Schedules and Motivation

We are still plugging along on all our curriculum choices and having the kids keep up with their schoolwork. It is a struggle everyday especially with my 9 yob. He just doesn't want to put forth the effort it takes to use his little brain and make it grow. He wants everything to be easy and when it's not he wants to give up. He usually pushes through to finish at the end so that he earns his minutes for finishing his work, plus he knows he can't do anything else fun until it's all done- but it is extremely emotionally draining for me and he definitely isn't making as much progress as he could if he would just concentrate. I think I'm going to have to make him do extra work each day so that he builds better habits instead of giving him Friday, Saturday and Sunday off. We'll see if that helps. He is a delightful child otherwise, willing to help with the twins, willing to run whatever errand I need him to- taking care of the goats and chickens. He will miss the goats more than anybody ( the story there is on my other blog www.todoron.blogspot.com. He likes to read especially because he gets an hour of screen time for every book he finishes.

We have been traveling a ton, but since we haven't had vision therapy in a while, and soccer is starting and we've been doing Destination Imagination, we decided to quit our Friday co-op. It was just too much! Being gone so much makes it hard to get the house clean, the piano practicing done and the schooling done. With this pregnancy I didn't have the energy to keep everything up on schedule so we really slacked with the schedule, not starting on school until 11 am and working until 6, 7 or 8 p.m. with plenty of breaks in between. Now that my energy has returned we getting back on a better schedule where the kids start around 9 am and are done by 4 or 5 p.m. depending on how focused they are. I'm glad that they really didn't get behind because of this pregnancy-- just the house and the car did. but we are catching back up on that and the kids are helping more than before-- I just have to be on top of it all.

I love spring. I think that is helping us get on a better schedule too. Can't wait to move and have more time at home!!! I love where we're headed. The girls will be studying formal Logic, algebra, hopefully geometry and Latin this coming school year. Then they'll get to move into formal Rhetoric and continue with the Latin and then the sky's the limit-- whatever they decide to study-- they'll have a great foundation and be able to do whatever they desire. I just have to keep them motivated and on task!! No small feat indeed-- but we are finally witnessing the benefits!!! yay!!

Latin Test-- done!!

The girls have been studying extra all week with their dad for the National Latin Exam. My husband wrote a great website and entered in all the vocabulary, endings and other Latin grammar charts that needed to be drilled and memorized to really learn the language so that the girls would be able to drill easier on their own and he would be able to keep up with their progress since he does have a full time day job. They spent the evenings this week doing practice tests from past years and going over what they missed. Then my dear friend and neighbor agreed to administer the test at her house and mail it in for us. My husband had the girls get up early and take a practice test with the bubble sheet this morning so that they would be alert and ready for the real thing at 10 a.m. #1 scored a 67% and #2 scored an 83%. There were a couple things on that test that hadn't been on other tests so we were hoping that this year's test might be more in line with the other tests they had taken. So , this morning, my girls walked over to take their first officially graded test. They both finished the official test early and they both said they knew everything on the test. So we wait-- we should know by April 20.

Even so, without the test scores, we are very proud of our girls. Latin is a difficult subject and there are a lot of things to keep straight and a lot that they had to learn, drill and know over the year in order to make it to the point to be able to take the NLE. They learned a lot academically and they both really buckled down and studied and focused. #1 does well focusing since math never came easy for her, but #2 really had a hard time focusing because she never really had to before, but she's done it in Latin I. Both girls said that it was fun to go and take that test. I think they both feel they have really accomplished something. They got to go to the Olive Garden with their dad to celebrate this evening. What lucky girls!!!

Update and Destination Imagination

What a time we have been having!! We have been keeping up on our work mostly, the girls take the National Latin Exam this coming Thursday, and we've been watching our new house be built and we can't wait to move and we have been commuting to our homeschool and church activities 3 times per week an hour away and we are getting a little burned out and we want to stop, but we just have 2 months left before our house is supposed to be done.

My husband has done a fabulous job teaching the girls Latin. Being a computer programmer who can make computers do just about anything, he set up a website where they can take tests on vocabulary, endings and even past exams and see exactly how they did right when they are done and exactly what they missed. So he would often assign them to take a certain test until they got 100%. Being a full- time employee, it made it much easier for him to help them do what they needed to without him there all the time. We hope they do O.K. on the exam, but even if they don't, they've learned a lot and we plan to have them take all 6 years worth of exams and we expect they'll get better and better each time. I'm proud and jealous of the girls at the same time. I would like to learn Latin some time-- when the babies are grown, perhaps. It is fun to hear #2 tell me where we get different words from, and also tell me the funny things in the story she's translating. #1 seems to be enjoying it too. It has been so good for them all the way around.

