Teaching to a Child's Interest and Other Benefits of Homeschooling

Quote of the week

Nothing is impossible.

The word itself says I'm possible.

Audrey Hepburn

A couple posts back I wrote how much I loved science. Because I think it's so fun, we do a lot of it. But then my daughter took some of her art to display at a talent show and the next day I found my son drawing on his own time. "I love drawing," he told me.  My other son started asking to do Art for Kids Hub again, one of his obsessions over the summer.

I love science and want my kids to enjoy it, too, but they were showing me they had a strong interest in a subject I had been neglecting. Although my artistic ability goes about as far as stick figures for Hangman, I knew I needed to find a way to help them develop their talents and interests.

We enlisted the help of Mia Academy and the Art for Kids Hub YouTube channel. I happened to run into the local art teacher at the library one day, so once we stop traveling so much, we will start a class with her. One of the benefits of homeschooling is being able to focus on the children's interest, and when you notice something that needs adjusting, it can be done rather quickly.

This week for art we did scribble drawings. It was really fun to watch K- who normally wants exact step by steps instructions- use his imagination to find things in the scribbles.  He made several scribble drawings.

We also made flip books. These are way cooler than a picture can show. It was their first experience with animation.

Grows into a large flower

For math, we do Singapore for one child, Teaching Textbooks for another, and Mia Academy for the third. Another benefit of homeschool is the personalization of curriculum.

Along with work on Mia Academy for math, language arts, and science, A1 is doing lessons on Typing.com. He also got to touch one of his aqua dragons this week. He loves watching them grown and enjoys having a pet (or 100) of his own to take care of.

A1 had another Mel science kit come in, too. He learned about different renewable power sources.  Between wind, solar, and heat, he discovered solar worked the best at making his little buzzer and light bulb go off.

K finished the 2nd and 3rd 100's fry word list which is a 2nd grade reading level. He loves doing Starfall, and has had a lot of fun riding his bike. 

He also took our health lesson to heart or should I say, to teeth. We had a lesson on keeping our teeth healthy. That night he told me he accidentally brushed too hard, but he will be softer now. Part of his sensory is he chews on his toothbrush. We'll see how it goes. He told me he needs a tongue scrapper to keep his mouth healthy. In the mean time, he grabbed a spoon to use, like they mentioned in one of the videos. I tried to emphasize the importance of flossing, too. Brushing gets 60 percent of tooth surfaces, flossing does the other 40%. Here's hoping we keep cavities at bay.

Because K loves puzzles and Legos, we got him a 3D puzzle. Although we told him it was meant to take multiple days, he wanted to finish it all in one sitting and spent hours focusing on it. 

Work in progress

Another benefit of homeschooling is a project can take as much (or as little) time as needed. Public elementary school is required to spend a certain number of hours on math and language arts, which leaves less time for other subjects. My kids love they can get their assignments done quickly and then move onto to other things.

Of course, if they love the subject, they are more than welcome to spend as much time as they want on it. J has probably done at least 3 language art lessons a day. This is a huge shift from last year at public school. The subject matter in Amplify- symptoms of untreated yellow fever- caused her to nearly faint, which in turn earned her a trip to the nurse's office. She complained of language arts nearly everyday (including weekends). Now that she's in control of what she learns, she's excited to do LA every day. 

Allowing children the freedom to select their own curriculum does wonders!

A1 is interested in geology, mainly rocks and gems, so we got some geodes to crack open with our friends who also love rocks.

We also started growing our own salt crystals. We are experimenting which salt forms the best crystals. Stay tuned!

A2, our little preschooler, did not want to be left out. She asked to do Lego math with K, shoot her little bow with Dad, and we made a little princess crown together.

We had a a special trip to the library for her, too. She got to pick out a lot of books to read.  And we (usually Dad) reads to her at night as often as possible. She also played with Water Wows and enjoyed sensory time with K.

Not pictured, we had a homeschool get together. We played water activities and made new friends. We also had a few play dates for each child.

Bubbles!

On Saturday, we headed to Grandma and Grandpa's cabin for some fun. I rode a bike into the cabin with the PE teacher supervising.

She found a mud puddle to cool off in.

At the cabin we rode bikes and motorcycles, built a fort, read books, and shot bows.

We then went to the new forest school's open house.

Lego center

A ride on an actual school bus

Walking on eggs
They all did it and none of them cracked.

There was also work in the gardens. We picked the rest of our corn and lots of blackberries.

Harvest Time

Lastly, making learning meaningful is a way to help children care about and remember what they are being taught. We have a special history curriculum this year that we love reading. It was written by the kids' great grandpa. It's fun to discover what he chose to include of our state's history.

Previously, we read about all the explorers and trappers who passed through the territory. This week, we read about the pioneers that came and settled the area as well as people searching for a quicker route to California through the territory.

Here's something J wrote after reading about all the people immigrating west on the Oregon trail and for the California gold rush:

Bob: This guy says there's a shortcut this way!

John: I don't trust it.

Bob: Why?

John:  Because of what happened to the Donner party and that one group of gold seekers going to California.

Bob: What do you mean?

John: Well, the Donner party either had to take a part their wagons or search for weeks for another way to get to the Salt Lake. Later, they were crossing the salt flats and had to abandon stuff because their wagon wheels sank in the salt. 

Then there were the gold seekers who tried to take a short cut across Death Valley, which is only the hottest place on earth. Their guide tried to warn them not to go there after he nearly died scouting ahead.

And then there were those night time hikers, without flashlights, who were told of a shortcut to the top of Timpanogos. They didn't die, but they ended up sleeping on the edge of cliff after wandering through stinging nettle for hours. 

And then there was those lost emotions who nearly got changed into shape and color because one guy couldn't read and accidently took them through abstract thought.

Bob: I have no idea what you are talking about.

John: NEVER trust the shortcut!

Bob: But it will save so much time! It can't be that bad.

John: If you want to take it you can, but I'll have to assume I'll never see you again. Farewell, my friend.

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*Don't worry about Bob, he survived. The shortcut did save ten seconds. Unfortunately, it took him though poison ivy. He now has rash.