The boys fight, argue, and bicker with each other everyday. There is hardly ever a day that goes by that they don't have words with each other and sometimes this leads to physical altercations between them. I have tried many things (punishments) over the years to stop this constant turmoil. Now, I know that this is supposed to be somewhat normal.. it is in their nature to fight... boys will be boys ... there are lots of little cliche`s to explain it all away. BUT ... It drives the Mom (me) CRAZY!!!!
They spent the night with some of their home schooling friends a few nights ago. Rich and I went to pick them up the next day and we sat down and chatted a while with the parents. We were discussing our kids, and how they argue over the silliest things. She told me what she does to stop the insanity of bickering brothers... she makes them hug.. until they are friends again. I kinda chuckled a bit at this thought, but who am I to judge. Not to mention, everything else I have tried hasn't worked... not long term anyway. They stop for a moment, but always pick it back up within minutes.
I had the opportunity, the very next day (I knew it wouldn't take long), to try out this new little trick. Austin had gotten sunburned while at his friends' house. Andrew called him pink boy and Austin slugged Andrew in the face. I was witness to it all. So, I made them stand in the living room and hug each other for a while. They WERE NOT happy about it, but it was this or a spanking... so they hugged. It didn't take long for them to start giggling with each other. It is hard to stay mad when you are laughing. They were angels the rest of the day.
Today they started up again, just arguing this time though. All I had to say was, "seems like you guys could use a hug today". They stopped arguing immediately and have been getting along since.
Thank You, Tammy for your wonderful words of wisdom and a new way of stopping the insanity in my house. It worked like a charm! I Love my Friends!!!
Friday, July 15, 2011
Sunday, July 3, 2011
What's Going on Now....
I know I haven't blogged in a while, but better late than never.
We finally finished school a few weeks ago (for the most part anyway). We got a bit behind due to the two surgeries that Austin had this year, as well as, the surgery my husband had to have this year. All I have left to do is 'test' them, but as long as I do it before August.. we are good! I have been in the process of trying to get their curriculum in order for next year. I have been lucky, and have found some things that I am really excited about (and so are the boys). I really have my work cut out for me next year because I actually have to do lesson plans for the first time. The two previous years we were using K12 curriculum through Georgia Cyber Academy and they had everything all laid out for you already. All I had to do was look at our schedule each day and have them do what it said on the screen. This year, I won't have that luxury, I will have to plan everything out myself. However, I believe that we will have a much better curriculum this year than we had with K12. Now, don't get me wrong.. we really LOVED K12 the first year we used it... but GCA changed a lot of things last year (our 2nd year) and it was much more difficult for me to teach and for them to follow. Especially when it came to Math. The Math was changed from actually having a book to work with... to it being solely on the computer. AND the fact that they only taught one way of doing a particular concept, only added to the problem. I was constantly looking up different ways of doing things or teaching from my own experience/knowledge. I should also mention that there was absolutely NO review for Andrew's Math. My kids (most kids - I would be willing to bet) NEED a review every year over past concepts, BEFORE they are taught something new. Needless to say, GCA quickly became too frustrating for all of us!
The curriculum I have chosen for us for next year, as far as Math and Grammar go, is a constant review, everyday! We will be using Easy Grammar Curriculum. This, as I said, is a constant review. The boys will be reviewing past concepts for the first 10 minutes of everyday -- from punctuation and capitalization to parts of speech and sentence structure, etc. Then they learn the new concept and have practice pages to do with the new concept. Easy Grammar teaches with the prepositional approach. They will have to first memorize the prepositions, then they will be taught that once the prepositional phrase is crossed out -- it will not be the subject, verb, direct object, predicate nominative, or predicate adjective. The Math I have chosen (Saxon Math) is also a constant review everyday. This Math also helps to drill the basic facts (A, S, M, D) in their heads with quizzes at the beginning of every day on these basic facts. There are 100 problems on the page/quiz and they have 5 minutes to complete as much as they can - but, you only grade what they got right from 'what' they are able to get done in the 5 minutes. The goal is to have them compete with themselves and try to better their score each day by trying to 'out do' what they did the day before. Then they will have a page to do with all the past concepts (review), next they will learn a new concept and finally they have a page to do that is a mix of the new concept and past concepts along with one or two challenge problems (things they haven't learned yet). I am very hopeful that the curricula I have chosen for Math and Grammar will help them to be able to remember the concepts more easily.
