Science Day

We’re still on the learning curve on home school and how it works for our family, but one thing ALWAYS works for Jr:  SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS

One day we took a break from doing our other lessons and did a day of Science.  The pictures are from Fizzing and Foaming Experiment

The last picture cracks me up because he was going on and on about how good it smelled and begged me to smell it.  I did and it smelled… vinegary.  lol  I guess the boy loves vinegar!  ;)  He’s so funny. hehe

Science Experiment

I seem to be swinging in between moments of being so glad I’m homeschooling to thinking what business I have in doing so.  Especially now that I’m exhausted and nauseous… and imagining how exhausted I’m going to be taking care of a newborn, with 2 year old and trying to maintain any sort of school for Jr, plus his appointments.  He’s going to OT right now for strengthening his fingers and helping his poor balance.  And we want to get him in with a Behavior Therapist.

When Baby Bear was born it was a major task just drop Jr off and pick him up every day!  But from what I’ve read around the web it’s not totally unusal to doubt yourself or your abilities for a year or two.  Because I’ve been so tired I’ve been sticking to pretty much his Computer Lessons lately and have been getting a lot of dragging feet and arguing.  But I decided to throw in a Science Experiement today and am reminded of how important it is for him to do thing that are hand-on.

Today we made Gluep and learned about solids/liquids and molecules. It was so easy!  And he was SO into it:

Also I just noticed some unevenness in his hair and he just told me he cut his bangs.  When I asked why, he said he wanted them to grow faster.  Well, at least it doesn’t look like Uncle Matt’s when he took a big chunk in the middle right up to the scalp.

Also for your viewing pleasure, Baby Bear!

And in case you forgot or think we forgot, we have a 10 year old cat, Emmie:

We didn’t just get her, she’s been with us for 10 years!  I just keep forgetting to put her on our “About” page with the rest of the family.  One of these days I’ll get around to it.  Poor cat.  Emmie’s favorite things:  Being fed in the morning, her nighttime cuddles, growing extra layers of belly and having a place to lounge away from the children.

Space Magnets

Tuesday is when we do Art projects (along with other subjects, of course) and we finished up our Space Magnets today!  They turned out so cool!  The coolest part?  We finished them with glow-in-the-dark sealer.  Can’t wait to try them out tomorrow!

He made all of the planets, some comets, a wormhole and, of course, The Death Star.  He had fun making them, but he said the part that was most fun about it is I was asking him Space Questions while we worked.  So cute.  I mean, cool.  Very, very cool.

God is so good.

God is so good.  

Last Friday home school was a little rough.  The time spent with the local meetup group was a disaster… to the point of me being in tears the rest of the day… and yesterday started off not much better just with our time at home.  Lots of arguing and attitude.  You know, from Jr.  Although I was tempted to give it right back after awhile.  I’ve been plugging away trying to brush things off, but God knew I needed a little encouragement.

Today is when we do Art  - so Jr and I spent some of our morning creating Space objects with clay which we will paint and make into magnets after they dry.  Jr loved it because while we were making space objects I was asking him all different questions about the planets and the universe and he got to tell me how much he knows.  I could tell he was loving it – in fact he told me numerous times! lol  

When we were done I felt like some music while I got lunch ready – so I put in Chris Tomlin.  I seriously haven’t listened to this CD in about a year – maybe longer!  And I don’t know what made me think of it and put it in. (Well, I guess I do.) I didn’t think much when the first song started until this line:  

Indescribable, uncontainable,

You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name.

Then my ears really perked up and I thought, Oh my goodness.  That’s the verse we were memorizing last week! 

Psalm 147:4-5

 4 He determines the number of the stars 
       and calls them each by name.

 5 Great is our Lord and mighty in power; 
       his understanding has no limit.

It’s like he’s saying, “YES, keep going!  I love that!” 

I love how God surprises us, encourages us and cheers us on.

