Physical Education, Epsteen-Style

Today, after the kids had completed their assigned work for the day, they built a fort with the cushions of the couch and enjoyed a little physical activity. I snapped a few pictures of our highly advanced homeschool physical education curriculum. Enjoy!





Yep, that's how we roll. Good times.

Home Sweet School

Our school room

I am always curious about how other homeschooling families organize their school rooms. Organization is one of the things I am passionate about. I tend to feel a lot of anxiety and tension when my environment is out of order. I try not to be super-anal about it, and with four kids, it's pretty much a given that our home will be quite chaotic at times (just this weekend my dad told me I needed a maid! I agree!!!). But in order for our school day to run relatively smoothly I have to have a system of organization in place. Nothing can throw off a day like having to spend half an hour looking for paper and a pencil. So, without further ado, here is a peek into our homeschool "classroom". (Please, accept my apologies for the quality of the photos-I am not much of a photographer).

The above picture is what our whole school room looks like. I think the room is about an 8 by 10 foot space. Technically, it is supposed to be a living room or formal dining space, but for us it is perfect as our schoolroom. We are close to our kitchen where we do a lot of experiments and where I spend a better part of my day preparing meals for my family, but it also has the feel of a separate space. If you were to look directly to the right of the school room, you would see my front door, and directly left, conveniently, is a half bath. The rest of the pictures work their way around the room clockwise.

The Reading Nook

This is where the kids can sit for some silent reading time. Brady likes to look at his picture books while big sister and brother are working on their school. Sometimes they sit together and Madison reads to her brothers. More often than not, these chairs migrate around the room as the kids find their most comfortable spot to do their work in. I'm not a stickler for making them sit still or stay in one spot. I figure as long as they can be focused and get their work done, they are free to do that in the place that is most conducive for them. They will even do their work walking around the room sometimes. If the boys are at a break time and being especially rowdy, sometimes Madison will choose to work quietly in her room. For the most part though, we all spend the better part of our day together, in this room.

Madison's desk

This is Madison's desk, which is an antique and the first piece of furniture my grandfather and grandmother ever bought after they were married nearly 70 years ago. However, it is used more for storage than actual sitting. Like I said, the kids are free to do their work where they please, as long as they aren't too distracted. Madison rarely chooses to actually sit at her desk. But her desk is invaluable to our organization as it holds wipe-off boards, extra paper and craft supplies and other miscellaneous items we need to have close at hand.

Noah's desk

This is Noah's desk, and believe it or not he actually does love to sit here and do his schoolwork-especially his writing work.  Brady also likes to sit at this desk to color and draw. A lot of Noah's school day is spent on my lap in reading and math instruction, but anything he does independently, he tends to do at his desk. The top of it also comes off and flips over and is a chalkboard on the other side, and there is storage under there as well.

The bookshelf

I know this probably pales in comparison to a lot of bookshelves in most homeschoolers' homes, but I am scrupulous about getting rid of curriculum and books we don't need or aren't using. I have other hiding places for future curriculum or stuff we are storing for the younger kids, but this shelf mainly contains stuff that is used on a daily basis for easy access. You can't really see it in the picture but on the top of this shelf sits a microscope, a globe and one of those huge roll-out thingys with the huge paper roll on it.

Madison's shelf

Madison gets the top shelf. This is where we keep her books that she works in every day. Included here is math, language arts, Bible Study, and reading. The boxed-set of books is the collection of the Anne of Green Gables novels which we are working our way through as a read-aloud. This was an awesome and welcome Christmas gift from my in-laws.

Math Manipulatives

The basket and tote below it hold our math manipulatives. These include items such as play money, clocks, flash cards, geoboards, teddy bear counters, a balance, rulers, plastic shape pieces, dominoes, decks of cards-basically just about anything you can think of that we could use to make math real and tangible. These are so helpful in the early elementary years before children have developed the more advanced skill of thinking abstractly. They are also very important for the tactile/kinesthetic learner.

