Journal of the Home-Educated

Each of my older children has a journal.  My 2 year old mostly just colors in hers...although she pretends to write.  She will even "sound out" words and say various letters as she "writes".  She can make an "O"...so many words end up "oooo".  

My 5 year old has been writing in his since he was 4.  I really find it challenging to read phonetically sometimes.  It's great not only to see him interested in writing, but it's so special to peer into his little heart and mind at a new angle.  I think he is able to express his thoughts with more clarity when he writes than he is verbally.  Sometimes what he writes makes me laugh...sometimes it melts my heart, and occasionally, it causes me to take a step back and take a painfully honest look at myself, and my interaction with him.

Here are a few excerpts from my son's journal:

"I like doing my journal and I like doing my school."

"We used to almost have a baby.  When she popped she was beautiful!"

Our youngest daughter was born several months ago.  He was recalling when I was pregnant with her..."almost have a baby."  And when we talked about the baby being born we would say she was going to "pop out".   I know - it's not incredibly scientific...and unfortunately not too accurate either, I seriously wish they would just "pop" out.  But it's not too far of a stretch...they sorta pop out. 

I love that he calls her beautiful...so sweet!  He also wrote about the baby in another entry, which I didn't post this time.  In that one he calls her "cut" [cute].

"Bouncy balls are fun."

[naturally followed by renderings of bouncy balls: one for each family member and then three more, one each for his most favorite toys]

"I can't stop crying right away."

This is one of those entries that kind of grips me.  It catches me and forces me to think about how I am parenting.  My son is, well, dramatic...and emotional.  I'm not sure if it's his age, life changes that are happening in the family...or just his personality - or maybe something else.  However, it. is. so. painful...for him, for my husband and I...for his siblings. 

He has developed a tendency to respond to situations he dislikes with high pitched crying and screaming.  Recently, we have determined to take a "zero tolerance policy" approach to it.  It's just not ok for him to yell.  Whether it's a loud sad wailing or an angry outburst...he is punished whenever he chooses that behavior.  

While I think this is good, I also realized that sometimes he just needs to be removed from the situation and given time to consider what transpired.  Often I just expect and demand that he stop...right now.  And although I think he is able and must learn to discipline himself in that way...sometimes he needs some space and some time to cry and be sad.  Not to yell and be hysterical - that I won't tolerate...but I need to allow him some space to express his emotions in a healthy way.  It's my job to correct his poor behavior, but also to guide him and show him how to appropriately express his thoughts and emotions, not just to train him to suppress them, although that skill is also important. 

Sometimes we all just need a good cry.  

 

"I wish that Dad could stay home."

"I am good at Mario Brothers and I am good at Toy Story."

[wii games - see previous post...]

"Mom, I love you and sometimes I want to snuggle.  I love you."

[*smile*...*sigh* I mean, really...how precious is that?!]

"[My sister - I've omitted her name] is naughty sometimes.  [She does] not share sometimes."

"Lions are scary.  Alligators are scary.  I don't like bugs in our garden eatin' our food."

"I am happy 'cuz I'm doin' my journal."

And I am also happy he is journaling.  Good job, kiddo!

An ABC Flashcard Party

My 2 year old and I have been studying the alphabet together.  Everyday for the past several weeks, we go through the upper and lower case letters using flashcards.  I picked these up at a yard sale for less than $1.00.  Yay!  These cards, by School Zone, [you can also purchase here at Amazon.com] have colorful images on one side depicting something that begins with the letter shown on the flip side.  We use the "picture" side to identify objects...and I use them to quiz my older son on spelling.  ["Zebra starts with 'z'...Turtle starts with 't'..."]

But while we are studying ABC's, we only use the "letter" side.  I show her the card, and ask her if she knows the letter, [she claims she doesn't] and then I tell her the name of the letter and ask her to look at the letter and say its name.  Then she traces the letter with her finger [I make sure to direct her, so she will begin learning how to properly write the characters.] and tells me the name of the letter again. 

I mentioned before that she is frustrating to teach sometimes, because she often knows the answer, but chooses not to say it.  I KNOW she knows it!  But she will not divulge the answer unless she feels like it.  I'm not sure if it is laziness or lack of confidence - I'm fairly certain it's neither.  She is just determined.  She does things on her time, when SHE is ready...and if she decided she does or doesn't want to do or say something, no amount of coercion or bribery will sway her to act otherwise.

So, for the past several weeks, the only letter she would admit to recognizing has been "O" and "o".  That's it.  Out of 52 cards, she would only identify 2!  Two.  Ugh.  I was becoming discouraged.  Maybe it's just too difficult for her, I thought to myself.  Maybe she's not ready yet.  Maybe I'm an awful instructor...

So, you can imagine my shock when we began our routine of naming the letters on our flashcards this morning and she immediately began identifying all kinds of letters! 

Y...P...x...K...p...O...W...s...y...k...o...S...F...Q...q...- OH. MY. 

We were hi-five-ing  and cheering and laughing and having a little party the whole time!  Her brother was sitting next to her and cheering her on and laughing with delight and telling her how smart she is, then looking to me and asking if I "could even believe how smart she was getting"!  It was FUN!!! 