Home School Update

So these first few weeks of Home Schooling has taken some adjusting.  The hardest week was, by far, the first week because I was starting with a curriculum that just doesn’t work with him. Basically it had a LOT of writing.  There is nothing Jr hates more than writing. I thought it wouldn’t matter and he might even enjoy it if it was all about Space… but… yeah.  Turned out not so much.  

The following week we started up Time4Learning.com and are using that for our foundation.  Because it’s a month by month fee, I figured we could finish up 2nd grade with it and look for a better suited curriculum for him starting in the Fall.  So far he’s loving it and I have ZERO issues with getting him to do his work.  He giggles at the lessons and thinks a lot of the stories are funny.  I think Interactive + ADHD = good combo!  So we’ll see… if it keeps going this well, we may just stick with it.  I just want to be sure he’s really learning and retaining everything.  I also am planning weekly trips to the library so we can do bi-weekly book reports (he’ll have to write or type that one out) on a book of his choice.  We’re memorizing a weekly Bible Verse, which he actually likes and has done great with.  And we, of course, are doing Science Experiments.  And I’ll start spelling up in a bit, but I’m waiting to start up his least-favorite thing while we get everything else situated.

Other than that we joined a Meet-up Group of Home Schoolers in North Austin.  They meet every week and have fun stuff for the kids to do — sometimes just getting together to play, sometimes for a field trip for learning fun.  One of the events coming up is Science Theatre where they show the kids all the things you can do with Science.  So cool!

I also asked Jr if he had the choice would he want to do a sport or learn how to play an instrument (we can’t afford both) and surprisingly he said he really wanted to play piano.  HUH?  Where did that come from??  I was really surprised.  I guess sometimes you just need to ask a direct question to know what’s going on in your kids mind.  lol  So we will look around for a reasonably priced keyboard and get him going with some piano lessons sometime soon, too.

One thing for sure, I am so happy I’m doing this.  Jr is SO much happier.  Being tagged as an issue at school, with everyone scolding him, being sent to the principal’s office regularly and then hating what he was doing all day really did make him miserable.  I can’t imagine what he went through all day!  I’ve definitely seen his ADHD come out, where he’s jumping off the walls and a bit overly wound-up, but I’m able to tell him he needs to go outside if he’s going to play like that.  Or if he doesn’t listen, he’s grounded and has consistant concequences.  (and it’s not even been that much of an issue.)  With so many teachers at school, there were different rules in each room and different tolerance levels for different behavior.  That is not good for any kid, but very difficult for kids with ADHD to switch gears and know and remember all the different rules.

It has also been a comforting time for me.  A lot of times the teachers reactions about Jr were so strong and annoyed and/or concerned that I was really worried about him.  They painted him as this delinquent kid with barely a conscious.  And Gosh, what would become of Jr as he got older? I worried.  It was probably wrong of me to let their words effect me so deeply, but they did.  Honestly, I don’t think I even knew how much I worried about him until after the last few weeks I’ve been able to let out a big *sigh*.  I’ve really been able to lay down any unfounded fears about what the future holds for him.  Jr is a GOOD KID.  (I’d yell that right now if I wouldn’t wake up the baby.)  He is an honest kid.  He is a compassionate kid and cares deeply for others.  He is stinking hilarious… and dedicated and kind.  He wants to do his best and always tries his hardest – but sometimes falls short of the goal because of his ADHD.  I’ve seen it first hand.  I shouldn’t  have let people who don’t truly care about him shift my view and make me worry so much.  He just needs a little extra guidance than your average kid.  Big deal.  Know what I mean?  

Thank you, Lord, for giving us this time together and opening my eyes and showing me the truth.  Truly.

Space Verse

Memorizing this verse with Jr this week:

 

Psalm 147:4-5

 4 He determines the number of the stars 
       and calls them each by name.

 5 Great is our Lord and mighty in power; 
       his understanding has no limit.

More Science Projects

Jr loved doing this project. 