Noah's shelf

Noah doesn't have a whole lot on his shelf yet. In pre-school and kindergarten, I like to focus on building a strong foundation. primarily in reading and phonics instruction. We also work on Math, handwriting and thinking skills. The box to the right of his books holds cards for sight words, sentence/word games etc... The shelf just below it is for books that we read together as a family or that Madison can read (longer chapter books that don't hold the boys' attention too well just yet). That big gold one there is The Chronicles of Narnia which we are working through as a family in our before-bed reading time.  The blue and yellow book beside it is one of my favorite homeschooling books of all time, The Well-Trained Mind. Next to that are lots of classical literature and poetry books.

Toys/Board books

Next we have some items for Brady that he like to play with. In the box is a LeapPad-we've had this since Madison was young and all the kids love it. There is also a play computer in there that Brady uses to work on letter sounds and early math concepts. The books on this shelf are story books that Brady and Noah love to read. The last shelf holds a basket of toys for Ethan and our board books.

The most comfortable chair in the world

This is the chair I gravitate towards when I am in the school room working with one of the kids. It is SO comfortable and makes for a nice cozy area for us to work together. Bonus, I get lots of snuggle time in the middle of the school day! To the right of that chair you will notice I have a decent-sized wipe-off board. That seriously needs hung on one of the walls. I also want to find some really good maps-hopefully a United States map and a world map-to hang on the walls.



Supply/Extra books cabinet

This is my cabinet from IKEA. The front can be used as a chalkboard.

Library books

The containers aren't very pretty, but these sturdy paper boxes are where we keep our library books. I am VERY strict about this rule as we have learned the hard way what happens when we lose a library book. As soon as we get home from the library the kids know that they unload their bags and put the books away in the boxes right away. They also know that when they are not in use the books go right back in the boxes. I would eventually like to get some prettier containers for this purpose, but this works just fine for now.

Inside the cabinet

Inside this cabinet is where we keep all of our extra books that we use frequently, but not daily. On the bottom shelf are all manner of reference books. The middle shelf holds our school supplies, some books we aren't currently using but will in the future, a bag of activities for Brady and some readers for Noah. The top shelf is where we keep Madison's other school books. Included here are history, science and other electives. Currently we have Art, Manners, Fitness and Money Management.

A closer look at our supplies

Pardon the baby head! I have several plastic boxes filled with extra supplies. We have one each for crayons, markers, pens, pencils, glue, dry erase markers, and colored pencils. This is all easily accessible for the kids so they can get what they need, when they need it. And as long as the door is shut, Ethan can't get to the contraband!

So there you have it, that's our school room. It's pretty simple but it's constantly evolving. I find that my systems only work well for so long. Then the kids get bored with them, or we run out of room somewhere and have to re-think things. I have yet to come up with something completely fool-proof. Once every few weeks we have pretty-much a complete overhaul of the whole room where we toss old papers and broken crayons, purge drawers and shelves and just generally try to streamline everything again. In the very near future, I plan on getting set-up with a workbox system. I can't wait to try that out and see how it works.

What about you? If you are a homeschooler, how do you organize all of those papers and supplies and books that we seem to accumulate exponentially year after year? Anyone have any great tips of organizing to share?

All Creatures of our God and King

Tweet, tweet...

One of the activities I like to do with the kiddos for "school" (not sure you can call it that when it is so darn fun and exciting) is just exploring creation. And that is much easier to do these days than it was during the winter months.

We enjoy taking nature walks, observing plants, animals and yes, the occasional insect that we have never encountered before. I love it. L-O-V-E it! It might be one of my favorite things to do with the kids.

I was one of those kids that hated science growing up. I did well enough in it to make the grade, but I never found it the least bit interesting (math was more up my alley). In fact, I dreaded it.

Now that I am a homeschool mom I see science in a whole new light. The process of discovery is what gets me. It is so exciting to learn new things about the world around us. I am convinced the reason I hated science was because it was never taught in this way before. I was never encouraged to wonder and awe and marvel.

Creation is just truly, absolutely, unequivocally amazing. Not sure if you know this, but God made some pretty interesting, fascinating creatures. Sometimes, I just shake my head and ask Him why He did that. And most of the time, the best answer I come up with is, "Why not?" He is just such a creative God. It is really, truly marvelous. And sometimes, I think He created certain creatures in certain ways to bring us closer to Him, so we would see the beauty of it and be more in awe and more in love with Him than we were before.

