Chore Time

I was asked by a friend to blog about getting kids to work around the house. This is for you Trisha!

One lesson that I learnt early on was that you had to teach your children how to do the job. It was no use saying, "Go and clean your room," if when they walked in there they felt crippled because they didn't know where to start. So I would sit on the bed and instruct them. Now pick up the blocks. Now put your jumper away. Now put those dirty clothes in the wash basket. For the washing line I teach them how to hang the items.

Another lesson was make the jobs do-able. If you want them to unpack the dishwasher then make sure they can reach the cupboards. Organise the job so they can do it. If you want them to put away their own clothes, lable the draws and put the clothes at a reachable height. If they clean the bathroom, have the cleaning fluids together in a spot they can reach. Our washing line drops down so they youngest ones hang socks and undies and the older ones hang the rest.

For vacuuming we have regions. Each child has a particular sections.

For which bathroom to clean, first to get to the bathroom job gets to pick.

Make the roster easy. We work on a monthly roster. This cuts out all the arguements of ," He didn't do it last night, it's not my turn etc." We have one month on washing the dishes, one month on stacking the dishwasher. There is a monthly rotation for the dishwasher with the added bonus that you can sit in the front seat of the car.

What if they refuse to work?

Well, I suppose it depend why they are refusing. One child finds our vacuum cleaner too loud. So I get the siblings to do his room. He has always found noise bothers him. Another found the cleaning fluid for the toilet too strong, I changed the brand.

Out right refusal just because they don't feel like it has not been a big issue. They know it is expected. But I do tie incentives to their work. For example when asked "Can I play on the computer?". I usually respond with "Is your room tidy?"Another thing is we often all work together. All the kids are taking the washing off the line, all the kids are sorting out the washing. Everyone is cleaning at the same time. Saturday morning is often spent getting the house in order.

We do use pocket money as an incentive. If they want to be paid more pocket money we discuss more responsibility. The money is direct deposited into a savings account for them which is difficult for them to access without planning.

We have an attitude if you live in this family you work as part of this family. These include all the daily chores that make the house function.They include: clean bathroom including toilet, hang out washing, sort washing and put own clothes away, pack and unpack dishwasher, wash dishes, clean the kitchen(if asked)vacuum, dust, sweep, set the table, clean own rooms and other room they have messed up. Help with the shopping, take the groceries out of the car etc.

When we have extra jobs that need doing that are horrible such as;clean the oven, scrub the mold from the shower, rake up the leaves, vacuum the car etc. -we pay extra, at a negotiated fee -in cash.

My kids don't just think to do a job. They don't see a mess. They still need to be told to do their jobs 70% of the time but we are making progress.

I have tried to teach ironing. But I find it hard to teach without having conniptions- but I will keep trying and I will pay big money for it when the time comes.

A wise homeschool mum who was admired for all the things she managed to do with her time once said, "You don't know how much I don't do!"

If you have more ideas that you have found helpful-especially with ironing. Please let me know.

Does Charlotte Mason teach children to write?

Just skimmed the article on the difference between classical and Charlotte Mason homeschooling

www.welltrainedmind.com/charlottemason.php

and one thing I think that it seems to imply is that with CM method your child doesn't write until they are ten- ie. pick up a pencil and write.

To me that is not what the method is at all. There is lots of writing required from a child before they are ten.With CM the emphasis for the first 'writing' is on copywork. Transcription as she calls it from an early age.Writing and copying quality copywork,getting it perfect,getting the punctuation perfect. Then leading on to dictation when you again focus on getting the punctuation etc perfect because you spend time examining the dictation passage before you are required to write it.

‘The earliest practice in writing proper for children of seven or eight should
be, not letter writing or dictation, but transcription [copy work], slow and
beautiful work...Transcription should be an introduction to spelling. Children
should be encouraged to look at the word, see a picture of it with their eyes
shut, and then write from memory....Double ruled lines, small text-hand, should
be used at first, as children are eager to write very minute “small hand”, and
once they have fallen into this habit it is not easy to get good writing. A
sense of beauty in their writing and in the lines they copy should carry them
over this stage of their work with pleasure. Not more than ten minutes or a
quarter of an hour should be given to the early writing lessons. If they are
longer the children get tired and slovenly.’ Charlotte Mason from Home Education

Now before you can copy you must also be able to write your letters and hopefully read the words (CM expected the kids to be able to read before they started school)

Narration is only one aspect of 'writing' in the CM method. Narration is to help the child think through the passage they are narrating and then take out as much as they can from it. It is a memory, comprehension and concerntration skill.A six year old can tell you a whole lot more during an oral narration than they can if they had to write it and ask you to spell every word.