The boys are moving right along. #3 has started history reading and daily spelling word copying to improve his cursive handwriting. They are also working better at piano since I sat with them and made sure they were practicing what they need to. #3 can sure be stubborn, he just has to know that there is no getting out of whatever it is he is supposed to do and then he does alright. #4 is amazing at memorizing and is just interested in learning. He knows our Greek vocabulary better than his older brother and it frustrates his older brother so I may have to start drilling them separately unfortunately-- I will probably just have to have the same talk with #3 that I had with #1 when her younger sister was better at memorizing than she was. Everybody has that strengths and weaknesses- let the younger one shine and you still have to learn it even though it comes easier to some-- you can still learn. That's definitely coming up.

We have also joined Destination Imagination which is a national program. Our tournament is on April 15 and we'll have a middle school team of girls presenting a movie trailer- acted out-- with an original music score and soundtrack, at least one special effect and it involves 2 people from different nations. We had a bit of a rough start getting our team together, but they seem to be getting it now. We also have an elementary age boys team who will be building a tower between 7.5 and 9 in. tall out of wood and glue that needs to hold weight and golf balls delivered by their own delivery system. That is also on track to work out despite a bit of a rough start. I'm sure we'll do better next year by starting earlier and having the experience of the tournament under our belts.

We've got other things coming up I'll report on as they happen (hopefully). Oh and baby #8 is a boy!! 6 sons in a row!!! Life is good!!!

Valentines

My kids had the best time cutting out valentine cards I printed off the internet.  Here are 2 of the best links I found:


http://alphamom.com/family-fun/holidays/the-best-free-printable-valentines/


http://familyfun.go.com/valentines-day/valentines-day-printables/

Our homeschool Valentine party was very fun.  The kids made origami flowers to take to a Senior Center along with a card they signed, they also made wax paper pictures, decorated cupcakes and exchanged valentines.  The most creative boxes got prizes.  The best part was that the weather was mild and they got to play on the playground outside afterward.  Very fun!!

Review-- getting back to normal whatever that is!

I am about 14 weeks pregnant now-- past the first trimester and they finally started on our new house 2 weeks ago-- so we are moving toward a nice new normalcy. I haven't had to take a nap everyday and I haven't needed so much sleep so my house is slowing coming back together and I have much more energy to do things besides just the basics. We started a new science program that is really quite fun-- I just need to make sure to schedule in time to do it. We are also starting a team to compete in the Destination Imagination tournament. That should be a lot of fun and educational too.

We went to the Children's Museum at the Gateway in SLC yesterday and we celebrated #5's 5th birthday at the Nickelcade the night before. It was awesome yesterday when we got back from our big away and errand day to come back and have the energy to make the kids follow up on piano practicing and finishing the little things they neglected during the week. #3 is definitely the most difficult right now-- he is 9 and I pretty much just have to sit with him and make sure he does what he's supposed to. I have to check everything for everybody or I'm not sure it will get done.

#2 had a hard time a couple weeks ago because her study habits were horrendous. I changed her piano practice from 30 min. to playing each song 5 times each. She threw quite the fit, but finally finished about 2 hours later and it is now making more progress than she ever has on the piano before it takes her about 30 min. to finish, but she's actually playing the piano the whole time instead of singing or rolling around on the floor or piano bench. I think she is enjoying it more. Also, she is doing much better in Latin. She was learning the material but having a terrible time finishing the writing exercises. She spent an evening listening to her sibling watch a movie while she sat at the table supposedly doing her Latin-- she did maybe one sentence the whole time and threw another fit. I was so angry, but realized that she shouldn't have been out where she could hear-- I should have sent her down to her room to finish. So we had a good talk and she has buckled down pretty well since. I love the feeling of accomplishment they gain when they finish and do things they thought they couldn't. A lot of this teaching is helping them focus and finish things that are difficult.

