Week One

Adorable.

Obligatory First Day of School Picture. 













Day one was definitely a day of figuring it out. All the planning in the world didn't change the fact that it was going to be trial and error in figuring out how long each lesson would go on, which subjects would be best to start the day with, and just how well Little Bug was going to tolerate Mom being Teacher. Thankfully, it went far better than I ever thought it would.

Handwriting (Copywriting) Work

Our fine motor skills are a bit rough. I don't judge--I failed handwriting in second grade ;) But it does mean we really need to practice it daily. (Though the fact he can use all those buttons on an X Box controller makes me seriously suspicious that he simply doesn't like handwriting.)

Math-U-See Lesson 1

Our first lesson using the Math-U-See went well. He loved using the blocks to build the 'houses' on Decimal Street. And since he had to build, write, say, it kept his attention well.

Months of the Year Trains

He grew tired of the Months of the Year song fairly quick. I knew we'd have to find something a little more interesting to him if he was going to memorize them. So I taped each month to a different train engine and created a story to go along with it. Little Bug had to get the months in the right order as quickly as he could.

Playdough globes

A simple but fun lesson on the world. We learned that it was round and mostly covered in water. 

Art & Nature Study, two birds, one stone. He used watercolors to make a cover for his nature study journal on the ocean.

You can see more of our first Nature Study here :)

Tide Pools at High Tide

We found this weird green, um, sponge (?) mixed in with the seaweed washed up on shore.

The park on the way to the ocean provided a great opportunity to burn off some energy. I'm counting it as some P.E.

 A different trip out to the quieter waters behind the harbor.

We read A House for Hermit Crab by Eric Carle to learn about some animals in the ocean and (bonus) it goes through the months of the year. So we used some pages from this packet I found online.

How and Why We Chose the Curriculum

Picking the curriculum will be the easy part. The fun part!

I was wrong. Oh, so wrong.

This was, by far, the most difficult decision. Certainly more difficult than the actual decision to homeschool. Countless hours were spent wading through forums and blog posts and articles. I spoke to people actually implementing specific curriculum. I guess I thought that 1st Grade would mean 1st Grade. No matter which we chose, he'd still be learning the same key points.

1 +1 will always equal 2 . .right?

Um, sort of?

Not really. 

Who knows . . .

What I DID find out was there's plenty of different homeschooling methods to choose from.

Traditional Method

Just as the name implies, it's, well, traditional. The child is doing the same things, only in your home as opposed to a school.

Little Bug likes to revolt against anything 'traditional'. Little Bug likes to revolt, period. (sigh) I knew from the start that what we'd be attempting to do would require a different approach. At least, if we wanted to do this homeschooling thing without a roll of duct tape for him and a bottle of Zanax for mom. 

Unschooling or Delight-Directed Method

No written curriculum. The child 'leads' you to what their interests are and it's your job to follow. I guess you try to eventually form unit studies based off their interests. It's a method highly debated in "homeschooling circles" (Oh yeah. Those exists. I imagine it's all very Sopranos-like, except people are armed with sharp #2s and a dangerous level of exhaustion as opposed to heavy accents and loaded guns).   

I didn't have to give this option a second thought. There was no way this would work for Little Bug. We'd do nothing but talk about trains, Plants vs. Zombies, and Minecraft.

When I read her books and quotes, it's always in a dry British voiceover.

Alas, the winner . . .


Charlotte Mason Method   


Why'd we chose to teach our child based off this British woman's teaching principles? If you gloss over her bio, you'll see she really did have a passion for igniting a love of learning in little ones. And for us, that's big. I don't want a kid who can make good grades just because he's expected to. I want him to never stop being curious. To love learning and to want to learn everything under the sun so he can understand the hows and whys of the world.
There are plenty more cheesy, well-meaning parenting sentiments that I won't force you to endure.
But really, it came down to this:

Little Bug LOVES to read and be read to.
Have you ever met a true ADHD boy? The phrase 'bouncing off the walls' isn't far from the truth.
If there's one thing that will get him to pay attention and focus, it's books. But not just any books--Charlotte Mason uses Living Books--and LOTS of them. The CM Method is also heavy on being outdoors. What better way to learn about the world around you than to use your senses and experience it?

CM also believed in keeping lessons to an appropriate length for the age. Little Bug won't be forced to listen to me drone on for half-an-hour. And the literature-heavy curriculum allows for plenty of breaks.

We're following the booklist at Ambleside Online, a website that offers up all things CM, along with a forum. Seriously, these folks have done almost all the work for you. You just have to download the planner for the Year you're looking for (they do Years, not Grades).  Most books you'll be using are available for free online via the Gutenberg Project and Ambleside even links directly to them.

We did have to add on our own Math and Spelling/Language programs. We asked around, checked reviews, and went with  Math-U-See and The Wilson Reading Program.  It was beyond what I could hope for when I met a former teacher with experience with LD kids who offered to help with the reading lessons and some math.

Naturally, this could all go out the window next week. We won't know what works until we try it, but I have a feeling it's going to be a pretty close match in what we're looking for.

The Curriculum

We aren't going to fiddle much with the Charlotte Mason Curriculum for Year One available at amblesideonline.org

 

Many of the books are classics and available for free online directly through a link provided within the booklists. Some we bought simply because I didn't want us to be completely dependent on electronic devices for all our lessons (kindle, computer, etc), though I will utilize those in an effort to shake things up now and then. I also decided to add some things in such as time telling, nouns/verbs, character development, etc to round it out.

Term One Nature Study--The Ocean

Deciding what our first Nature Study focus would be wasn't a hard decision.

September is the end of tourist season here, meaning the beaches once teeming with vacationers is finally settling down.

 

Little Bug is most certainly a water baby.

And this momma is always willing to grow her collection of shells and sea glass.

So throughout Term 1, we'll be visiting different areas along the shore. Peaceful little coves tucked away behind the harbor. Flat expanses of coastline that take the brunt of the crashing waves. And of course, the giant stretch of tide pools that will hopefully display some cool critters that I will hopefully be able to somewhat identify using this giant tome.

 (Seriously. This book has some heft).

I wouldn't exactly classify myself as a outdoorsy girl. I was essentially kicked out of girl scouts after a year. But as a child I spent countless hours outside, so here's hoping I can instill some sort of appreciation for the Great Outdoors into Little Bug.

The Chore Chart

Sometimes it's like the blind leading the blind around here.

How can I expect to keep Little Bug on task when I can barely remember which ones we need to get done? My method of medication is usually over organization. But sometimes it's the simple things, like this chore chart.

It's simple, visual, and the kiddo gets to put his own stars on every day once his tasks are complete.

Behavior Chart

Knowing we'd need something visual that would provide a constant reminder for doing our best, I made this behavior chart using a printable online. For every day he stays above the consequence line, he earns a sticker. Five stickers=a special treat.