I personally like Ruth Beechick's opinion on writing. Just get them writing something every day. Form the habit of writing in your children.She is practical and realises that some kids have a 'story in their head' and seem to be an author in the making- while others wont but you can still get them to write something even if it's send a card to Grandma. Sometimes my theories match up with what I see and other times they don't and then I have to go looking for something that will work for my child even if GULP(a confession coming) it doesn't really suit how I think I should be doing it.Children are so individual.

Even with grammar it is implied that you don't teach grammar. But you do-although it is more subtle in its approach.Her emphasis is on sentence stucture ie. predicate and subject and then working on the verbs. Grammar and punctation are taught in the midst of quality literature and how they are used in a sentence. The child is taught to become confident in constructing a good sentence using correct punctation and word usage. Specific rules for commas, capitals, contractions, abbreviation and initials are also identified during their copywork and dictation. They know that; this is a comma, that is a capital, and that is a full stop ect. Emma Serl also thinks this way.

"English is rather a logical study dealing with sentences and the positions that
words occupy in them than with words and what they are in their own right.
Therefore it is better that a child should begin with a sentence and not with
the parts of speech, that is, he should learn a little of what is called
analysis before he learns to parse. It requires some effort of abstraction for a
child to perceive that when we speak, we speak about something and say something
about it; and he has learned nearly all the grammar that is necessary when he
knows that when we speak we use sentences and that a sentence makes sense. "
Charlotte Mason

By the way I am not really a CM homeschooler I follow the Everchanging Method ie. my own style but I have read many CM books and many of her suggestions are ispirational and have worked for me and brought a great deal of enjoyment into our homeschool.

Here is a blog related to this topic.http://www.enduringprize.com/search/label/handwriting

Workbox system-What am I filling them with?

Well, we are now at the end of our second week using the workbox system. We are still refining it to suit our family. Next week I will work on getting our group time more coordinated.

The kids have responded well to this system. They like having it all layed out. I think the schedule chart is excellent. I agree with Sue Patrick, it gives them a sence of progress. Seeing their boxes empty also motivates them to finish. I have been wanting to find a way to bring more accountability into my highschoolers life and this system does that beautifully. I am finding that this system has really really helped us get more work done and in a shorter period of time. It helps us all to stay focussed on the task.

Filling the Workboxes

I will tell you what was in todays boxes.

Miss Seven


1. Copywork page

2.Own reader- Bertie and the Bear by Pamela Allen

3.Reader Rabbit computer game 20mins

4.Picture study -look at pictures from Whistler

5.Make an entry in notebook. I provided a page of Whistler's pictures. to put in her notebook. I also put glue and scissors in the workbox

6.1/2 piano lesson (the teacher comes today)

7.Math page Singapore math (work with mum-wwm)
8.Read chapter of reader (wwm)

9.Emma Serl -Primary Language Lessons (wwm). This is an example.

10. Check work over with Mum.





Master Nine

1. Chapter of Box Car children

2. Page of Copywork.

3.Address letter to Ma and Pa. Address (on seperate piece of paper to copy), envelope, card (from yesterday) and stamp all in workbox.

4.Music Ace on the computer

5.Page of Singapore Math (wwm)

6.Read 2 pages on Franz Schubert.

7.Put picture in notebook of Franz Schubert (provided) and write his name.

8.Emma Serl-Primary language Lesson. -wwm. We do this with his sister at the same time.

9.Clue Finders CD Rom-Monkey Kingdom

10. Bring work to Mum to check.


Miss Eleven

1. 1/2 hour piano lesson

2. Emma Serl Intermediate Language Lessons.

3. Life of Fred Fractions

4.Mark Life of Fred

5.Read chapter of When Science Fails by John Hudson Tiner

6.Mathletics for 20 mins

7.Read 2 pages of Franz Schubert

8. Make an entry in music notebook about Franz Schubert using information from previous reading. Picture of Franz provided.