#1 really went through this at age 10 when she was a year or 2 behind in math and I sat with her and we worked through problems 2-3 hours a day. She is doing great now-- has fabulous study habits and knows how to keep going even when it's hard. She even told me how fun her pre-algebra assignment was!! so now when the boys complain, I ask them if they want to work on playing catch up and I tell them how they just have to do it and I don't let them out of it. It's totally the way to go. They also love the freedom they have when they're done to watch movies, play the wii, ipad, computer or with friends.

I can't wait to move. I think the layout of our new house will make things much easier to keep up on the daily chores and running of the household which will give us more ability to focus on academics and be more efficient. I'm very excited about the bigger kitchen, 2 dishwashers, 2 kitchen sinks, double oven, laundry room, mud room and double sinks in the bathrooms upstairs. We'll also have a library/ study area and lots of places for bookshelves making it easier to find books when we need them, and being able to park in the garage and not climb stairs from outside to bring in groceries for the winter-- actually I think my husband is more excited about that one than I am-- it will just be easier for me to get what I need when I need it and we'll put an extra fridge in the garage and actually have room for the all the food we eat in a week!! Can't wait!!

I am also looking forward to getting rid of a bunch of junk. I won't allow so many toys to be out at a time. The kids have more fun with a box than with a bunch of toys anyway. I'm looking forward to a new start. There are also a lot more opportunities for homeschoolers where we're moving, so I'm looking forward to participating in some of those things as well especially for my older kids. I love our once a week co-op down there. The moms are great, but my oldest especially needs more opportunities to meet kids her own age. The ward is great, but being in Utah I'm accepting the fact that it's just not enough. We really have to make our own support group and find friends outside of the ward for our kids. Still, there are a lot of kids and out of that many, each kid should be able to make a couple good friends they can associate with easily.

Question on History

There was a question on one of my yahoo groups about what kind of history to teach to a 5th grader.  My girls are in 7th and 5 th grades and for history I pick a series for them to read and then they are required to write a summary of each chapter.  Actually my 7th grader's book has questions and activities at the end of each chapter so I have her do those, although typing this I realize I've been remiss as we've been concentrating so much on Latin.

For Latin they are reading A Little History of the World  and The Story of the Romans .  They discuss with their dad during their Latin lesson.  It is so awesome to have him teaching them-- more on that in another post.  So anyway, it takes some time and I know they are learning history that way, so I'm not too worried about it.  Once they take the NLE, we'll pick it back up again.

For the 3rd, 1st and kindergartener, I read to them, although I will be assigning the Streams of History series to the 3rd grader to read on his own in the next couple weeks.  He is also enjoying the Childhood of Famous American series on his own.  Right now we are reading Edna McGuire's Glimpses Into the Long Ago, George Washington Spymaster and Fifty Famous Stories Retold, not to mention the New Testament, Book of Mormon stories and the Golden Book of Bible Stories.

So there you have it.  I like answering questions, so if you have a question, please ask-- you can email me at jaraagape@gmail.com or leave a comment!!

Educational video game competition

I received an email about this competition.  It looks like a good opportunity to learn some programming and use some creativity.  We won't have time this year- it's right about the same time as the NLE (Latin test) and we are trying to get geared up for Destination Imagination.  But maybe next year!

Here's the email:

Do your kids love games? Do they dream about creating games? With the STEM Video Game challenge, they can develop a game like a PBS KIDS game producer!  PBS KIDS, in partnership with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), is participating in the 2012 National STEM Video Game Challenge, an annual competition to motivate interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) learning among America's youth by tapping into students' natural passion for playing and making video games.

 

Participants who wish to produce games as part of the PBS KIDS stream are encouraged to develop games for children ages 4-8 that focus on early math skills. This site is designed to provide information and resources to help guide game production.

 

The contest is open to four different categories: Middle School students (5th grade – 8th grade), High School Students, College students and Teachers/Educators. As a homeschooling parent, you can make this an educational activity for your child, or something to support the curriculum.  

 

The Middle School and High School winners will each receive laptops, game design software packages and other tools to support their skill development, and youth sponsoring organizations will receive cash prizes and educational software. A prize of $10,000 will be awarded to each of the winners in the Collegiate and Educator categories. At the end of the competition, the winning games for the PBS KIDS and CPB track will be featured on the PBS KIDS Lab and PBS LearningMedia websites.

 

If you’re interested, here is a link with more information to participate in the challenge or to pass along to friends, readers, etc. PBSKIDS.org/stemchallenge.