With every ending there is a new begining

It is finally May! We made it! Second Grade has officially come to an end for Benjamin and myself, and I must say I am glad it is over. We stayed on track this last semester, In fact, we finished just ahead of the rest of public school by about three weeks, so not shabby.

My original plan today was to head to The Home-school Store (THS) in Houston, and look over the curriculum choices so that I could see what would best fit for our summer lessons. (They had to be mostly independent work since Ben will be visiting with extended family throughout most of the summer). I was in home-school heaven! Within an hour I was able to find a curriculum that was more challenging then the Alpha Omega LifePac Series, and purchased the Alpha Omega Horizons workbook and teachers guide for 3rd Grade Mathematics. After scanning the workbook and teachers guide I knew immediately that it would be a better fit for Benjamin and myself. He was complaining that the LifePac books where boring and to easy, well, that will not be the case this coming year. Multiplication, Division and simple algebra are some of the many things that he will be mastering in math, and that is just the first semester! We will definitely not be bored this year and I am so thankful for that. Fortunately I love Math, and so far all of my boys seem to enjoy it as well, and pick up on it quickly. YAY! 

Something else I picked up was a workbook that I found (gently used, only $6.00!) for Language Arts. It is "The Complete Book of English and Language Arts Grades 3-4" published by School Specialty Publishing. Lets just say it is 300 pages of AWESOME! I am so glad I was able to find this treasure! This book has a little of everything in an easy to learn format! It is definitely a workbook that your child can work on independently and will still be easy for parents to create a test over the information learned. This wont be hard at all due to the easy way this book is written. I will be creating my own tests if I use this book for his entire years curriculum guide, which I very well might do. I'll keep you posted once summer break is over and see how far he has come, and get his input on the materials he has studied. 

Other fun finds today where a USA Map Puzzle to help him learn all of our States and Capitals, and two "Childhood of Famous Americans" chapter books. He picked out Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone to start with.  All in all, I spent a total of about $40.00 and he is all set for his summer lessons and introduction to 3rd Grade. I could not be more pleased and I am looking forward to the other little treasures I am sure to find when we go back for his other subjects this summer! 

Benjamin's Summer Material total spent- Approx. $40.00

Lets Go Fly A Kite

Today, Benjamin wanted to fly his kite. It has been sitting in his closet, then the outside toy bin, for what I’m sure seems like ages to Ben. Since it is finally Spring and the weather is cooperating, Nathan and I have been spending as much time outside with the kids as possible. Letting them run around, play in the sprinkler, etc. This morning the boys were riding the bikes when Ben brought out his kite. After some quick assembling by Nathan, he was ready to fly in no time.

Benjamin in the culdesac flying his Iron Man kite. 

Ben was a quick learner, and soon figured out that he had to make the kite pull against the wind, and learned how and when to run around to keep the kite flying! (I must say, I was a bit impressed). When the morning wind began to slow down, it was time to turn fun into Science. Now I normally would have used Kite Flying as a lesson on Gravity and Lift…simple things, and I am sure I would have used Pinterest or Google to find some terms and ideas for discussion and education. However Nathan was already on it and again, I was impressed today. Instead of coming up with some basic (and perhaps even obvious) educational topics, Nate taught Benjamin about mass, resistance and force (wind force to be specific). Because Benjamin had already flown the kite and felt the force, pull and resistance, it was easy for him to relate those terms to what he had just experienced.

We turned on our old outdoor fan, put a cheap Frisbee ( I think it is a Frisbee…it was just something else we found among our outdoor toys) in front of the fan and had Ben put his hand on the other side of the Frisbee holding it in place. A sheet of paper would work just as well, or any other light flat object. With Benjamin’s hand in place, he was able to feel the force of the wind against the Frisbee, and we were able to talk about how his hand was causing the resistance against the Frisbee and wind. When he moved his hand, and the resistance was removed, the Frisbee blew back. We were able to include mass and surface area into the fun as well by turning the Frisbee on its side, making it a thin sliver instead of a plate. When the surface area is smaller, he felt that it was easier to hold up in front of the fan. Nate went more into detail about mass, but you get the gist. All in all, we had a great time, and got to experience my favorite type of homeschooling AND parenting moments; family fun in the sun with an educational twist. By the time the lesson was over, Benjamin was able to confidently tell us that resistance is two forces or objects pushing against each other. Not shabby for a 7 year old.

An Improper Introduction!

Being new to blogging I, like many others, have a difficult time trying to figure out where to begin so I will go with the simplest choice. Introductions! 

My name is Lauren Myers. I am a mother to three little boys. Benjamin who is currently seven years young, Ethan who is currently four, and Joshua who will be turning three next month. My husband, Nathan and I decided before the boys were born that we both really liked the advantages to homeschooling our kids, and made the plunge right smack in the middle of the holidays. I believe the exact date was literally December 3rd, 2014. Like many new homeschooling parents do, the first thing I did was head to the nearest home school store and purchase curriculum books. Looking back, I can't say it was a mistake. Benjamin is only in 2nd Grade, and the books I chose had fun characters and covered all the bases. In fact, without the books, I do not know if he would have gotten ANY education the first couple of months! It was a nice starting point, and it keep him busy for a little while, but it just wasn't right for him, or our family. 

You see Nathan...well, Nathan likes to talk, a lot. And he's very good at it! He has taught Bible to children at church and in a Men's Group, and he was a O.T.R (Over The Road) Truck Driving Trainer for many many years. He has experience teaching, and he teaches by talking.

I on the other hand I do not have experience teaching, other than what I learn while parenting my kids. (Which may I add, has been a lot and is growing more and more everyday!) But when I envisioned homeschooling my kids, it was meant to be fun! It was meant to be a journey for all of us, and I was determined to make learning fun for my children, because lets face it, it wasn't fun for me growing up. I want as much of the educating to be hands-on as possible! I want there to be open discussions! Most of all, I want my kids to learn naturally (with a little direction). 

So what is the best way to do that? What type of homeschoolers are we? Heck, I don't know. The truth is, we are a little of everything. When Nathan wants to lecture, discuss, draw charts or whatever it is that wonderful man wants to do, we do it. When its pretty outside we go out and play and keep our minds and eyes open for something fun we can turn into education. We play learning games inside with flash cards or whatever else we can make. We read chapter books and draw pictures of what happened out of the book. We plant plants, and learn different cycles. We cook, we clean, and we have fun and we try our best to get along and survive one day at a time without killing one another or going crazy! That is what education is like in our house. Some days are more structured than others, and other days there is no structure at all! 

So if you are reading this blog, just know that here, there is no right or wrong way to home-school. We have an open mind, and love changing things up for our kids. I hope that some of my posts encourage you to try new things, not give up on the hard days, (you know which ones I'm talking about) and try to relax when it comes to homeschooling!  It doesn't have to be serious all the time! Education can be fun, we just need to take it a day at a time!