 

** You will need to see it larger to see what’s going on and read it.  Sorry!

Moon Experiment

The first topic we are studying for home school is SPACE.  Jr is very excited about it.  Every day he learns something new – like how Venus rotates in the opposite direction!  He was so excited to learn that!  These are clips of an experiment we did to show how craters were formed on the moon.  It was really fun!

Homeschooling *Gulp*

Well after months (actually years) of consideration and prayer – the decision** has been made:  We are going to officially start to homeschool Jr!  

If you know us or read this blog you know that school has been a huge challenge for Jr.  I’d say that experience has been 90% negative.  We’re now in a great school district – The school here is great and his teacher is awesome. No complaints as far as that’s concerned which is such a relief and gives me even more confidence in my decision.  Because even though I think the school is as good as it gets, it’s just not working for him.  He’s doing okay grade wise, but is just miserable.  Some kids just weren’t made for the public school system.

I truly believe that he will thrive with one-on-one teaching and without the distractions of a regular classroom.  And I am excited to see him find his niche with learning instead of being bored, sad, frustrated and defeated.  And thrilled to be able to provide a learning environment where he feels confident, positively challenged, and excited to learn something new.

Maybe I’m sounding idealistic.  I don’t mean to be.  Believe me I know that there will be many bumps in the road… many learning experiences for the whole family… lots of change… lots of confusion… lots of having my head JUST over water.  But that’s okay.

I’ve been considering homeschooling for Jr since Kindergarten.  Because in AZ we lived in a HORRIBLE school district.  Jr’s first day of school he was placed in a class with 40 five year olds.  FORTY!  And when the parents had a stink about it they created a new class – but with only a substitute teacher.  (because noone wanted to work for their bad school district)  And there were no desks and nothing on the walls.  Just a pile of books in the center of the room.  Seriously.  Thankfully we got a boundary exception and drove him a couple miles away.  Before we were able to get in I was seriously considering homeschooling because – well, wouldn’t you?  That was the beginning of seeing it as an actual option.  Then the next couple of years Jr continued to truly struggle. At the end of first grade he was literally becoming depressed from getting yelled at in school constantly because of his ADHD.  I would read up on hs and decide to give it more time.

Honestly the only thing that’s kept me from pursueing it is my own fears.  What if I didn’t follow through?  What if something happened to dt?  Jr would have to go back to public school!  What about the daily grind?  What about lesson planning?  What about, what about, what about.

The last month or so It’s been on my mind a lot and I’ve really been praying about it.  I really believed that it would be so good for Jr and felt that God was leading me to that choice, but was hung up about all my fears.  Finally it clicked what I was doing and I decided I didn’t want to live according to my fears.  They would be worked out.  God doesn’t ask you take on more than you can handle.  All of the things I fear I’m lacking, God would give me.  God would give me strength and wisdom and patience and perseverance and humility .  I will most likely need to come before him daily to receive it. But is that so bad?  Maybe this journey will be just as much a benefit for me/our family as it will be for Jr – if we let it.

We are hoping to start after Christmas break.  I need to research more about the different state laws and find curriculums that I feel will speak to Jr the most.  If you homeschool and have advice or had good experiences with certain methods, let me know! (Especially methods that are good for kids with ADHD tendencies.)

Sure I feel nervous… like one does when starting something unknown and new.  But I mostly feel excited for Jr, because I really feel like this will be a great experience for him.

 

 

**Please note that the decision has been made, I feel great about it and I really don’t want to argue or discuss whether or not this is the right decision.  I’m just letting you know out there (family, friends, readers) that our lives are about to really change!  And the short version of how we came to that point. You might not “believe” in it.  You might not “get it”.  You might have a-gazillion opinions about the topic, but just stop.  Trust me.  Trust that we know what’s best for our family and our kids.  The End.  Hugs all-around!  And puppies!  Everyone gets a puppy!