Baseball Unit

I'm becoming lazy in my blogging and picture taking lately and for that, I apologize.  To update you on what we have been doing, we started the first of last week on a 4 week study of Baseball using Amanda Bennett's Baseball Unit Study.  Here is a summary of what the boys are doing each day:

Copy a quote

Look up definitions (Alex's are a little harder than Nicolas's)

Look up information on a Baseball Hall of Famer
  (Those we have done so far:  Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Kirby Puckett, Nolan Ryan, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams and Jackie Robinson.  Those left to do are:  Sandy Koufax, Satchel Paige, Roberto Clemente, Reggie Jackson, Hank Aaron, Brooks Robinson, Carl Yastrzemski, and Honus Wagner)
Some of the things we are noting about these players are their full names, nicknames and birthdays.  Alex is investigating who was president when they were born.  What team(s) they played for, their position and career batting average.

Look up information on a MLB team
  (Those we have done so far:  Arizona Diamondbacks, Baltimore Orioles, Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, and Cleveland Indians.  Those left to do are:  Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers, Florida Marlins, Minnesota Twins, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, New York Mets, and the Texas Rangers)
Some things we are noting about these teams are where they are from and how far they are from home, the name of their ballpark, and their current record.  Alex is investigating further to find the name of one of their farm teams and when their next game is and who they are playing.

Each boy is looking further into different rules in baseball, or the history of baseball.  It has been very interesting and informative so far.  We are already looking forward to doing the same kind of research about NFL next fall.

We are still plugging along on our Astronomy study and have almost finished all the planets.  (If you consider that Pluto is not a planet anymore, we are done with the planets.  Next week we will read about Pluto and decide for ourselves if we agree with the scientists that Pluto is not a planet.) 

We have begun to watch the birds that are coming back to our feeders this spring.  I saw our first Thrasher today for this season and we have been enjoying MANY Blue Jays this week.  Today alone, we saw probably 10-15 of them!

Until next time!

Homeschool Convention

Here are my notes from convention:

Catherine Levison - Language Arts for Almost Free (Charlotte Mason method)

Literature - lecturing is boring, bring books to the child
whole books - book on one topic that's never been editted
living books - brings someone to life, gives an emotional connection
reading out loud stretches their vocabulary

Foreign Language - start young
orally speak first - pronunciation important
read & write next (label items in the house, should be learning 6 words a day)
then grammar
play games and sing
7-12 years - translate small passages
40 phrases added every 60 days
12-14 should be able to read a book

Handwriting
done through transcription
copywork - take a book off the shelf and have them copy - 5 minutes a day
use favorite book, Bible, poetry

Spelling - photographic picture in mind
avoid allowing children to see misspelled words
tell them how to spell something - don't tell them to look it up - be their dictionary

Dictation - choose book & passage
read slowly, then write
first have them look at it, write it, etc. on Friday - dictate for them
Choose spelling wordes from dictation passage, punctuation should come naturally for that passage
will learn capitalization rules
8-9 paragraph, Jr. High - 3 pages by high school

Narration - verbally tell what they have learned on a subject
10 years - 18 years transition from verbal to written essay
early years, they talk, you type
- child reads 10 minutes or end of book narrations
don't correct written narrations
teacher should make note of common errors to correct in the future

Poetry - enjoy it, don't study it or analyze it
give your child the poem and walk away - let them enjoy individually

Andrew Pudewa - 4 Deadly Errors of Teaching Writing

1. Over-correcting
correcting = wrong = negative
use the word editting instead
There is not a clear line between right and wrong in writing like in math.
Correction are a more personal attack.
Offer to edit their paper for them. Tell them things they did write and things they did wrong in order to produce a corrected paper. If they are not willing to correct their paper, there is no reason to edit.
Plan grammar lessons around mistakes they have made in their writing. Teach at the point of need.
Child should learn editting skills on something other than their own work. Pudewa's book Fix It

2. Holding back help
it's not possible to help a child too much, they will tell you when they don't need help.
Independence a result of confidence in what they are doing.
It's okay to re-tell a story you already know. The child doesn't have to create their own story. Sometimes it's hard to think what to write.
Don't be afraid to tell the child what to write. Teach like we teach swimming - they have to prove their independence before we grant it.

3. Unclear assignments
What should the paper be about? How long should it be? How much information should be collect and how should it be organized.
Give assignments in number of paragraphs (3 details, 6 details, etc.)
Each paragraph should have an intro and conclusion sentences. 4 paragraphs = 4 topics or points
Each paragraph must have how many details per point? Use adjectives...
Evaluation of them following instruction is easier if the assignment is clear

4. Over-expectation
don't compare children's abilities
Continue doing work until you've mastered that level
Expect them to do their best - no other expectations.

Andrew Pudewa - Teaching Boys and Other Children Who Would Rather Make Forts All Day

Differences between boys and girls
- boys don't hear the soft sounds that girls hear
- girls use both hemispheres when listening, boys only use the dominant half
- boys are more focused, small sounds are not a distraction
- boys see movement and speed bettter, girls see color & texture better
When boys draw, they try to draw verbs, girls draw nouns
When boys write, they focus on verbs and adverts, girls vocus on nouns and adjectives
- boys response to stress: increased heart rate, breathing and blood flow
Relief by more movement
girls response to stress: decreased heart rate, breathing and blood flow
Relief by laying down
- boys like lower temperatures, girls like warmer temperatures
- boys response to pain - increase of blood flow to the cortex
girls respons - decrease of blood flow to cortex

4 forms of relevancy we use when teaching
If something is relevant, it's easy to learn

1. Intrinsic - part of your passion
some things you just have to learn, some things you can choose
Ex. boys and knives/guns/swords

2. Inspired - cathc interest from someone close to you that has that interest evenif you are not interested in it
Get kids hookied up with people who are fascinated with subjects I am not particularly interested in. Let them catch their enthusiasm.

