Accomplishments

As 5th grade, 2nd grade and preschool come to a close at the Jorgensen Academy, I find myself reflecting on our many achievements. Usually this time of year, I pat myself on the back and say “you survived another year”,bow my head and thank God that He supplied all sufficient grace for another year.

 

While I am proud of each of the boys accomplishments this year, I can’t help but reflect on one in particular. I think of our oldest son and the growth he’s experienced this year. First, I remember his willingness to reach for the title of Memory Master. We have been a member of the Classical Conversations community since he was in Kindergarten. Each year the boys have the option to strive to memorize all of the grammar for the entire school year. It’s over 500 pieces of information! This is the first time Jacob’s been willing to try for it, and he succeeded! He committed to memory 161 events and people in chronological order, 24 history sentences, 44 U.S. Presidents, over 100  geographic locations in Europe, Asia and select parts of the world, 24 science facts, Latin verb endings of the first conjugations, English grammar facts, multiplication tables up to 15x15, as well as basic geometry formulas and unit conversions. He put in a lot of work and was able to recite all that grammar to another parent and tutor! I couldn’t be more proud!

Jacob with his friends from CC

I also think of his experience this year with the DOD program Starbase. For one week, he participated in this program which seeks to “engage students in inquiry-based curriculum with its hands-on, minds-on experimental activities” in science, technology, engineering and math.

His class consisted of homeschooled 5th grade boys and girls. At first, he was really unsure about being in a “classroom” for 5 days from 9am-3pm but after the first day, he couldn’t wait to go back! The students were grouped into teams and given roles to accomplish their tasks. They even made call names for themselves, he chose “Nova”.

One the first day, the teachers tested all the students and would test them again at the end of the week to track their progress. When the test scores were released, I was excited to see that on the first test,he scored one of the top three scores among his peers! Yay Jacob!

One of his favorite projects was driving this robot car on a map. He discovered geocaching and we’re looking forward to doing more of that as a family. The class also spent a day at the Museum of Natural History and met with an Air Force officer who explained the importance of a good education and let them view a helicopter and its weapons. Jacob was very impressed with this presentation.

Most recently, Jacob has tried out for and has been invited to play in our local competitive soccer league. For the first time, in the fall, he will experience his favorite sport outside the world of fun and fair. He’s good enough and he’s ready for the challenge. I look forward to watching him grow even more as a sixth grader-yikes!

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

and do not lean on your own understanding.

In all your ways acknowledge him,

and he will make straight your paths.

Be not wise in your own eyes;

fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.”

Proverbs 3:5-7

Swapping

This summer as I was planning out our current school year, I started thinking “What am I going to do with my two preschoolers?” This is the first year I’ve had to consider how I would manage two children in school and two children not yet in school.

The baby was a no brainer, he would be content to sit and play with toys, nap or eat. But my three year old is an entirely different subject. He is content with an activity for about 5 minutes! I’ve seen ideas for Busy Bags (activities geared for preschoolers that fit into bags) all over the internet and Pinterest and I knew my little guy would really enjoy them. But buying supplies for several bags and taking the time to prepare them all might be too time consuming. That’s when I thought, “I wonder if there are other moms that are facing the same issue as me?”

I’ve learned in my experience as a homeschooler that I need other moms. I need to learn from their insight and wisdom. At times,  I need their help. I always want to be encouraged by them. I need their shoulders to cry on. And sometimes, I just need some fun!

So I asked all my mom friends with preschoolers if they would be interested in doing a Busy Bag swap. To my surprise, there was lots of interest. Friends invited other friends and before I knew it, there were at least a dozen other women wanting to participate.

Here’s what I did, I created an online sign-up and each person signed up to prepare one particular Busy Bag activity, one for each member of the group. For instance, I signed up to make the alphabet match-up activity so I made one for each person in our group. Additionally, I set a price limit for each bag. Then, we arranged an evening together. Yes, there were desserts involved . We exchanged our bags so at the end of the night, each lady walked home with 12 different Busy Bags for her preschoolers!

These were some of the activities we created

Austin had been enjoying his Busy Bags this year. Even my big boys like to take a break from school and help their little brother.

I am so thankful to have such an amazing group of friends and other moms around me. They make activities like this one a possibility!

Here We Go Again

It’s that time of year again. The one where we say goodbye to summer and hello to school! Considering we spent most of June sick and most of July helping Ian to recover, I’m not even sure we had a summer. God had other plans for us it turns out—and His are always better so we’ll trust Him still.