That's one thing I love about homeschooling. I get to be there to guide and encourage my kids and see the wonder in their eyes when they see something amazing for the first time. To tailor our curriculum to the delight and wonder of the hearts of my children is such a blessing.

This morning I got to witness such an event as Madison called to me. I was in the bathroom getting ready and I hear, "Mommy, come quick, come quick!" Those of you who are parents know that can either mean something very good or very bad.

Thankfully, in this case it was something very good. Madison had been looking at the tree outside my bedroom window and she spotted a new bird she had never seen before. I had her run and grab the camera quickly and we were able to snap a few pictures. Thankfully, our new little friend didn't seem to mind being the subject of our impromptu photo shoot.



Why, hello there.



Isn't he magnificent?

After our friend flew away, we quickly went downstairs to try to figure out what kind of bird this was. I could have gotten upset that we spent half the morning "wasting time" instead of getting our school work done (yes, we do school on Saturdays). I could have gotten my panties in a bunch that we were falling behind. I could have ignored my children's curiosity and put out the spark of delight at their discovery.

Instead, I chose to embrace it for what it was-a beautiful moment where we could share in something eternal. I am so glad I chose to capture their hearts in that moment rather than hurry them along in their phonics and times tables. I am even more grateful for the way God used that very experience to bless us so richly, to help us to delight in the simple beauty of His creation and to deepen our relationships with each other.

And then, as if that weren't enough, we came downstairs for our Bible Study time, and what verse do we end up reading but this:

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

Matthew 6.26

I'm sorry. Call me simple, but there are no words in my vocabulary to describe just how beautiful and good my God is.

What do you do to create and capture wonder and awe in the hearts of your children?

Teaching Our Children to Read

One of the hardest, yet most rewarding tasks I have accomplished as a homeschool mom has been teaching my children to read. I have to admit that I was more than a little intimidated when we first started our homeschooling journey. We were doing this thing for real now and the pressure was on. At least, that's the way I perceived it. So I was determined to do everything right.

Ha! Boy, did I have another thing coming. So far, I have taught two children to read and am working on a third. And I have been through 5 reading curriculum! Yep, that's right. I've failed. I've spent money on curriculum only to toss it later.

Anyone who knows me, knows that is a very hard thing for me to do. Not only do I detest wasting money, I can't stand to leave things unfinished. It goes against every fiber of my being to not read a book all the way through, even if I don't like that book. I can't stand it. Ooh, and admitting failure? OUCH. Especially where my kids are concerned!

However, throughout the last few years of homeschooling I have learned to let a lot of that go. I am so thankful for the counsel of some veteran homeschool moms who let me know IT'S OKAY. In fact, I have really started to embrace it. I try to remember not all children are alike and what works so well for some, may not be a good fit for others (one of the plethora of reasons why we love homeschooling-individualized curriculum). I love each of my kids' personalities and uniqueness. Each of them learn in a completely different way. And I love that I am so blessed to be able to tailor their education to that which best suits them.

At any rate, I really struggled through the beginning days/weeks (oh who am I kidding? MONTHS!!!) of homeschooling. I focused on reading and phonics instruction to the exclusion of all else because it was THAT important to me that I get this one thing right. I knew all other learning hinged on them learning this one thing well. And if I had to do it all over again, I would do everything the same, flubs and all. I have learned so much just through trial and error.

And believe it or not, after all of that, I discovered it's not all that hard to teach a child to read. After a few bumps in the road, and some studying and reading and learning on my part, I feel like we have a pretty good system in place for the process of teaching our children to read. Each child goes at his/her own pace, but the process is pretty consistent. Of course, I am always open to changing things up, should a particular child require it.

I have had many people ask me about how we go about teaching our children to read, so I thought I would share what I have learned here.

As I said before, I have used several different curriculum over the years-Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, Alpha Phonics, McGuffey Readers and the Classic Curriculum workbooks, The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading. All of these are good programs and each has its own pros and cons (I can discuss those in another post or if anyone leaves a comment and wants a more specific review, I'd be happy to give it).

