Alphabet City

No, not the eccentric neighborhood in the East Village! This has to do with teaching Annie phonograms. 

I want to share more of what we're doing during our school day and this is by far one of the kids' favorite parts. It's fun because a lot of it is really beneficial for Graves, too. 

The way Logic of English (our reading and writing curriculum) works is that it gradually introduces phonograms (the symbols representing letters- for example "a") in fun and engaging ways. Each time a new one is introduced, the teacher's manual offers some suggestions of activities to do based on that sound/letter. 

We initially used the suggestions. Then I started adding in my own ideas. And lately, Annie has started coming up with some herself! 

Here are a few of the activities that I happened to document: 

E Day

 I needed to send something to Minnie so Annie decorated an (e)nvelope. 

M Day

We made an indoor and an outdoor (m)aze!

N Day

We emailed our favorite (n)urse! 

O Day

We had (o)pen-faced sandwiches, (o)melets, and (o)atmeal. We wore (o)range and went on a scavenger hunt at Mr. Coco's for healthy (o)range foods. Annie laced and traced an (o)ctagon and I made them a mini sensory box with more (o)atmeal and (o)range things (that was mainly a little something for Bud). I gave Annie several topics to choose from and later we got library books on (o)ctopi(?) and the (o)cean.

R Day

We used (r)ectangles to make a (r)eplica of the co-op and since I got the idea from a craft I saw yesterday at our friends' place, we talked about the (r)ectory and how it's sort of like the parsonage at home where Brodda Mitchell and Mrs. Catherine live. This provoked a conversation about how our friend Jake can be a (R)everand and a papa and I explained just like her papa can be a papa and a pharmacist. The we painted a (r)ainbow and wore (r)ed. We hopped like (r)abbits, (r)oared like lions, and (r)aced each other at the park. We (r)an from the (r)ain and ate (r)aisins, (r)ice cakes, and (r)avioli. So much of this one was Annie. She inspires me to do better. 


We are having a lot of fun in our little schoolhouse in the city and I love watching how Annie's creativity and hunger for knowledge are growing! 

Herrington Homeschool Routine

Awhile back (a long while back!) I wrote about the resources we use. It's been awhile, so that list really isn't current. I sort of touched on what we'd be doing for kindergarten here, but it was a very basic overview. I thought it would be fun to share our basic routine on school days, which are, theoretically, any week day that Peyton is working (it works better to have his off days as "adventure days").

Anyway, I split the day into four parts:

Morning
After the kids have their breakfast and watch their shows, I take my bath and get ready for the day while they play independently. I usually play with them for a few minutes and then we go right into our morning school time. This includes:

- reading a devotion. We are reading Good News for Little People right now and we love it. It's all stories from the gospels and it's easy and engaging without being too simplistic.
- practicing the catechism. Annie is doing great with this. Graves is starting to pick up a few things, too, which is really encouraging.

- calendar time. I skip this more than I should. The kids love it and obviously it helps with a lot of concepts.

- Read aloud. I try to read something to them that's slightly different than normal. For example, Annie has this houses book she really enjoys. It's super descriptive, it's not fiction, and it takes some time to plow through. It's different than just picking up a story book and reading it in a few minutes. We worked our way through the houses book over the course of several days.

I do all this in their room and Graves is present (physically, he checks out and plays a good bit, which is fine with me) for all of it. It takes twenty to thirty minutes.

Afternoon
This is what I do with Annie when Graves naps (or has rest time if he refuses to nap). It's usually the hardest to execute because I'm selfish and want that time to myself. But I've found that I can actually get a LOT packed into thirty or forty five minutes without Annie's little sidekick. During this time, I try to:

- Do her Logic of English lesson. This is the bulk of our afternoon school time. It includes learning the sounds the phonograms make, writing letters, and now reading short words. There's usually a specific skill to practice (identifying a sound at the end of a word for example), a little game, a workbook page or two, a page to practice letter writing, and a few new words that I either dictate and have Annie write (long and tedious) or write myself and have her read (we fly through those). As I said, it actually goes pretty quickly. She struggles with writing, but reading seems to be a strength.

- Do a few pages in her critical thinking book. We're using this one right now. I know when we add in a full math curriculum in the next month or so, these time will probably need to be lengthened, which is fine. We're using this book right now and I've been impressed with it.

- More read aloud. I read to Annie from a chapter book. Right now we're reading an American Girl book and she seems to be enjoying it. It's special to have a little time to read something that probably wouldn't interest Graves and is well above his level.

- Annie also has this Brain Quest workbook she likes to work through. It's not the most impressive thing, but there's really nothing wrong with it. One great thing is that it's really the first thing I've gotten her to work on independently. I read her the directions on a page and she can usually complete it without my help. It's mostly review for her, but I think it's helped her confidence and she really enjoys it.