Jaw-dropping, discouragement-annihilating fun! 
Love those moments!

So, now I can breathe a little easier. I'm not crazy. I know she gets this stuff...she's just independent and determined and she kind of does her own thing. I truly admire that in her...although I often pray for wisdom on how to guide and direct that part of her character into becoming something healthy and useful for her, rather than discourage it - or ignore it and allow it to grow destructive roots in her heart.

Now I'm off to make her a "Good job!" page. My son asked me to make one for him yesterday and after her flashcards this morning he asked if we can make one for her too. We've started putting stickers on the page when he does really well in his academic studies. They are both excited to tell Dad all about it when he gets home today. :)

Handwriting

From my 5 year old's Bible journal:

Coloring Journal

I grabbed up a few of these great spiral bound journals at Michael's [craft supply store].  They are made by Crayola and were only $1!  They are made for kids to color their own journal.  My 2 year old likes to "journal" like her big brother...but her entries are slightly more difficult to decipher. 

I, however, have grown quite acute to her writing style and I would be happy to interpret for you. *ahem*

"I have the best mom ever!  I appreciate everything she does for me."

"Today I was talking with mom and I noticed just how gorgeous she is...wow!"

"I don't even mind much when mom says, 'No.'.  I know she probably knows better."

"Man!  My mom is super smart!"

"I like ice cream."

"When I grow up, I want to be just like my mommy."

"Dad's ok and all, but it's hard to compete with a mom as fun as mine!"

"Once upon a time, there was a cute little girl [me!] with a super awesome mom. The end."

Magazine Alphabet

My son finished a project today that he has been working on for the last week.  His assignment was to search magazines and choose pictures of items that begin with each letter of the alphabet.  Next he needed to cut each picture out and tape them to his workbook page.  And then he was to write the letter each image begins with next to the pictures. 

His "workbook" is simply a basic spiral lined paper notebook. 

We found a box of them at Walmart several years ago marked 5 cents each - yes, that's right!!!  FIVE cents!  Can't beat that.  So we purchased them all...and have found great uses for them.  For my son's school workbooks I simply labeled each of them. 

We use them for just about everything, Math, Bible, Writing, Journaling - but I think that's a post for another day. 

I thought this project was a great way for him to develop motor skills as he practiced cutting with scissors, to identify images, to sound out and spell words, to gain experience organizing alphabetically, and to practice writing letters.  Plus, it was a way to put a few old magazines to good use! 

I was delighted with his creativity in choosing his pictures, so I thought I'd share with you what he found.

A is for Animals.

B is for Baby.

C is for Crackers.

D is for Dollars.

E is for Eat.

F is for Food.

G is for Grass.

H is for Him.

I is for Ice Cream.

J is for Jack-O-Lantern.

[He didn't know what this picture was, when I told him, he exclaimed, "Hey Mom!  That starts with J!"]

K is for Kid.

L is for Light.

[Because "the lamp is turned on and the brightness is coming out of it..."]

M is for Money.

[Ok, so far we have Dollars and Money...]

N is for Naked.

Now, when he came to me while I was cooking and proclaimed proudly that he had found a picture for "N" and it was "naked", I was initially slightly alarmed.  Ummmm...gee son, what kind of magazines are you ruffling through?  I was relieved when he clarified that it was a naked baby.  Ohhhh, a naked BABY...whew.  [I was pretty confident it couldn't be anything too risque...I mean, he was cutting up Martha Stewart and those free Parenting mags they send out to new moms...but you never know.  A boy could stumble upon a Dove advertisement or something...]  Naked.  Lol!

O is for On.  The boy is On the clouds.  Nice.

P is for Parachute.

[This picture is sooo tiny!  I'm amazed that he spotted that parachuting teddy in the first place - and knew what a parachute was.]

Now, "Q" was a little bit difficult.  All he could think of was quilt.  But he couldn't find a quilt.  So, I listed off as many "q" words as I could think of for him, and this is what he came back to show me:

Q is for Quack.

I know he misspelled several words...but spelling out the words wasn't even part of his assignment.  He tried on his own initiative and did pretty well phonetically.  So, I bit my OCD-perfectionist tongue and told him "good job."  We can work on the details later.  ;)

R is for Read.

[...because "these are words that you read, Mom."]

S is for Silly.

T is for Toy Story.

[This was by far his favorite picture to cut out: a Toy Story Lego Set.  See the missing triangle above Woody and Jessie's heads?  More on that later...]

U is for Up.

["This bear is riding an airplane...which goes Up in the sky."]

V is for Vegetables.

W is for Walk.

["Look, somebody is walking."]

"X" was another tricky letter.  Neither he nor I could think of very many words that begin with "X".  So I told him he could find a word with the letter "X" in it.  He found...

X is for relaX.

["Because it looked like she was gonna relax."]

Y is for You.

Remember the missing triangle from the Toy Story Lego set?

Z is for buZZ.

BuZZ Lightyear.  To the end of the alphabet...and beyond! 

So...now you have a use for your stash of unwanted magazines.  Turn them into crafts/homework.  ;)