For Science, I was lucky enough to find an actual 'school textbook & teacher manual' in a bookstore (that sells used/discounted books) in our town. It is McGraw-Hill Science. It is very informative with wonderful color pictures and illustrations throughout the book. It has lots of fun ways to teach/learn the information and also has fun experiments for the kids to do to help drive home the concepts being taught. The boys are excited that they will get to use a microscope and actually be able to look at a cell (among other things) in person, instead of just in a book. There are also Cross Curricula exercises in the book, that show the kids how science relates to other subjects that they are learning (Math, Reading, Grammar, History, etc.), as well as how it relates to life in the real world.
History... this one has given me some problems. I have been looking for a history curriculum that is a good mix of religious history and world history. I have a good history (History of the World in Christian Perspective) here that I will probably end up using... but it seems to be more religious than anything. I guess I just have to get it in my head that it is ok for this year and we still have plenty of years yet to learn about the wars, the presidents, American history and World history. Although, this history does touch on those things.. but it doesn't go into great detail about them from what I have seen.
I still haven't been able to find a Spelling or Vocabulary curriculum that I am completely happy with... but I still have time to figure those out.
We have been spending lots of time with our Home School Group this summer. I am loving the new dynamic of our little group! We have a wonderful Activities Coordinator that has been jam up with planning field trips and other activities for us to do that are either free or cost very little. This has really helped us to be able to join in more activities. We are doing a book club with the kids right now... and, of course, our wonderful Activities Coordinator, Tammy, is running this gem for our kids. They absolutely LOVE it and they LOVE her! The kids really seem to respond to her so well. They don't even really realize that they are learning, because she has planned such fun activities for them to do that makes it so entertaining! I hope she continues her role as our Activities Coordinator for a very long time! Our other coordinators are gems, too. They are wonderful, and really try to listen to the group as a whole as far as the direction our group is taking and will take. They really try to accommodate, as best they can, what the group as a whole would like to see, do and accomplish. We have been very lucky to find such amazing people/families to hang out with and learn with. Each one of them have really brought something special to the group and all of them combined have made this group something special and something to be proud of.. something that I am proud for myself and my kids to be a part of! Thanks for all the hard work you do ladies! I hope you all know how truly appreciated you all are to me and my family! Keep up the good work!
So, this is where we are at and what we are doing. I am learning a lot, along with my kids. Even a day at the park playing with Yo-yo's can be a wonderful learning experience if planned the right way!
We finally finished school a few weeks ago (for the most part anyway). We got a bit behind due to the two surgeries that Austin had this year, as well as, the surgery my husband had to have this year. All I have left to do is 'test' them, but as long as I do it before August.. we are good! I have been in the process of trying to get their curriculum in order for next year. I have been lucky, and have found some things that I am really excited about (and so are the boys). I really have my work cut out for me next year because I actually have to do lesson plans for the first time. The two previous years we were using K12 curriculum through Georgia Cyber Academy and they had everything all laid out for you already. All I had to do was look at our schedule each day and have them do what it said on the screen. This year, I won't have that luxury, I will have to plan everything out myself. However, I believe that we will have a much better curriculum this year than we had with K12. Now, don't get me wrong.. we really LOVED K12 the first year we used it... but GCA changed a lot of things last year (our 2nd year) and it was much more difficult for me to teach and for them to follow. Especially when it came to Math. The Math was changed from actually having a book to work with... to it being solely on the computer. AND the fact that they only taught one way of doing a particular concept, only added to the problem. I was constantly looking up different ways of doing things or teaching from my own experience/knowledge. I should also mention that there was absolutely NO review for Andrew's Math. My kids (most kids - I would be willing to bet) NEED a review every year over past concepts, BEFORE they are taught something new. Needless to say, GCA quickly became too frustrating for all of us!