All in all, it was a successful day. I’m excited for a few new things the boys are doing this year (for those of you readers interested in our curriculum choices, I updated the pages “The First Grader” and “The Fourth Grader”). Jacob is enrolled in a grammar/writing program called Essentials. Truthfully, I’m super excited to be learning this material with him! And the boys are doing an online self-paced history course through Veritas press that focuses on the history timeline we have been committing to memory. I love history too.

By the way, these pictures were taken in our newly re-decorated schoolroom! More pictures of all my projects to come soon (I hope).

Honestly, I don’t even know why I ask them to smile before noon, it never works .

What is Good Science?

We learned this week in our classical classes that good science is the constant search for accurate information.

So the boys and I set out to create a fun science project. And what better way to learn and have fun than by making rock candy?

We started out with empty glass jars and wooden skewers coated in sugar, cut to the length of each jar.

Next, we combined sugar and water at a 3:1 ratio in a saucepan over medium heat until it started bubbling. We I didn’t have the patience to wait for it to boil, and it still worked.  After the mixture cooled, we poured it into the individual jars and added food coloring.

Then came the technical part. We secured our wooden skewers in the sugar syrup with…clothes pins It’s so technical, shirts aren’t required.

Then, we found a sunny spot for our jars and watched and waited.

Day One, not much happening. And I decided to cover them with coffee filters. The dust parts falling on the tops really bothered me. I’m crazy like that.

Day Three, large crystals begin to form.

 

Day Three, it’s really building up.

Big Finale, day seven.

I’d say this experiment is certainly considered good science!

Why are the Home-Educated Doing So Well?

May this post encourage all my homeschool friends on their journey to home educate their children. I know it encouraged my heart as we begin another school year!

I recently read an article from The Homeschool Magazine titled "Research Revelations About Homeschooling" by Brian D. Ray.

In the article he cites numerous studies and summarizes the statistics with this quote, "Multiple researchers and their studies repeatedly find, however, the home educated to be developing as well or better socially, emotionally, and psychologically than institutionally schooled children and youth".

So we ask the question, why are the home-educated doing so well? Mr. Ray tries to paint the picture for us with another question for the "professional educator". He says this,
"Ask any "professional educator" the following questions:
1.   How would you like a class size of 3 to 6?
2.   Would you like to be able to individualize or customize the curriculum and pedagogical            approach for each of the students, according to his or her talents, needs, desires, and dreams?
3.   How would you like it if you could essentially tutor each one of your students?
4.   Would you like it if you could depend on the student mastering the knowledge or skill before moving on?
5.   Would you enjoy being able to be flexible and change the curriculum or pedagogy if needed?
6.   What if you regularly had time to stop for the teachable moment?
7.   What if there were essential value consistency between you and your students, or their parents?
8.   Would it be beneficial to have large amounts of social capital-for example, trust and love-in your classroom?
9.   How would you like it if the biggest distraction during your day was, typically, a 7-year-old arguing with a 10-year-old about whose turn it is to wash the dishes?
10.   How would you like it if you almost always had time to thoughtfully and carefully work out, according to a solid and dependable philosophical framework, with each student how to face dilemmas, challenges, issues, temptations, and difficult relationships in life?
11.   What if you cared so much about, loved each of your students so much, that you would teach for free (i.e., no salary and benefits) all next year?"


Now that, sounds like a system that can and does work! There are a million reasons why we homeschool. The list presented, names a few. And it reminds me of how important the work (that I do for free) is!

It's That Time Again

Monday marks the beginning of the Jorgensen Academy's 2011-2012 school  year. It's time to pull out our 3rd grade and kindergarten books and snap to it. I know it's just the beginning of August but with baby #4 coming in December, we would be wise to get ahead rather than fall behind this year.

So this post is really a request for prayer. Please pray for us that God would be glorified in our school year. That the boys would not only grow in their education but in character as well. That through learning, many valuable teaching moments will be utilized. That we would see learning as a joy rather than a chore. That we would be wise in how we give and spend our time. And most of all...for patience, for me. 

For those of you interested, I updated my blog pages with the curriculum I am using this year.

One of the Many Reasons...

Reason #13,701 that I love being a home school family starts with a story.

Imagine a little boy, grabs his lunch, kisses his mom goodbye and hops on the school bus. He's headed for a day with his teacher and third grade classmates. He enjoys a morning filled with math and reading time, then finds himself ready for lunch as his tummy grumbles. When instructed, he heads towards the cafeteria with his lunch his mother packed with love.