That being said, I think success in teaching your child to read has less to do with what curriculum you use (there are so many to choose from and most are really good and effective) and more to do with your attitude.

Most of all I want my children to develop a love for learning so I introduce them to quality literature at a young age-no junk allowed in our house! I am intentional about working to give our children a print-rich environment. We turn off the tv (and computer and video games-we actually don't watch tv or play video games but that's another post for another day), curl up in a chair and read, read, read together many times a day. This is the absolutely most important and first step to teaching your children to read.

As I am reading, I try engage my children's minds with lots of open-ended questions. I read with lots of expression and attempt to make the story exciting and fun. We also read together as a whole family on a nightly basis (we are currently working through the whole Chronicles of Narnia series, something we do every other year-right now we are in the middle of Prince Caspian). We make it a point to let the kids see us reading as well.

Learning to read should also be an exciting and fun, low-pressure kind of a thing. I take a heavily phonics-based approach (why I do so is another involved discussion, but I would be happy to answer any questions about that as well) and start teaching our kids at a young age (2/3) letter names and sounds (in a low key way, a-a-apple, when eating an apple for example) and then move on to a more structured approach at around 4 years of age.

That is not to say I want my children reading fluently at 4, just that's what I have found to be a good age in terms of the child's motivation level and excitement about learning to read. They really begin to see how limited their world is when they can't read. My goal is to try to capture that spark and run with it.

I also want to be sure to go at the child's pace-it shouldn't be a frustrating, pull-your-hair-out kind of thing. If they don't get it right away, I am persistent, unafraid to go back and review and repeat a lot, and most importantly, I try to be exceptionally patient. I don't ever want reading to become a chore for my children. If your child is struggling, stop and try again in a few weeks if you need to, being sure to keep up with reading good stories frequently in the meantime.

I always start by teaching individual letter sounds, teaching the difference between the consonants and the vowels. Then, I move on to teaching how to blend the letter sounds together, once they are able to recognize each letter and say its sound without really thinking about it. I will start with three letter words with short vowel sounds that follow the consonant-vowel-consonant pattern (C-A-T). I also like to teach in word families, so along with cat, I teach hat and mat and rat and sat etc... I continue this way until I have done each vowel.

Once they have mastered these words and can say them as soon as they see them (not having to sound them out letter by letter) I move into more complicated things such as consonant blends and digraphs (two or more letters that when placed together make a single sound-sh, for example), still sticking with short vowels.

After that I will move onto long vowels and all the ways to make them. We start with the most common ways (silent e) and move on to the lesser ways (igh says long i, for example). Along with this, I will start to teach phonics rules and have them memorize these rules to help them learn new words.

Next, I will do words that are exceptions to the rules (although I will have been teaching some of the very common sight words already-words that don't follow a phonics rule and can't be sounded out such as the, of, two, have, give, love etc...). You will find that once you get to this point your child will naturally start sounding out bigger, multi-syllabic words on their own.

Another thing I like to do is get the kids reading right away. Teach them a few short words and then use them in a "story" they can read all on their own (the cat sat on the mat), and then keep having them read stories the whole time, not just words (Bob Books are great for this). Let them taste success!

So, that's pretty much it, those are the basic steps I follow to teach our children to read. As I am teaching them I like to engage as many senses as possible so we will do different activities to reinforce whatever we are learning, but the foundation is pretty much the same.

If you have any questions or you are struggling with the process, I would be happy to help any way I can-just leave me a comment, and I promise to respond. I don't claim to be an expert, but I have done tons of research and hopefully someone can learn from my mistakes besides me! Almost all children will start to learn to read using these simple steps. This may not apply to the struggling learner or the special needs child, but it often will even in those cases. Just remember to be patient and go at your child's pace.

There is nothing that makes my heart swell with pride like seeing the light bulb go on in my kid's head and see them truly start to get it. To see them pick up a book off the shelf and start sounding out words. To watch them get so excited as they taste the success of reading their very first sentence, and then their first story and later, their first book. Oh, it's so, so sweet.

What about you? Do you have any tricks of the trade that you like to use when teaching a child to read?