9.Rosetta Stone-Spanish 20 mins

10. Bring work to be checked.

Master 13

1.Piano Lesson with teacher

2. Mathletics 20 mins

3. Wordsmith exercise.

4. Life of Fred Algebra

5.Check answers with mum

6.Apologia Physical science module test (1/2 of test)

7.Mark test

8.Picture study Whistler. Read life of Whistler and do a crossword from Garden of Praise.

9.Make an entry in picture study notebook on Whistler.

10.Bring work to Mum to check.

Here are the baskets brought back at the end of the day.

Drawbacks


I am finding less time for our read alouds but I am getting the children to do more reading on their own - something I have been wanting the older ones to do. Using this method I am allocating the reading to be done each session.


Less group time- before we did a large portion of our day together and I find that they are more confined to 'their boxes'. This is something that I will be streamlining more as the weeks go by.


Less time to escape for me. This is a negative and a postive. To keep things moving we are all in the same room and I am working with the kids as needed. I'm finding it harder to get the washing on or do a few jobs around the house. But then I also have all the work finished much earlier so I can attend to those things after they have finished (hence todays blog entry).

It has not been hard to fill the workboxes each day but it does require me to fill them. This is a discipline that I am working on and I am enjoying planning their day out and using things that I have but haven't been using.I refill as I check their work for the day. I have slacked off a couple of times and been sorting at night or like today getting up early but it is worth it!

It has been a positve change for our homeschool.

Michelle

Workbox System -What's in the box.

Day one went really well with the new workbox system. The kids were far more focused and we got through our workboxes quickly. I found that as I checked through their work I was able to set up the next day’s folders at the same time.

Miss 7 always wants something to do, so she was in her element working through the system. I did not fill her ‘boxes’ with busy work but lots of bite size work that she could do. She was able to work a lot more independently and knew when she was supposed to work with me and when she was to work on her own.

Master 9 who can be quite contrary said he didn’t like it much but I actually think he enjoyed the structure and will enjoy it more when he gets used to it.

Miss 11 liked having some tasks added to her workbox that she wanted to do but never seemed to get around to it.

Master 13 is very unstructured and doesn’t pace himself well. Normally he would just work on his favourite topics until he is sick of it and exhaust himself for other subjects. We managed to get more out of his day.

I felt far more in touch with what the older ones were doing. I was able to have times table races with my son-I slaughtered him but he loves a challenge and will be trying to beat me tomorrow. I was also able to keep the computer under control better. They all had their computer activities to do but they were all spaced evenly and I made them wear the headphones so they wouldn’t distract.

The ‘boxes’ are set for tomorrow. This is what I put in them.

Workbox content -Miss 7
1. 5 mins piano practice
2. Primary language Lessons Emma Serl lesson (work with Mum and brother)
3. One page of copywork
4. Read a chapter of assigned reader (work with Mum)
5. One exercise of Singapore Math
6. Play phonics racing on computer 20mins
7. Read on your own book.
8. Make a craft clock
9. Clock worksheet
10. Come and show work to Mum

Workbox content Master 9
1. Math copywork 2x &3x
2. Primary language Lessons Emma Serl lesson (work with Mum and sister)
3. Singapore Math 1 exercise
4. Downunder Copywork
5. Music Ace computer 1 lesson
6. Make a clock craft
7. Read 5 pages Wilbur and Orville Wright
8. Look through nature book all the bird types.
9. Work on bird book (his request)
10. Come and show Mum work.


Workbox content Miss 11
1. Intermediate Language Lesson by Emma Serl –one exercise
2. 15mins piano practice
3. Life of Fred Fractions Bridge test
4. Read chapter of When Science Fails by John Hudson Tiner
5. Mathletics 20mins
6. Go on blog for 15 mins
7. Have a snack
8. Rosetta Stone study guide review page.
9. Work on water colour painting 30mins
10. Come and show Mum your Work

Workbox Content Master 13

1. 15mins Piano Practice
2. Wordsmith exercise
3. Rosetta Stone CD 20mins
4. Times table races. Work with Mum
5. Study guide questions Apologia Physical Science
6. Mark questions
7. Snack
8. Life of Fred Algebra- Your turn to play questions.
9. Adobe Flash 30mins
10. Come and show Mum work

* We also do readalouds , devotion and one group activity each day -it's history tomorrow.

