Introducing Journal of the States - Delaware

Over the weekend, we purchased a couple of composition books that are set up with story pages (blank top half for drawing, guide-lined bottom half for practicing handwriting).

One of these is going to be (well, has become) Isaac's Journal of the States. Our hope is that for each state he learns, he completes a page in the journal. At a minimum we'd like him to draw the state, draw a couple things associated with the state, write its name, and include whatever else he wants to describe. (Overall, our state curriculum goals also include identifying the name and location of the capital, and naming two "state facts": state bird, state flower, state insect, state tree, etc.)

I started it with him today. Delaware was our state last week, so he drew the state, added a dot for Dover, wrote "Delaware" 1.5 times (after getting hung up on the first W), then drew another figure. I was looking at it upside down, so it wasn't readily apparent. "What is it, Isaac?"

"It's the United States. Here's Delaware. It's kind of hard to see."

Explorers

And now, for something completely different, a guest post from my wife. She regularly photoblogs over at Adventures of the Acuff Family.

Next Tuesday morning, we embark on a new adventure, one that we have been anticipating for a few years and are excited to see come to fruition.  Isaac will begin attending a homeschool co-op in Ann Arbor. It has hundreds of kids from birth to high school and a wide variety of classes available.

Explorers Homeschool Co-Op meets at a local Lutheran church with tons of classroom space, a gym, and cozy little hospitality room that the moms (and dads) get to hang out in during their "off" hour.  "Off hour"?  That would be the hour you are NOT helping out in a classroom or teaching a class or helping in the nursery or cleaning up rooms or playing tour guide to the nearest restroom.  

Each mom (and a few dads) is given two jobs. One is in a classroom. This can be teaching, co-teaching, or being an assistant.  The other is a general task, like setting up at the beginning of the day or running the vacuum at the end of it.  Some parents are lucky enough to teach or co-teach two classes and therefore, escape the menial tasks the rest of us get to do!

Isaac will be in the "lower elementary", which encompasses K4/5  and 1st/2nd grades.  His classes this semester are Storybook Stew and Storybook Forest.  Since Isaac LOVES to read, this should be a fantastic morning for him!  In Storybook Stew, they read a story and prepare a simple meal or fancy snack that has something to do with the book they read.  In Storybook Forest, they get to read about various topics and do activities that are associated with it.

My primary job will be to assist in the Art class for the K4/5 group.  This could be fun....I think I'll make myself an apron between now and then!  My secondary job will be to clean up, which would be fine, except that Isaac will have to be with me while I do it and he HATES the vacuum cleaner.  We'll see how this one pans out!  Zeb and I will take turns throughout the 12 week semester, depending on the stability of Esther's health.  Zeb is capable of most everything I am, but there a few things that still only mommy can do!

We are looking forward to exploring our new homeschooling world, making new friends, and seeing how Isaac continues to blossom into an amazing little man as he interacts with peers his age and others around him.

I hope you'll keep coming back to see what our little guy and littlest gal are up to during the week and all that they are learning as we go...

Library Day

So, clearly, it's easier to set up a blog than to maintain it. Oh well.

Isaac and I just got back from a walk to the library. Some helpful (friendly, courteous, kind, ...) Eagle Scout cut a new path through the woods behind the library to the park near our house. It's much more interesting to walk through nature and along the old railroad tracks than along the residential sidewalks. Now we just need to remember the mosquito repellent!

We took a bunch of books back and got a bunch of new ones, mainly on trains (natch) and Pennsylvania, which is our next state about which to learn. I also grabbed a book on woodchucks (groundhogs) in honor of Punxsutawney Phil, a geography DVD, and Isaac added a Signing Time DVD and two other books that caught his eye.

My administrative home education goals for this week include hammering out our educational philosophy and typing up the curriculum guides that Tiffany and I worked on during our drive home from Tennessee over Labor Day weekend. I know I want to take it easy with the formal curriculum plans this year, but I still think we should have some broad goals to work toward. I also need to sort out a rough schedule for our weeks, so we don't get to Saturday and wonder why nothing got done.

Sorry for the lack of updates. We had a great learning day at the fair last week - lots of baby and adult animals to discover. Tiffany and I picked up a bunch of workbooks and flashcards at Target yesterday for 70 cents each - check out your local Target's dollar section if you get a chance.

Time to cook dinner and read - Tiffany and Isaac have already started in on one of the steam engine books!

Learning for Today

Both kids at home and just me - and I was so sleepy! With both at home, there's no good downtime during the day. And here I am up late on the blog. Oh well...

Art/Geography/Spelling

Isaac is nigh-on obsessed with his Magna Doodle drawing board - it's nearly an extension of his hand at this point. And when he's not drawing trains, he can turn out some impressive stuff for his age:

The United States. Note Lake Michigan.

He just sat down this afternoon and wrote this out. I didn't have the heart to tell him that we won't get to Alaska for another year. At least I caught it on camera before he erased it (he's got a quick trigger finger!).

Math
He doesn't like math, and he'll tell you as much. In a bout of wishful thinking, we have a few basic math workbooks lying around. This morning he picked up a first grade workbook and, with some coaching from me, turned out the following:

Note his 6 on the left hand page, my subsequent demonstration 6 under the equals sign, and his next 6 on the right hand page. And of course, we had to put stickers at the top of both pages.