Simple Motivation

Last night, Ede brought over a notebook that a friend was getting rid of. She said we could have a box of them if we could find use for them. Are you kidding?? YES!! Anyway, Haley has been constantly asking me questions such as, "What are you going to do with that notebook, mom?" Or, "What do you think would be a good use for that notebook?" After 24 hours of hearing her hint around, I finally asked her if she wanted it. On one condition. . . she had to use it as a writing journal. She was soooo excited! She's been working on a story entitled "The Snake and its Amigo" all evening! Thanks Ede :)

Vocabulary Success

We have been playing a game at dinner time. Each night, the kids learn a new vocabulary word and try to use it in their conversation. For each sentence they come up with, a dime is placed in a cup to save for Fritz's!
Well. . . . I just ran into someone I knew at the gas station. We talked for quite awhile. When we got home, Maddie said, "she was very loquacious." Wow! Our game is a success :)

Inspiration

Over the weekend, Grandma came to stay. The kids had a great time! We celebrated Hunter's birthday and he got his "big" present, a Cars bike :) He was sooo excited.

I went to the Homeschool EXPO on Friday and was a little disappointed with what was offered. However, it was well worth my time because I got a lot of ideas and inspiration from another homeschool mom. Rachel pulled her kids out of school in Feb. and is homeschooling them because they were not challenged in school. I am excited because we have a lot in common and have the same educational goals for our children. She found some awesome curriculum she is using and let me browse through it. It teaches with integrated units; exactly what I have been doing with Haley. Rachel and I are planning to coordinate our units so that we can occasional do a project/activity together with the kids. I am excited to have some support and am encouraged to continue with homeschooling.

surprise!!

Maddie was working on her math today and skip counting by 6's. Hunter was rote counting along with her. I asked him if he could do it all by himself and he counted, "6, 12, 18, 24, 30." I know it's just rote memorization, but nonetheless, I was impressed!

What's a hyphen?

I was working on Madeleine's handwriting the other day. She was writing a word and didn't have room to finish it on a particular line. So. . . .I explained to her that she could split the word at the syllable break and put in a hyphen. Haley was listening in on our conversation and piped in, "ohhhhh. . .so THAT'S how it works!" Haley, who's been known to write the word "conversatio-, then put the "n" on the following line! The little things that they learn each day :)

The sisterly bonding

Today I had a migraine, so I was chilling in the kitchen. Madeleine decided to read to Hunter on the couch. It was so cute as she read to him and even asked "comprehension" questions :) Haley was working on studying for her math PSAT that she will be taking on Saturday. When she was finished, she asked if she could help Madeleine with her reading. I am so proud of my sweet girls!

Why I homeschool

I started to homeschool my oldest daughter when we ran out of schooling options for her. She was reading by age 3 and doing 5th-grade math by age 5. She missed the K cut-off date in MO, so wasn't allowed to go to kindergarten until right after she turned 6. The school district we are in has a "no-acceleration" policy. They claim to challenge students "horizontally" rather than "vertically." I think it's just BS for "we don't have the time or want to put in the effort to work with gifted children." I must have visited half a dozen private schools and called another couple dozen. Many of them flat-out told me to go elsewhere. They said they didn't have the resources to work with a child like my daughter.
Homeschooling Haley has reduced her boredom issues. I also feel that it eliminates comparisons with other students. There is also the benefit of flexibility, allowing Haley to set the pace of learning and work from a wide variety of educational materials.