The Workbox System of Organization

My friend told me all about the Workbox System by Sue Patrick. It didn't take much to convince me that this would benefit our homeschool. I had been looking for a way to add some structure into our homeschool and foster a little more independance.

The next day I read the book and immediately afterwards I was reorganising the house trying to see how I was going to implement it in my home. When I told my husband about the system he was excited to-he loves structure. The following night I read through the FIVE IN A ROW forum's 369 posts on the topic.

Many of these women have come up with some great ways to implement this in their home, and they all talk about how it has helped Mum and kids get organised.

I haven't followed the storage suggestion of boxes instead I have used plastic envelopes and magazine boxes.









So this weekend I have been laminating and organising work.






To help with the daily (or nightly) set up I have stored work beside the boxes.









I will also get them to place their completed work in their own basket that they can bring to me at the end of the day for checking. Then I can refill the envelopes from the baskets and stack them neatly together ready for the next day.








We will still do our regular read alouds and morning bible study then we will try out the boxes. The kids are very excited.


I highly recommend you read about this method from the author and buy her ebook.Workbox System by Sue Patrick.


I will try to post later this week about how it is all going and what I am putting in the boxes.


Michelle

Fully Convinced to Homeschool

Romans 14:1-5 (New International Version)

Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.

Today this verse stood out to me because I realised that God wants us to be fully convinced in our own minds about how we are going to deal with particular 'disputable or doubtful' matters.

I often have wondered how I could be fully convinced about homeschooling when other non homeschooling friends have been fully convinced it is not the right thing to do. I would think where is the error in my(or their) thinking.

This verse reminded me that it is OK to be fully convinced about my decision. I have sought the Lord and this is how I feel He wants me to go. I have friends that also have sought the Lord and school is how he wants them to go.

It's Ok. I do not have to make a judgement on their decision. That is between them and God. Just as my decision is between our family and God.

Documenting your homeschool -Registration NSW

Registration in NSW requires homeschool parents to jump through a few hoops in order to get their children registered. This is how we do it.

In NSW recording keeping is an essential part of the registration process. Our children have been registered for eight years and I have gone through the registration process quite a few times.

Here is a list of some the requirements for registration and some examples of how I document them.

This is the current document being used for registration. http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/manuals/pdf_doc/home_edu_info_package_06.pdf

A Plan Or Outline (program) of what you intend to teach your child.

Here I write what I plan to do in each of the key learning areas (KLA's).

For Example here is an old one I used (for my then 6-7 year old) for two KLA's English and Science.

English. We will use a phonics based approach for the teaching of basic skills in reading, writing, spelling, grammar, and punctuation. This will be supplemented by the regular reading (to dd) of a wide range of good fiction and non-fiction books. We will also encourage her to read books including \'readers\' and other age appropriate materials that are of interest to her. We will also make some use of computer based reading and spelling programs to supplement her learning as well as occasional ABC TV school programs.

Resources / Curriculum:

• LEM Phonics Course - (Single & Multiple phonograms already completed) Word Lists (K & Grade 1), Reading with the phonograms. Reading on. Base Words & Endings 1 & 2.• Books - mainly from the Library (normal borrowing rate is about 30 books per month, of which half to one third are non-fiction). A record of non-fiction titles will be kept.

• "Readers" - a range of age appropriate readers which are compatible with the phonics approach to learning will be used such as : Fitzroy Readers, LEM Readers, Ladybird Phonics Readers.• Computer Programs - "Reader Rabbit, Phonics Adventure etc".

• TV programs - "Word Machine".

For Science & Technology. We will continue to develop DD\'s understanding of the natural and man made environment through the reading of a range of appropriate books. The aim will be to cover a diverse selection of topics at an age appropriate level, rather than to delve deeply into specific topics. Where practicable, simple experiments will be used to reinforce some of the learnt concepts. All of this will be supplemented by learning gained from "hands on" home based activities and from excursions. We will also be viewing some science / nature videos as well as ABC TV School programs.

Resources / Curriculum :

• Books - mainly from the Library and covering a wide selection of topics, will be read.

• Home based activities - Home Science (cooking). Agriculture (gardening), Home Maintenance.