All of this together takes about forty five minutes to an hour.

Evening

I know most people are DONE with a school day at five o'clock. Obviously. But Graves still takes a nap and I'm a night person. So it makes sense to me to fit in something edifying between his nap and supper time. Here's what happens then:

- We read our Five in a Row book. I want to do a post about this curriculum and blog about it more deeply, but the premise is that you read the same children's book every day for a week. The curriculum consists of a good many children's books and a teacher's guide that contains basic lessons that extend over a lot of disciplines. It shows how to integrate math, social studies, science lessons into what your are reading. Some of the books also make connections with geography, art, culture, and foreign languages. This is basically our science/social studies/humanities course right now =)

- We do Graves's critical thinking. This is the book we use for him right now. Sometimes we do two pages, sometimes we do six. I let his attention span guide that right now. Again, I'm okay with that right now.

- Some days we do an activity for Graves from Slow and Steady. I wrote a full post about it here. It's basically just great developmental activities to guide and assess your preschooler.

This takes anywhere from half an hour to an hour.

Late Night

Haha, I know I'm going to lose people at this point. It's really hardly anything, but I do consider it the the closing to our school day. -

- More read aloud. I am really pretty passionate about reading aloud if you can't tell. We have two read aloud books, almost always from the library. This is another way I try to integrate science and social studies. When Annie learns a new letter, we'll typically pick an animal and one other thing to "research" (for example, with "b" we might learn about bears and berries). Anyway, I pick one of those and also one from a stack of library books I've checked out specifically for Graves.

We like to get a big haul sometimes! 

- We read our Bible story.

I try to spend at least twenty minutes reading to them before bed.

So that's our school day for those who are interested. It might not work for everyone to split it up so much, but I enjoy it a lot more that way and I think for the age of children I have it's been really successful.

We also, of course, try to add in more reading throughout the day We have memberships at the American Museum of Natural History, The Met, and also the Children's Museum in Brooklyn so we try to take "field trips" when Peyton is off. One other thing I do is try to incorporate fun activities to go with the phonogram we're learning. I'll post more about that soon!

One other thing to note, I used to try to do lesson plans for a week. It worked for awhile and then I got to where I dreaded it. I know at some point that will be necessary, but right now I just plan during that time in the morning when they are playing independently!

We Have a READER!

I've been meaning to pop in and share some about what's been going on. I realized that my last post here was several months ago and it was sort of a general summary of what we were doing. Summer seems to be one of the most intense seasons of learning at the Schoolhouse in the City or at least it has been for the past two Summers I've been doing this. Anyway, I want to share some specifics about what we are up to.

Starting with....

THIS!

 This was the first day Annie read real words. I had to take a picture. I was so incredibly proud! 

A couple of weeks later Annie read her first "book" and just this week we've moved on to three word phrases. 

I pretty much hate phonics and I'm really enjoying the curriculum we are using, so that's saying a lot. I feel like Logic of English has been such a good fit for us. It goes pretty slow and it's easy to split the longer lessons up when I feel a little overwhelmed. It's really fun and engaging- Annie enjoys the workbook and most days include a game and the teacher's manual offers ideas for activities when we learn a new letter (as in learn all the sounds it makes and learn to write it). 

More than anything, though, I've loved being there for this and knowing I'm the one who helped her take her initial steps to what I hope will be a lifelong love of words. I so often hear stay at home mothers say that it meant so much for them to see their child's first steps or hear them say their first words. Honestly, and maybe it's that I have a teacher's heart still, this has meant more. It's such a big, big milestone to me and as I said I hope it's the foundation for something much bigger than she can now imagine. 

I'm so thankful the Lord has allowed me to be present as she begins such an amazing adventure! 

Schoolhouse in the City

I feel like it's been about a million years since I've posted over here. For awhile, I just didn't make this space a priority, but also in the interest of full disclosure, we've taken some SERIOUS time off from homeschooling. Like a couple of months. But our family has endured (and survived!) a *huge* season of transition, and I feel like their was so much wisdom in putting down the books during that time. Last Summer, we hit them harder than we did all year and I feel like we'll do the same again this year, so I'm kind of looking at it as a sabbatical we took in lieu of a Summer vacation.

Anyway, now that we're settled- or getting there- in our new home in Brooklyn (notice the change in the header!), we're easing back in. I knew it would be in my best interest to not add everything back in at once, but I did go ahead and order all the Kindergarten curriculum we'll be using for Ann Peyton.

We're using Logic of English (Foundations: Level A) for reading/writing.

