The tale of an unfaithful math teacher

If you can't tell by reading about the things I like to do, I fall on the creative/artsy/fun side of things - not the science/math side :) It is always a challenge to teach that with which you are the least comfortable, or the least interested! As many go through life, looking for that "perfect someone" to complete them, I have searched high and low for the math program that could meet all of my needs. Of course, intellectually, I know there is no "perfect program." Try telling that to the hopeless romantic, in search of her soul mate. Usually the success of a program is a combination of the child's motivation, ability and the teacher's perseverance. I am now ready to confess, I have spent 5 years cheating on my math curriculum. My story is similar to many homeschoolers out there, it began with Saxon K. Everyone said it was wonderful, all of the homeschool moms love it. We hated it. I quit. What is the deal with that stupid meeting book anyway? I transferred my affections to Singapore. That was quite successful for a while, but we hit a roadblock around third grade. By that time, the little princess was using Singapore also. Like a fool who returns to a bad relationship, I had a Saxon 3 book someone had given me, so I tried it again. We hated it. I quit. Again, what is up with that stupid meeting book? Then Andrew Campbell introduced me to Ray through Latin Centered Curriculum. I got it, and enjoyed using it to teach multiplication/division to the crocodile hunter, and so the year went switching between Ray's and Singapore (with a little bit of Gnomes and Gnumbers thrown in for good measure). When we got stuck with Singapore, we went back to Ray's, and for a while I pretty much dropped the Singapore. The drawback with Ray's is that it does not cover a lot of topics most people consider a math book should cover. There is not instruction on telling time or other "practical math" application. That did not bother me at first, I don't need a math book to teach my kid to tell time, but it did make me nervous about whether I was going to miss other important areas.

Then, last year I was at the curriculum fair and was wooed by the siren song of Math on the Level. Now, I think if I had found Math on the Level years ago, I might have been faithful (or maybe not, since I seem to be quite unable to be monogamous when it comes to math). I was in love. It seemed perfect. It is a wonderful program, giving you every concept you need for K through pre-algebra. It gives multiple ways of teaching each concept, it allows you to select the topics you want to cover according to the maturity of your child. This program is flexible, thorough and very attractive. The problem? Like any relationship, it requires work. It requires a lot of time in learning how to use the record keeping system, and is completely teacher directed. At no point will you be able to hand your child a book and say, go work these problems and get back to me. You are the teacher, you are expected to teach. In my gut, this is how it is supposed to work. This is how you envision homeschooling. This is the sort of program that emphasizes baking pizza to learn about fractions. This is the romantic vision of a starry-eyed teacher, in first love with a math program. As I said though, it takes work, and when it came to practical application, I did not work hard enough.

So now, I am at a cross-roads. Part of me wants a nice workbook to hand over to my kids and say - learn your math! I also realize that does not work with every child. I have looked over an old ABeka 5th grade text I have, and even, shamefaced, peeked at an old teacher's edition of Saxon 6/5 that has been on my shelf for 5 years (thank goodness they finally drop that meeting book!). I have pulled out all the many options, as I try to decide which one is the best fit. After analyzing these many failed math affairs, I have come to a realization. I have commitment issues (at least when it comes to math:). Apparently I need to go back and read some of my own advice. And yes, there is a new love in my life, Strayor Upton. This lovely book has been my summer romance. I am taking it slow, and won't tell you I am ready to commit to a long term relationship with Mr. Upton, but I can say it has been a nice easy pace, allowing me to sit down for 15 minutes a day with each child and work several pages of math aloud. It brings back fond memories of our success with Ray's, and it has given me a bit of consistency over the past few weeks. So, while I still am not sure what the future holds for me and math, I am making a commitment here and now. I will remain faithful through the summer. I will not stray or become complacent. I will carefully and prayerfully consider our choices for the fall, and pray for the strength to be true to those decisions. And I will become violent with the person who posts a comment about their favorite program that I "really should take a look at!"

Summer School

What have we been up to lately? Well, settling into a new routine for the summer mostly. It has been a great few weeks, as the weather turns warm, the flowers are all blooming, the garden is on its way - it is time to be outside! This year instead of taking the summer off (which is what we have done in years past) I decided we needed some consistency, and a little more time to finish up this years work. I was worried about disciplining myself and the kids to stick with it, but things are settling in nicely. So far, our days look pretty much the same. Rather than detailing a really structured schedule for the summer, I decided we would dedicate an hour in the morning for school, and some afternoons spend time on history projects (on the days we don't have karate or gymnastics). It is working out well, we cover math, Latin and spelling during that hour, then they are free to go outside or read. Then in the late afternoon we either run errands and go to class, or we work on a fun project - or take a trip to the zoo or children's museum. We are also back to having art class on Wednesdays with my nieces and nephew - we are finishing up Atelier Art Level 4. Then we squeeze in a little swimming at her house before heading home to get ready for Vespers. Don't you just love summer!