• Excursions - Museum, Reptile Park, Zoo, Botanic Gardens, Bush Walks, Grandparents Farm, Steamfest, Blackbutt Reserve, Beach, Harbour, Fishing, Regional Show etc.

• TV Programs - "For the Juniors", "Scientific Eye".

A method for recording achievement and progress in each area of study and a method of recording learning activities completed by your child.

I HAVE NEVER KEPT A DAILY DIARY. I used to get a frown from the inspector but now he says he really likes what I do. This is how I do it.

I start the term with a general timetable of what we are doing. Here is our current timetable for the 2009.

http://www.downunderlit.com/blog/timetableblog2009.pdf

I then make a record of learning for the term on the computer. This is like a goal chart of what we are hoping to achieve for the term. At the end of the term I use this same document to write a term report. I don't use the KLA's as my headings because it is sometimes hard to break things down into a particular topic as they cover a range of subjects.

Here is an example of last terms for my 7 year old.

If it looks a bit much in some areas it is because her read alouds are happening because of her siblings. I wouldn't normally choose these for a 7 year ols.

DD Homeschool work journal Date…19/1/09—3/4/09

Term One: 10 weeks (1 week off in the middle).

SUBJECT DETAILS;

Bible Study Genesis and beginning Exodus 1-12

Read Alouds Out of the Black Shadows, Richest man in Babylon. The Golden Goblet. Started Tirzah, Anzac House, Tiger Tale, Grandad Marches on Anzac Day, Are we there yet?, Alexanders Outing

English; Downunder Copywork book 1 completed for second time. Emma Searl Primary Language lessons completed to 55. Letter to Sophia. ReadersFitzroy readers completed with ease 31-36; Lem reader book 2, Other random readers.Will encourage reading for pleasure with own choice books at library visits.

Maths; Completed 1 B Singapore. Commenced 2A completed to page 25Field Trips Myall lakes and Farm VisitScience Nature study. Parrots, snakes, fish, frogs and Myall lakes, Koalas, flies and Blue Wrens.

Social Study; Ancient Civilizationa and the Bible. Chapter 1-3 Creation, Origins of Man, Flood, Cradle of Civilization, Mesopotamia map work, Babylon, Egypt. Discussion about relevant issues as they arise.

Music; Weekly piano lessons. Hal Leonard Piano Lessons book One pages 1-43Weekly Choir and concert. Seek ye First, Grandma we love you, Ha Kuna Mattata. I’ts a lovely Day today, Jamaica Farewell. Composer studies; Bach and Hayden. Drum workshop-Jamo Jamo.

Art; Nature drawings; notebooking. Picture Study Tom Roberts-Bailed up. Michael Angelo –Sistine Chapel and Leonardo Divinchi DVD.

Sport; Junior development Gymnastics 2 hours per week. Jan and Feb swimming 3 times per week plus weekly swimming lesson.

This is the assessment of progress part of the report.

Report: DD’s reading is coming along well. She has reread Fitzroy readers 31-35 and she hardly misses a word. She is becoming much more confident in this area and reading easy books on her own. Next term we will continue to do some reading together. Her handwriting is also excellent. We have been doing some spelling during the dictation process and she seems to remember a lot of words.DD’s favourite homeschool subject is nature study. This usually involves me reading about a nature topic and then she makes an entry into her nature journal.DD’s piano lessons are progressing well and she practices 4 times per week. She attended the junior development program in gymnastics but has decided it is too serious and she will be returning to the homeschool program. She is very flexible and can do one handed cartwheels, the splits, handsprings on the trampoline and rip stick.We attended the homeschool group events at Largs (2 times) and one of the Newcastle support group days. DD has lots of girlfriends at these events.DD can swim quite confidently and has gone into the dolphin group.

Equivalent Amount of Hours as School

Nowhere do I actually write how much time I spend on activities. It does say "The time allocated to student learning is sufficient to allow coverage of the same work and is comparable to the times taken in school." I show them the work. I show them the progress and that is it. My assesor seems to like my method. I find this method frees me up to only one day at the end of term where I collate all the info and try to remember what we have done.

The other thing I do is start a portfolio of work I want seen. Here I might display certificates, drawing or sample writing assignments.

Every one documents differently and the main thing is to find a method that works for you and meets the registration requirements. With 4 children to document and many years of homeschooling left I want a system that is simple and not time consuming. So far this one works well for me.