Annie has been expressing a big interest in writing out words and reading them, so we went ahead and started this. It's playful and sensory oriented, but still structured enough that I feel like we're making good use of our time. It also includes a handwriting program and I've enjoyed having that all in one package. It starts out pretty slow and I think that's helpful so that we don't get ahead of ourselves. Honestly, I LOATH phonetics, so this is not something I'd been anticipating in a good way- I really think if I ever went back to teaching in a classroom I'd have to teach an upper grade; it's such a source of disdain. But, like I said, the program has been fun and enjoyable so far and I'm less annoyed by the idea of having to teach someone to read now ;)

I also bought Right Start Math to use as our math curriculum this year, but we probably won't start until Summer or maybe even early Fall.

We're still working our way through one of our wonderful Critical Thinking books and I want to finish that. Plus, I thought it would be easier on me to stagger starting the two curriculums, so I could kind of immerse myself in one before starting the other. That said, I'm SO EXCITED about starting this math program. It uses lots of manapulatives which I think will be perfect for Graves (who is very kinesthetic) later and will, at the very least, make it extra fun for Annie. Also, I love that it's very focused on understanding and not just memorizing facts. It seems perfect for the way I'd like to teach math.

As much as I hate "English", I love literature and adding back in chunks of read-aloud time has been maybe the most exciting thing. I picked back up where we left off with our Five in a Row books (I just realized I never blogged about this curriculum and I absolutely need to do it!) and so we're doing that several days a week (usually three or four, instead of five) and we've really been taking advantage of the public libraries here. Annie's been asking a lot of questions about all kind of things that are sort of in the field of science- how she grows, things about her skin and bones, how berries grow, and which animals stay awake during the night. Peyton was very proactive and seized this opportunity, so we've been getting some informational books in addition to our usual fiction. I think she's enjoyed that!

In addition to the library, we joined the Children's Museum here in Brooklyn and became members at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan. I was shocked at how much Annie has already absorbed at The Met and we've just been once. I miss Annie's little school back home, because SO much (ballet, gymnastics, Kindermusik, drama) was offered in one place, but obviously the city has so many fantastic opportunities to take advantage of.

We'll be adding in a few other things (memory work and such) in the next month or so, but not anything huge. Also, I probably won't start anything serious until Summer or maybe even Fall, but I'd like to get a game plan for "pre-school" for Graves in place sooner rather than later. Most likely, we'll focus on tracing and some basic memorizing, learning his letters (names and sounds) and then I'll use that first critical thinking book we used with Annie. I'm also going to try to start back with the weekly Slow and Steady activities.

And that's where we are right now! I'm so excited to be back in the saddle and I think the break helped me feel refreshed and ready to get going with all of this!

Herrington Homeschool Materials: Critical Thinking Resources

I'm still going through my list of materials we're currently using right now for homeschooling and this week I wanted to feature our Critical Thinking resources. We started out with this book which was a great general place to start and now we've gotten several that are more specific. We usually do a few pages from one of the books before bedtime and I just alternate which one I choose. Here's what we're using now:

Mathematical Reasoning

This is one of my favorites. It's fun and colorful and some pages are challenging for Annie but some are pretty easy for her. I like that it's a good mix and it seems to cover a lot of mathematical concepts. This pretty much is our math curriculum right now (aside from weaving it into other areas like reading stories), and I feel like it meets our needs well. 

Visual Perceptual Skill Building

This is not my favorite. The pages aren't as colorful and more of them involve writing, which isn't really a big deal, but I just generally prefer to be able to sit on the couch and bust through a couple of pages. 

Mind Benders

These puzzles are super fun. Every page is a chart like this. I have to guide AP a good bit, but she's surprised me with how fast she's picked up on the technique of filling out the chart. [We use a page protector thing so that we can use it later with Graves.]

Thinker Doodles

This is honestly my least favorite. Annie's not really very into "directed" art. And at four, I don't think that's a huge deal. She's actually not even really great at coloring in the lines and she struggles to hold a pencil correctly. We try to work on it some, but there are SO many more things I think (at this age) are more important. It's just really not a huge focus. 

Can You Find Me?

This is another favorite. Annie loves the riddles and I think they are so much fun, too. It's fun to get her to explain her thought process for figuring them out, too. 

One last thing: we have these BrainQuest cards for both the kids. Graves usually does a card a night and AP does a couple. 

This is definitely one of Annie's favorite parts of "school" and it's certainly one of mine, too. More than just teaching her concepts, it's very important to me to teach her how to think and to be a person who thinks critically. 

Herrington Homeschool Materials: Slow and Steady Get Me Ready

A month or so ago I wrote a post on the different materials and resources we use for homeschooling Ann Peyton right now. I told myself I was going to try to step it up a notch this Summer and I have! I've been more consistent and we've added a couple of new components. I'm hoping to write a couple of posts about the new stuff later, but first I wanted to shared more details about what we've been doing for awhile.

First up: this book!