Planet Earth

I am not a big fan of the television, and for the most part my kids do not watch movies with the exception of the occasional treat with a babysitter or when they are sick. That said, there is one DVD I highly recommend if you don't already have it. A few years ago the crocodile hunter received the Planet Earth set from his godmother. What amazing footage! The kids love it (even the queen age 4 will sit there for as long as I will let her :) and it is a great series to watch if you are doing any kind of earth science or geography studies. It of course approaches things from a Darwinian evolutionary point of view, so you might want to be prepared to have those discussion with your kids. Beyond that, there is nothing I have ever seen that communicates the sheer beauty and wonder of God's creation.

Overheard from the garden

The queen helped Daddy put tomatoes in, and came to me with a very serious face saying "We planted lots of tomatoes. Daddy's favorite is "better boys," but my favorite is the "girly girls".

Asking for Tips

We will be going to Washington D.C. this fall (husband has a conference there), and I am realizing I need to start thinking about the things we want to do on our trip, so I am looking for advice. Anyone want to tell me the "must see" sites, keeping in mind I will be toting 4 kids around by myself most of the time? I have not been to D.C. since 6th grade, and the things I remember are the Smithsonian (Dorothy's ruby red slippers!), the botanical gardens (what amazing orchids!), and the fact that the rotunda was being restored and we could not tour the capitol building. Oh, and my dad refused to wait in line to take me to the top of the Washington Monument, which was the one thing I really wanted to do. So, those of you who have been more recently, what advice can you give? And is it worth it to try to get a tour of the White House (realizing I may have waited too late to get that one to happen)?

Finally Gardening

A few weeks ago my husband and the kids put in the first of the garden, planting chard, broccoli, lettuce, carrots, squash, peppers and tomatoes. Then, it rained for a week, and the garden ended up a massive mud pit. Thankfully, it looks like most of the plants sprouted, though we have not spotted any broccoli yet (of course, since this is the first year we planted broccoli, none of us knows what the sprouts look like :) So, yesterday came phase 2: corn. Here is the corn patch all tilled and ready for seeds.

The crocodile hunter plants his watermelon seeds (harvested from last years watermelon he grew from a seed from a grocery store melon none of us believed would sprout!)

The baby spent her time sampling the dirt.

The queen preferred raking.

And the best part, here is the little princess carefully placing corn in the rows daddy prepared, and following along behind her is the baby, carefully picking out the seeds and eating them!

Working Out a New Routine

Anyone with children knows there is no such thing as a definite schedule! Naps are constantly changing, lessons and commitments come and go, and you have to learn to bend with the the season of life you are currently living. That said, having a structure to the day is important, and something my kids thrive on when I manage to be diligent and create that structure for them.
To that end, since all of our "regularly scheduled programming" has suddenly changed, I am taking a fresh look at how and when we accomplish our learning. While I love much of Charlotte Mason's philosophy, I do not agree with the idea of lots of little subjects in 10-15 minute lessons. That is too all involving for me, too complicated to keep moving, and does not allow for us to dig deeply into a subject. I tend to lean towards longer blocks of time, and am learning to allow those blocks of time to float through the day, without always tying them to a definite hour. So, taking the concept of lesson blocks (a waldorf term), the principle of multum non multa and some suggestions from an old curriculum guide for Classical Conversations, I have come up with a flexible schedule for us to follow. I did include target times to help me focus, but I also realize that many of those times will have to shift. I am trying to maintain my consistent wake time and bedtime, and currently have a set workout schedule with a trainer, and of course piano, karate and gymnastics are all fixed. Around those peg times, I want to fit in 3 or 4 lesson blocks. Traditionally a Waldorf lesson block is longer than an hour, but I think we are going to work in one hour time chunks in the morning, then allow for longer blocks of time in the afternoon for pursuing history and science.

6:30 - mom up, start laundry, breakfast, morning prayers
7:00 - kids up, dressed, chores, breakfast, prayers and lives of saints
8:00 - 3 days/week - leave for my workout
2 days/week - introduce new memory work, go outside, or start 1st lesson block earlier

9:30 - home, shower, girls play with the baby, crocodile hunter begins Latin
10:00 - 1st lesson block - Math - everyone will work on math, I will begin by teaching the littlest, and slowly dismiss the younger ones to play, moving my way up to the oldest
11:00 - teatime - I have decided to shift this to morning snack time, because our afternoons have gotten busy with outside lessons - this also allows the baby to get an early lunch so she can go down for a nap midday - during this time we will cover poetry, composer study and picture study on a rotating basis
12:00 - 2nd lesson block - Language Arts - this will be the time we cover copywork, spelling, and writing
1:00 - lunch time - listen to CD's - Story of the World or Shakespeare plays
on days we have errands, this is also the time they are to gather what they need for their classes and make sure they are appropriately dressed
2:00 - 3rd lesson block - this will be History or Science, we will alternate which one we cover

twice/week
3:00 - 6:00 we run errands and the kids have lessons

3 days/week
3:00-4:00 - outside time - naptime for the Queen
4:00 - 4th lesson block - this will be for projects, literature, reading aloud, whatever needs to get done, followed by free time and independent reading

7:00 - dinner - time with Daddy, reading together, evening prayers