3. Contrived - Make something you have to learn into a game to make it interesting
Boys - have to be able to win, if you can't win the game, there is no point in playing it.

4. Forced - positive and negative consequences
Create a system that gives an external reward

Laws
1. Children like to do what they can do or are good at
2. Children want to do what they think they can do
3. Children hate to do and refuse to do things they believe they can not do.
There are no lazy children, but there is an impediment to them doing what they should be doing.

2 Secret Weapons
1. Economic system
Keep their emotional bank account full and live off the interest. Acknowlege the good so much that corrections don't withdrawal the pinrcipal. Give 10 good things before a correction.
2. Communicate to the child that I love them - the power of a smile

Doug Phillips - Rebuilding a Culter of Virtueous (Courageous) Boyhood; Biblical Wisdom and Timely Tips for Transitioning Sons into Noble Mandhood

Loss of Noble Boyhood:

Priorities - Pleasure

Identity - Don't identify with father or fore-fathers but with rock stars or peer groups
* If you identify with noble examples, you wil be noble

Books/ Music/Peers

Clothing

View of women - should be protectors of women, not running away from them

Masculinity
Our mission is to train boys up to be men

A manly culture of boyhood
- Sonship - Manhood begins with sonship - A boy should be about his father's business
- Nobility - Boys must learn nobility to women and children and nobility in public activities
- Wisdom
- Dominion

The mission of boyhood: To prepare sons to be mighty warriors of God
Manliness: The blessed man, the upright man, the blameless man
1 Kings 2:2, Job 40:7, 1 Cor. 16:13
The heart of the heart is the hart of the boy. All through Proverbs the father is pleading for his son to hear.

Example: David
His time was spent away from peers, time was invested in hard work (not play), gained excellence in Christian culture from an early age, about father's business, recreation and work became his physical salvation and as a man.
The way a boy speaks is the wya he will live. Make your words count.
God made men to be problem solvers
How a boy responds to history helps to define his perspective about himself.
Don't let other people decide what my boys will see, listen to, read, etc.

Jeff Myers - Rescuing Children from the Culture of Irresponsibility

from age 7-18 there is most brain development

How to apply responsibility at home:

- Establish a mission - turn focus outward
"To be a blessing to all nations of the Earth"
Take child on missions trip - first time changes their perspective, second time changes their lives

- Emphasize values
"Honor" - treating people as special, doing more than what's expected, and having a good attitude

- Arrange the environment to be consistent with your mission and values
"reality based activities"
Don't let TV and video games establish standards
Deut:. 6:6 - family activities according to God's expectations of reality

- Focus on developing maturity

- establish a ladder of rights and responsibilities
No"entitlement" because of age

Example ladder: (bottom - up)
Obedience - Freedom to decide the process
Respect - freedom to decide the use of time
Service - freedom to decide the ends
Trustworthy - freedom to give counsel

- Model responsibility
Kids will never be more responsibile than what is modeled at home

Overcome blame - apologize for your mistakes

Seek Reconciliation

Watch your words

Pray

Barb Cash - She senses the Worth of Her work

If we don't see value in what we do, it's just a series of mundane tasks. I'm the only one called to be his wife and his/her mother.
1 Timothy 6:6 "When accompanied with contentment."
Find joy in the simple things in life.
Prov. 13:7

Cyndi Kinney - Homeschool Burnout

Sooner or later we all experience burn-out. When we get burned out, talk to someone - a friend or God.
Remember the answer to "Why am I homeschooling?"

Symptoms of burnout: (so you can recognize it ahead of time)
- irritability
- yelling (especially during school)
don't portray yourself as the perfect family or perfect homeschool mom.
- feeling overwhelmed
- lack of confidence
- unable to sleep
- crying
- wanting to run away (It's okay to get away for awhile to get focus, but if it's something you are running away from, it will still be there when you come back home.)
- wishing it allwould just go away
- considering sending the kids to school
- overeating or loss of appetite
- exhaustion
- overreacting to situations
- getting angry with God

Lies Satan is telling us:
- Everyone else's kids are better than ours
- Everyone else's house is cleaner than ours
- Everyone else fixes better meals than I do
- Everone else is more disciplined and spiritual than I am
- Everone else's marriage is better than mine
- Everyone else can do it all
- Everyone else loves homeschooling their kids
- I'm the only one who is falling apart and feels like this

Frustration is usually the result of unmet expectations

Truth is: Homeschooling is not easy

- Expectations of the curriculum may be too high, you have to flexible
- Expectations of our spouse may be too high, can't expect him to know how he can help
- Expectations of our children may be too high, remember they are kids
- Expectations of yourself may be too high
- Lack of organization
- Too many outside activities - stretched too thin
- Not enough outside activities - need to get out
- Focusing solely on homeschooling and not on other areas of family life - don't make everything "school"
- Parent/child conflicts

Find out what's causing your burn-out
- keep a stress diary
- write yourself a letter to read when you calm down
- ask your husband what he thinks is the problem
- ask your kids

Solutions:
- Create a schedule and stick to it! (but set realistic expectations)
- be real - tell your family you need encouragement
- Get away and rejuvinate
- Assign tasks to others
- Plan a getaway with just your husband - not your kids (homeschool convention doesn't count)
- Spend time with your husband
- Be you
- Stop comparing
- Add fun educational activities (unit studies, field trips, park day)
- get some rest
- set boundaries
- re-evaluate curriculum, based on learning styles
Find out what your learning style is, find out what your kids' learning style is