Five in a Row

I have been "dipping my toe in the water" of homeschooling a little more this summer.

Since our future job was a bit up in the air, I decided to prepare for homeschooling Mac for Kindergarten in case we moved somewhere with terrible schools. 

I started to think seriously and pray about what might work for our family. I realized that the table in our bedroom could make a great "school desk" for the kids, which evolved into making our bedroom into a temporary "school room." Not sure if a schoolroom is needed or not, but it's been good to have all of the school stuff stored in one place at least.

Last week I decided a to do a "trial run" of a home school week. A friend recommended a resource called "Five in a Row" (www.fiveinarow.com). The idea is that you read the same children's book to your kids each day for a week, and each day you use the book as a springboard for that day's school lesson (i.e., math, science, art, etc.). Sounded like a good fit for our family, so we gave it a try. Most of the lesson ideas came from Kelly's blog (www.kellyandkateteach.blogspot.com), the "Five in a Row" lesson guide book, and Pinterest.

Our book for the week was "The Story About Ping," which tells the story of a little Peking duck named Ping who lives in a houseboat on the Yangtze River in China. Each night the master of the houseboat sings to call the ducks home, and the very last duck to come home gets a "spank" on the back.

One day Ping realizes he will be the last duck home, and he decides to hide rather than receive a spank on the back. The story goes on to tell about Ping's hardships while he is alone on the river, and how he eventually finds his way back to his master.

I thought the Bible story of the prodigal son would fit in well with our week, so we used it for our Bible time. We focused on the truth that God always wants us to come home to him, and it is always the best thing for us (even if we have to get a "spank").

So I started each day with the felt board, telling the Prodigal Son story to the kids at the breakfast table. The kids helped me tell the story in their own words as the week went on.

Our verse this week was Luke 15:18: "I will arise and go to my father." We talked about the verse after the felt board story and did different short activities to review it throughout the week...which were somewhat successful. For example, on Thursday Mac was willing to trace the verse, but Corrie just wanted draw and decorate Christmas trees.

Then we took about an hour break and started our Five in a Row lesson around 9am. After that, we took a break from school until after lunch, when we spent time working on reading/letters. We have also been doing a few minutes of handwriting before Bible story/bed, and that has actually been working well (I thought it would be the worst part of the day to do handwriting, but it seems to relax and calm them down for a few minutes before bed). We'll see how long that lasts.

On Monday morning we focused on math. We read The Story About Ping, and then we used a 100 chart to count all of Ping's family.

After that we represented the number of Ping's aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. on the wall chart.

After that, we went to the splash pad with some friends. :)

On Tuesday we talked about Maps and countries. I taped a world map to the wall and we put a picture of Calvin, Jack and Luke on Canada, a picture of our family on America, and a picture of Ping on China.

We talked about flags, and then we colored the Chinese flag. I told them that the Chinese flag is red with yellow stars, but they could not understand the concept that you don't get to choose what colors a country has on its flag. Corrie had to add orange and green, and Mac had to make the stars "on fire." Davey was crying and crawling up my leg the whole time, and Mac's attention span was about zero. He was in time out once during the activity, which lasted about 5-minutes total. So here is what the final products looked like:

(I thought the activity was a total flop, but later I asked Mac about the Chinese flag. He said, "Oh it's red with yellow stars," and then he said, "but the stars on my flag are ON FIRE!" Is that a success?)

After that, Mac and Corrie went on a bike ride with Daddy to the post office. :)

On Wednesday morning we talked about buoyancy and used various objects to conduct the classic "sink or float" experiment. I distinctly remember doing this activity in kindergarten. Our teacher had a fish tank and various objects, and she would ask the class to guess if we thought each object would sink or float. The teacher held up a metal key, and I was sure it would float. I convinced the boy next to me to raise his hand with me to vote for "float." We were the only ones in the class who raised our hands. (I learned that day that keys don't float).

The kids made a prediction for each object, and then conducted two trials to see if actually sank or floated. Bless their little hearts, they guessed "float" for every object. The apple didn't fall far from the tree there! When we were done, Mac pointed out that our charts made a pattern of "float, sink, float."

After that, we joined Heidi and Jennifer and their kids at library story time. 

The craft that day was making cupcakes! :)

On Thursday we wrote our own stories: The Story About Mac, and The Story About Corrie. We counted our family members and taped pictures (mostly our heads that I cut out of a family photo) to their stories. Then I printed some pictures off of our blog from when Mac and Corrie went fishing with Grandpa Dean, and they told me a story about it.

After that, our cousins came to visit and we picked blueberries and peaches. :)

On Friday we just had fun and played/rested. Here is how the wall of our "school room" looked by the end of the week.


One thing I really liked about this method was that each morning when I read the book, we would look at the wall and review each of the lessons from earlier in the week. It seemed so natural to revisit each of the prior lessons since we were still reading the same book. I also liked how everything was related to the same story, and how the heart of our Bible lesson related to the story and the rest of the school activities.

So, that's how "Five in a Row" looked for us. I am sure if we continue with it, it will evolve and change as I grow as a teacher and the kids grow through their different stages. But all in all, as I look at the week, it was pretty fun and at least somewhat educational! I think this could be an option for us if we do decide to home school.

