journals

With reading goals for 2018 set, we each selected a notebook for a reading journal, bought some book-darts, and gathered pens.  The idea for keeping a reading journal originally came from Sarah MacKenzie at The Read Aloud Revival podcast.  Of course after she inspired me, I made modifications to fit our family.  

Our goal for the year is highlighted on the front page of our journals, then a key for the symbols used to give information important to teach individual is outlined.  This information includes symbols for first time reading, first book in a series, nonfiction, graphic novel, rereading, and so on.  After the first 10 or so pages, we placed a clip to indicate a place to note quotes from the books we read. I told the kids as they read to place book-darts where the words move you, make you laugh, or make you think.  Once the reading of the given book is complete the title, author and page number is recorded in the front of the journal.  Then the quotes are recorded in the notes section.  This seems simple enough, yet once reading began I could tell everyone was reading with a purpose.  Looking for phrases that move them, made them laugh, or caused them to think.  I was told early on that more book-darts were needed.  

If you are looking for a simplistic way to motivate meaningful reading, look into creating a reading journal.    

Virtual Reality

After spending hours at our library programs, I was beginning to feel that our kids had grown out of the current programs.  So I was shocked when I mentioned the Virtual Reality gaming they were excited to participate.  

 Learning from experiences is my motto, which means I was game as well.  Both kids enjoyed the virtual reality play so much that once we got home, we marked the calendar to return next time.

My message here is throw some ideas out to see what sticks with your kids.  You may be surprised at what they latch onto in that moment.  Also, check out your local library.  Libraries today are so different from the libraries we grew up using.  Now, libraries have STEM projects, games, crafts, clubs, and evidently virtual reality.  Try something new this year and learn from the experience.

Board Game Discovery

Around our home, we love to spend mornings or afternoons together playing board games and card games.  So when I find an amazing one that captures the attention of each member of our family, I must share it.  

This one, Lost Cities, is a new game to us.  It took a few rounds of play before I really understood how the game works.  So much mathematical strategy is involved as you try to make a profit and check that your opponent is not.  Once the game is over scoring the game involves adding, multiplying, and working with negative numbers.  All that to say if you home-school in a way that applies skills learned to real life, this is the game for you. 

Reading from December

It is no secret that our family loves a deep dive into series that interests them.  This month was no different in our reading choices.

Bubba completed the Alex Rider Graphic Novels.  He usually does not show much interest in graphic novels but the kid-spy story line was captivating for him.  I was thrilled to see him expand his horizons and enjoy a different genre.  

Sis easily gets drawn into stories with action, so this past month completed Gordon Korman's On The Run series.  She was determined to finish before Christmas Eve since it is tradition to get a chocolate bar and new book that night.  I was impressed by her diligence once she read the series a week before her goal.

At the recommendation of a friend, I began reading the first book in Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series, The Lightening Thief.  I literally could not get enough so I completed the 5 book series over Christmas break!

Another great month of reading in the books!

December Round-Up

With December over, I reflect on exactly how thing went or did not according to plan.  The first week of December I explained to each child that they could enjoy their Christmas vacation as soon as they completed requirements for December.  This meant complete their current book, writing assignment, and math unit.  While we would still continue with our read aloud as well as various experiments in baking and slime making as well as crafting.  Each of the two kids completed work within that first week.  It was a lovely time to hang out, spend time playing games, and exploring interest in crafting and hunting.  

We certainly can not work this way each month, but it is nice to look back and see how a busy month can be productive when kids complete work and take their learning personal.  

My son completed 3 books in a series he was enjoying before Thanksgiving as well as listed to 6 audio books by his favorite authors.  He explained he enjoys audio books because he can listen to the story while doing other things like working out, computer gaming, and helping clean up.  Not only did he accomplish lots of reading, he also went bird hunting (ducks, quail, chuckers, pheasant) everyday from Christmas through New Years.  

Reading 8 books and listening to 3 audio books, my daughter enjoys reading to discover the story and focusing on one thing at a time.  She will happily use audio books for hiking and long walks, but often can be found cuddled up reading with her rabbit or family dog.  With a love for creativity through crafting, she completed 20 homemade gifts for friends and family independently using directions and YouTube videos to help her develop the skills she needed.