He arrives at the lunch room and stops to survey the best place to enjoy his break. First he sees the tiny but sweet kindergartners enjoying their pb&j's and grapes. They aren't quite as mature as he is but they're still having lots of fun. He looks a little farther over and sees all his best buds sitting together eating their cool kid lunchables. He knows he'll have great conversations with them about all their favorite video games and best poop jokes. He puts on a smile and he walks over to hang out with the kindergartners to make new friends.

What would you think about a scene like this in schools today? Is this typical or rare for classroom students? Would he be labeled "weird" for interacting with children not in his grade?  How often in your environment or work place do you interact with people who are only exactly your age?

One wonderful outcome of having the privilege to home school is my children are learning to interact with many different age groups throughout their education. While they spend the day with their older/younger siblings, they are learning how to enjoy different age groups. I believe this will serve them well when they become independent men in the workforce. They will have the ability and desire to appreciate all different age groups.

I witnessed this in my oldest son this weekend when we spent the morning with neighbors at our favorite coffee house, Pearland Coffee Roasters.  Our neighbors have two girls, 5 and 3 years old,  and a baby boy. I watched my son as he happily played a game of Dora dominoes with them because he knew they would like it. I remember being a third grader and I remember how important it was to be cool and shed "baby" ways. But here was my son, adapting to another age group easily.

And I was reminded that the work I am doing with them is so important and so valuable.

A Book Project

Reading is important. Loving reading is even more important. I didn't LOVE reading growing up. But I do now...whenever I get a chance to. I like to encourage my boys to read as much as possible. We borrow books from the library constantly, I stock their bookshelf with authors they love to read from and reading is incorporated into our bedtime routine.

This week, we took the opportunity to be creative with the book Jacob is currently reading, The Little House on the Prairie. There's lots of ways to be creative with the story you're reading. Sometimes we act it out, use puppets and make a play or make comic strip drawings. This time, my plan was to help them make wagons and a few paper dolls for the characters. Little did I know HOW creative the boys would get. They made a whole Little House on the Prairie scene, complete with Jack the dog, hay for the horses and a creek!

So have fun with your kids and what you're reading!

Papet Vaudois

I've never heard of it. Never tried it. On our brave journey we made our way to Switzerland.

 Ian and I have actually been there...

but we never had this dish. When we visited, a friend tried to teach me the language (a similar version of German), it did not stick with me. Still, we enjoyed the skiing, fresh bread and cheese and the AMAZING views.

Some dishes just remind you of places. I remember the warm hospitality I felt when a friend made us 40 garlic clove chicken. I feel the romance shared over a pot of fondue at the Melting Pot. I cherish memories with sweet friends over Tim's pie.

Food has a way of reminding us of memories. So I am continuing my attempt to help my children remember European geography through their stomachs. Papet Vaudois is prepared with potatoes, leeks, smoked sausage and whipping cream. It was a tasty dish and this is JJ's response to our digestive trip through Switzerland...

I can't quite tell if it's delight or disgust...but memorable none-the-less.

Our visit to Germany...

Part two of my attempt to cook our way through geography seems to be successful. This time, we visited a country we hold very dear. A country we lived in for three years and where our first son was born...Germany. There are so many cuisines I remember from this place and it was difficult to choose just one. I ended up serving one of the most recognized German meals...bratwurst. I remember when we first moved there, it took us a while to recover from the jet lag and settle in. There was so much we had to do in order to setup our home. Once we got unpacked, we headed to Wurzburg to visit Ian's brother Philip and wife Leilani who were also stationed in Germany. We ate at a little resteraunt downtown. I was so excited to be there. So excited to get a real bratwurst! So that's what I ordered. When the plate came out, I realized my idea of the bratwurst was not authentic. My American version involved a grill and a bun. What I was served must have been boiled and alone on the plate. Confused, I asked for a bun and was served a roll. I stopped trying to get my version and embraced the real Germany. So this is what I served this week. The real Germany. Bratwurst with apples, onions and sauerkraut, WARM German potato salad, pumpernickel bread and a cucumber salad with dill yogurt.

Guten Appetit!

Contemplating Truth

    Today is our official last day of summer. I will miss the laid back beginning to each day, the time spent connecting with friends, the carefree decision making, the freedom for extra projects, and the hot summer sun. Actually, I won't miss the latter part but, we do enjoy our summertime!
    So as I think about another school year on our doorstep,  what am I excited about?

"Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come.  She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the law of kindness is on her tongue.  She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.  Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also,  and he praises her; 'Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all'.  Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.  Give her the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates." Proverbs 31: 25-31

"But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on  toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" Philippians's 3:13-14 

"By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; And by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches." Proverbs 24:3-4

Notes From the Practicum

Last week I attended the Classical Conversations Practicum here in Houston and was immensely blessed.  Thanks to some amazing friends who stayed with my three boys (and their own children) I was able to benefit from all the conference had to offer.  It was a blessing to see friends from our past campus, current campus and to meet new friends as well.
I thought I would share a little bit of what I learned there.
"Children are souls to be nurtured, not a product to be measured" was the overall theme to much of what we learned about.  That as home schoolers, we are to consider the nature of children as we teach them the art of learning.  Proverbs 22:15 says "foolishness is bound up in the heart of the child".  As such, we must be educating to their nature.  So are you home schooling in freedom or fear? Psalm 78:72 uses David the shepherd as an example for us "with integrity of heart, with skillful hands he led them".  That is the goal.  Also, we teach so that our children will "use knowledge and understanding to discern beauty, goodness and truth".  Dorothy Sayers believes in a modern education, "they learn everything except the art of learning".  So we must strive that they see the relevance in everything.  And everything points back to God.  We must contemplate the nature, purpose and propriety of everything.  
All this and more was incredibly helpful to encourage me for another full year of educating my children.  Lastly, Andrew Kern said "Why are we wasting our time with knowledge and power when we could have wisdom and virtue?".
 

Choosing Curriculum

Each year, this time of year, I spend a lot of time contemplating.  My time doesn't go to thoughts of world peace or current economic politics but to something far greater.  I spend the summer thinking over the teaching and training of my children in the admonition of the Lord.  Specifically, home school curriculum.

There is so much material available for home school families, for which I am grateful.  But the overwhelming choices make it difficult to decide which is the best tool for our family.  There is no such thing as the perfect material, only the best tool to meet your families individual needs.   There are a couple questions I ask.
Does the curriculum...
1. meet my children's educational needs?
2. give a God-centered, not man centered, view of the world we live in?
3. is it appropriate for their specific level, not necessarily grade level but skill level?
4. is it worth my time and money?

I find the answer to these questions in different ways. Sometimes it's plain old research, word of mouth or browsing through the material itself.

So this is some of what we ended up with this year...

We are going on our third year of using Veritas and absolutely love it and recommend it.  A friend of mine was using it with her family and let me browse the material before I purchased our own.  After using the phonics museum kit to successfully teach my son how to read, I was grateful for it. Here are some of the things we liked about using the program...
~it was very easy to follow and teach
~my son enjoyed the activities and lesson plans
~the artwork included with the lessons exposed him to something real rather than a cartoon image
~it was a full bodied curriculum in that alongside of the phonics we worked on spelling and handwriting as well
~the primer books are some of the best children's Christian history books you will ever find
I could go on and on but I have used it with my eldest son and plan to use it with the next two.  This year (second grade) we are using more and more of the veritas material. From their Bible time lines to their reading comprehension programs, I don't think you can go wrong. Veritas pretty much is the standard for excellence.  My nieces were enrolled in a Christian academy the last couple of years and Veritas is what they used at the school, so I know it's trusted by many professionals.
So this year we ended up with a study of the Bible timeline, a spelling program, a cursive program (using practice from books of the Bible and catechism questions) and a beginning Latin program.

We have used Saxon math for the last three years and this year I'm introducing Nathan to it.  It's a firm foundation for math that a lot of homeschoolers and private schools alike trust it.

In addition to our enrollment in a classical conversations community, we'll be working through Story of the World workbooks this year.

Whewwwww...I'm officially tired and the school year hasn't even started!

#1 Reason We Homeschool

Today I have been reminded of the most important reason why we chose to home school. What is that you ask? Well, I'll tell you~to develop and teach Godly character in our children. There it is. Nothing sparkley or fantastic, but extremely important never-the-less.  Deuteronomy 6:6-7 says "These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up." When are we to teach them about God? Always. I confess there are days when I don't want to be the teacher. And there are days when they don't want to be the students. Even still, we are to teach them when we're at home, when we're not, when we're sleeping and when we're awake.  Sometimes I get more concerned about finishing curriculum or mastering a particular subject but the heart of it all is character development.
Both the boys have enjoyed spending time with their friends and doing the things they love to do together. Yesterday, as usual, it went a little too far. And quickly, the fun became being deceitful and foolish. You may say boys being boys if you will but it's more than that. It's about a teachable opportunity to become boys of Godly character. A sweet friend who home schools as well reminded me to be thankful that as their teacher and mom, we can use those moments for good instead of evil! How right she is. Had I have not been there, the moment would have been gone and nothing learned, other than we can behave however we want to when no one is watching! So today I am grateful for the privilege to be a home school mom.