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. 

Letters of the Week: I and L

As y'all know Ann Peyton is in school now- she goes twice a week to a little homeschool supplementation program in the area. She takes dance classes, Kindermusik, and gymnastics there, but they also focus on basic pre-reading skills. One thing I have loved is that they focus on a different letter each week.  

I decided that it would be fun as part of our homeschool routine to pick out a couple of words that begin witht that letter, find books on them and then do a (very small) activity to go along with it. The do little crafts and activities at school, but I decided it would be fun to do on a couple of the days that she's at home, as well. 

A couple of things:

I should be clear- I'm SUPER laid back about this. I really try to make it a priority, but we've missed a couple of weeks already and it's not something I'm going to let stress me out. But it's also been a good way to help me think up a few focused activities to do with her- something I've been trying to do with varying degrees of success for MONTHS. For some reason, the way my mind works, I just do better if I have a "prompt".  Like it's easier for me to start with a letter, then pick a topic, get a book, and then formulate an idea for a craft or activity rather than just browsing Pinterest for "toddler/preschooler activities at home" or whatever. 

The second thing is that I didn't realize how much Annie and I would both *love* the weekly library aspect. I  should have because we both adore books, but I didn't.  I'll probably do a whole post about that one here soon, but it's just been something really fun and neat and I've enjoyed it so much. 

Anyway, here are a couple of our weeks so far (like I said, we haven't been diligent every week).

 Letter I:

We read Immi's Gift which is an adorable little story about a little girl in an Igloo and also a nonfiction book called The Green Iguana. I'm going to do a separate post about my favorite library books so far and Immi's Gift I'm sure will show up there. The Green Iguana was a little more advanced than I realized, but AP still sat through it and I think absorbed a little. We'll probably mostly stick to stories from now on unless she displays a strong interest in something specific.



For our activities that week, we made an "igloo" in Annie's room and I told her that she could stick out her tongue and lick these "ants" of the "log" like a green iguana would!

The next week we did L (notice they don't go in alphabetical order).

We read The Apple Pie Tree, The Grouchy Ladybug, Leaf Man, and Wee Little Lambs. 

 And Annie made a little cotton ball lamb (I drew the outline and she glue-sticked some cotton  balls on it). We also collected leaves at my parents' house!

 Like I said, this has all been really easy and really fun.  It's wonderful to watch her learn about the world in an entertaining and exciting way!

Welcome to the Schoolhouse!

I decided that now that we've really started to dip our toes into the whole homeschool thing, I wanted a separate place to write about what we're doing, as well as my thoughts about education type stuff in general.

I thought "Schoolhouse in the Suburbs" was perfect, although in a couple of years I already have plans to change it to "Schoolhouse in the City" and if Peyton has his way it'll be "Schoolhouse in the Country" after that. 

I'm excited about sharing our adventures with y'all!