I'm so in love with it and I really think the kids benefit when I take time to do the activities in it with them. I'm not really a craft person. Let me rephrase that. I enjoy doing crafts with my kids as long as they're age appropriate and not over the top. I think there's a time and a place for super cute crafts, but so often I see crafts that are pleasing to the eye, but really aren't teaching kids many skills. Personally, I just hate it when kids bring home things from school that really didn't teach them anything- it's just to look nice on the fridge. Anyway, I need to get off my soapbox about crafts.

The thing about this book is that it's SO practical. Every activity is either a "life skill" (this is what most of AP's are) or something that will help them move closer to a milestone (mostly in Graves's case).

[pink paper clip for AP and blue for Graves]

We've done activities with play dough. One week the activity was teaching Annie to play hopscotch. Another week Graves practiced throwing a bean bag in a box. Fun activities that I just forget to even think about! They're all pretty inexpensive and mostly use things you'd have on hand anyway. Most of the time, the prep work required is minimal and the activities usually don't take a terribly long time themselves.

This was a good example of "life skill" that I worked on with Graves. (Of course Annie helped). We practiced with buttons, velcro, snaps and zippers! Of course there are tons of toys and dolls on the market to help children with these skills, but it never would have occurred to me to just collect articles of his own clothing (and his sister's) and practice with those. So easy and the kids had fun one rainy afternoon with this practical little challenge!



Annie knows her letters pretty well at this point, but we're still working on pre-reading skills a good bit and any time I can think of a way to incorporate alphabet activities into our day, I think it's a good thing. One week the activity was making letters with noodles. Coincidentally, we were having spaghetti that week and I just cooked some extra for her to experiment with.



This was last week's activity and probably Ann Peyton's favorite to date. She learned to sew! I borrowed a plastic tapestry needle from my mom and as the book suggested found a coloring sheet and tapped it to some cardboard. I poked holes in it with a nail and Voila! it was her own little "embroidery" project.

Each week (I try to do it on Monday) I look at what the activity is and collect supplies and do any prep work and then I pick times I know the kids will be well rested and we'll have enough time to enjoy the activities and plan to do it then. Right now that's how homeschooling looks in general. It's a very organic thing and very relaxed. We're flexible and if we miss a week's activities we just double up the next week. I really, REALLY enjoy this part of homeschooling- teaching the kids small skills and big concepts within the daily flow of our life!

Herrington Homeschool Materials

A couple of people have asked me recently what we do exactly as for as homeschooling Annie. Awhile back I typed up something to send to a friend about the different resources we use and I thought it would be fun to share a little more here. I think I'm going to do more specific posts about each thing later, but for now he's an overview.

1. The Well-Trained Mind - This book is like a manual on how to homeschool if you're wanting to give your child a classical education. It's a really comprehensive book if you're interested in homeschooling for the long haul. I think the chapters on preschool have been really beneficial as a stand alone resource, though.

2. Beginning Critical Thinking Skills - AP *loves* this. It's sort of like puzzles that teach basic concepts like shapes, colors, angles/lines, patterns and reasoning. It's really cool. The book is sort of expensive, but I've loved doing it with her (we do three or four pages a night).

3. Slow and Steady, Get Me Ready- This is the neatest book. It has a different activity each week from birth until age five. The first week is like leg exercises with your newborn and the last week of year four is "how to pack an overnight bag". It's practical and fun. We had it for the longest time and I never got it out, but now I'm using it for both kids. I love how practical it is and that it reminds me to do things I just forget about- like teaching Annie to play hopscotch. 

4. We have some alphabet blocks and flashcards, and we work on letters some but not obsessively. At this point, she can identify the letters and tell me the sound they make and (most of the time) tell me a word or two that starts with that letter.

5. We use this type of Kumon workbook for tracing - I laminated the pages and put them in a binder and she uses dry erase markers so we use the same sheets over and over. We also have a workbook that teaches her cutting skills as well.

6. For memory work, the little school she goes to has different Bible verses each month and usually one other thing (a poem, a song, a diagram, ect.). I also usually pick a hymn I want to teach her that month. One or two verses, one hymn, and a short poem/diagram/ect. per month. Very manageable. Plus we have a kids' catechism we use. One thing the teachers at Annie's school really harp on is memory work because it's SO much easier to learn facts when you're tiny.

7. I've written about this before, but the last thing is that we REALLY try to take advantage of the library. AP's teacher focuses on a letter a week and I try to go online and look up books at the library with things starting with that letter (we did "cat" books for "c", for example).  I also try to pick ones that go with the calendar, too (Thanksgiving, Black History Month, ect.). Plus, I've started picking one long read- aloud book for her because kids can understand stories that are slightly above their working vocabularies. That's been super fun and AP's loved this component.

Like I said, I'll probably share more details about our routine later, but this is the basics.