The curriculum I have chosen for us for next year, as far as Math and Grammar go, is a constant review, everyday! We will be using Easy Grammar Curriculum. This, as I said, is a constant review. The boys will be reviewing past concepts for the first 10 minutes of everyday -- from punctuation and capitalization to parts of speech and sentence structure, etc. Then they learn the new concept and have practice pages to do with the new concept. Easy Grammar teaches with the prepositional approach. They will have to first memorize the prepositions, then they will be taught that once the prepositional phrase is crossed out -- it will not be the subject, verb, direct object, predicate nominative, or predicate adjective. The Math I have chosen (Saxon Math) is also a constant review everyday. This Math also helps to drill the basic facts (A, S, M, D) in their heads with quizzes at the beginning of every day on these basic facts. There are 100 problems on the page/quiz and they have 5 minutes to complete as much as they can - but, you only grade what they got right from 'what' they are able to get done in the 5 minutes. The goal is to have them compete with themselves and try to better their score each day by trying to 'out do' what they did the day before. Then they will have a page to do with all the past concepts (review), next they will learn a new concept and finally they have a page to do that is a mix of the new concept and past concepts along with one or two challenge problems (things they haven't learned yet). I am very hopeful that the curricula I have chosen for Math and Grammar will help them to be able to remember the concepts more easily.
For Science, I was lucky enough to find an actual 'school textbook & teacher manual' in a bookstore (that sells used/discounted books) in our town. It is McGraw-Hill Science. It is very informative with wonderful color pictures and illustrations throughout the book. It has lots of fun ways to teach/learn the information and also has fun experiments for the kids to do to help drive home the concepts being taught. The boys are excited that they will get to use a microscope and actually be able to look at a cell (among other things) in person, instead of just in a book. There are also Cross Curricula exercises in the book, that show the kids how science relates to other subjects that they are learning (Math, Reading, Grammar, History, etc.), as well as how it relates to life in the real world.
History... this one has given me some problems. I have been looking for a history curriculum that is a good mix of religious history and world history. I have a good history (History of the World in Christian Perspective) here that I will probably end up using... but it seems to be more religious than anything. I guess I just have to get it in my head that it is ok for this year and we still have plenty of years yet to learn about the wars, the presidents, American history and World history. Although, this history does touch on those things.. but it doesn't go into great detail about them from what I have seen.
I still haven't been able to find a Spelling or Vocabulary curriculum that I am completely happy with... but I still have time to figure those out.
We have been spending lots of time with our Home School Group this summer. I am loving the new dynamic of our little group! We have a wonderful Activities Coordinator that has been jam up with planning field trips and other activities for us to do that are either free or cost very little. This has really helped us to be able to join in more activities. We are doing a book club with the kids right now... and, of course, our wonderful Activities Coordinator, Tammy, is running this gem for our kids. They absolutely LOVE it and they LOVE her! The kids really seem to respond to her so well. They don't even really realize that they are learning, because she has planned such fun activities for them to do that makes it so entertaining! I hope she continues her role as our Activities Coordinator for a very long time! Our other coordinators are gems, too. They are wonderful, and really try to listen to the group as a whole as far as the direction our group is taking and will take. They really try to accommodate, as best they can, what the group as a whole would like to see, do and accomplish. We have been very lucky to find such amazing people/families to hang out with and learn with. Each one of them have really brought something special to the group and all of them combined have made this group something special and something to be proud of.. something that I am proud for myself and my kids to be a part of! Thanks for all the hard work you do ladies! I hope you all know how truly appreciated you all are to me and my family! Keep up the good work!
So, this is where we are at and what we are doing. I am learning a lot, along with my kids. Even a day at the park playing with Yo-yo's can be a wonderful learning experience if planned the right way!
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