Stink

Mac has been loving the books series, Stink, by Megan McDonald. Great recommendation, Kelly! I like that the books have educational themes and also just enough silly, boy humor to keep Mac engaged. 

One of the books was all about really stinky things (Mac's favorite book in the series so far). When the main character, "Stink," went on a field trip to a museum of "smelly stuff," Mac asked me to take pictures of the pages so he could put them up on his bedroom wall. 

Later that day Ellis came inside with a big yellow and black beetle that he found in the carport. "Mac! Check out this beetle I found!" Mac loved him and named him "Stink," (of course). We identified the bug as a Carrion Beetle. Believe it or not, the Carrion Beetle's claim to fame is it's specialized appetite for the most disgusting and stinky foods! Mac thought that was awesome. 

We made a little habitat for "Stink" and fed him some of his favorite stinky meals (old cheese, old hotdogs pieces, etc.).

We made a "Stink" poster for Mac's room. He enjoyed labeling Stink's parts and learning all about his special new stinky pet!

Mac's "Stinky Facts:"

"Carrion" beetles get their name because they feed on "carrion" (yucky, stinky meat).

Creature defense: they have strong, armor-like plates to protect their backs, and they are excellent at hiding and camouflaging when they are in danger.

Predators: frogs, birds, rats

Canoe Trip 2014

There are a bunch of great things that I have been meaning to record on our family blog...here's one! A few months ago we had such a fun canoe trip. It was Mac and Corrie's first time in a canoe, and they both did great. Really fun weekend! And it was all just a few minutes from our house. 

Virginia Beach

There have been a few perks to our family hitting the interview trail together. Not only did we get to visit TJ's house, but we also got a free family beach weekend out of the deal. 

Yes, imagine the humble Johns' of little old Front Royal going to the big city and staying at none other than the Oceanfront Hilton, right in the heart of the night life. 

We arrived really late at night, so the kids were surprised and awed when they woke up on Saturday and saw the ocean...the REAL OCEAN...right out the window!

Breakfast consisted of ordering a lot of hot buttered toast from room service (we were reading a lot of Mercy Watson then :).

I viewed this "vacation" as a gift, being that Mac and Corrie love learning about the ocean and its sea creatures, but have never actually seen it for real. (Technically, Mac saw it once as a baby, but I am not counting that). 

Ellis interviewed all day on Saturday, and I was "generally" maintaining my sanity with all three kids on the 17th floor in our hotel room. Wouldn't you know, Saturday was freezing cold and overcast all day. 

But what a sweet day it was on Sunday! The sun was out and it was beautiful weather. Ellis hates the beach, but he had a happy heart about it and actually even enjoyed it a little. 

It was hard getting Corrie to try playing in the water. She would get right up to the edge and then get scared and run away crying (she spent most of her time building sandcastles). 

Mac had a love/hate relationship with the water. He would get really scared, then he would go in the water and have a blast, and then he would get scared again and run out screaming. A few minutes later he would go in the water, only have the best and worst time of his life and then run out screaming again...and the cycle continued. 

And then there was Dave. 

He would run enthusiastically into the water, get knocked over by a wave, stand up and look bewildered and shell-schocked (at which point I would pick him up), and then as soon he caught his breath again when I put him down, he would run headlong straight back into the water...laughing hysterically until the next "wave" (and by wave, I really mean a big ripple) would come and knock him off his feet again...and the cycle continued. 

Later that day we tried to eat at a nice sit-down restaurant on the main strip. I am not even going to describe one tiny part of that meal, as I refuse to acknowledge that it ever even happened. (Other than what I just wrote). All I can say is fancy restaurants and two deliriously exhausted parents with three small kids who have been trapped in a mini-van and hotel rooms for two straight weeks do not mix. 

And then before we knew it, we were back on the road again, heading back to the slow-paced, sleepy little town that has really begun to grow on us. Having a chance to experience a small taste of the lifestyles of the rich and famous was fun for a few days, but nothing beats laying your head down on your own pillow and your own 8-year-old, indented, saggy, sears mattress...

And besides, even the Oceanfront Hilton can't beat the view. :)

Monticello

A while back we went on our first family "field trip" to Monticello. We had a lot of fun at Thomas Jefferson's house. 

Each part of the house was designed with purpose and careful thought. Ellis enjoyed the tour and learning about all of the reasoning behind various items and structures in the house. If Ellis could build his own house, he would go through many of the same thought processes. We would have one unusual, practical, interesting house!

My favorite part was the garden. So beautifully designed, and you can't beat the view!

For the kids, I think their favorite part was a tie between the fish pond (full of tadpoles) and the children's discovery museum. After barely surviving a tour of the house where we constantly said, "DON'T TOUCH!!!," it was pretty neat to be able to get their hands on things and explore without getting in trouble. :)

 

I am not sure which part of the day Ellis liked better: the tour of the real house, or the fake "childproof" version of Thomas Jefferson's bedroom where people can explore his inventions.

For example, there was a working model of Thomas Jefferson's copy machine: while you write with one pencil, it simultaneously moves another pencil so that you have a copy of your important documents.

Here is Ellis,writing something important. 

All in all, a pretty interesting, fun....exhausting day. I would say the kids pretty much summed it up on the way home. Here they were about five minutes after we left!