Duffey Family

This week starts a new school year. I don't really keep track of grades but I think my oldest would be in 5th grade which sort of freaks me out so I'd rather stick to not keeping grades. But I feel really good about this year. I feel like I might have finally figured out this whole homeschooling thing. Sad to admit that since I've been doing this since the beginning. The early years were full of the 2 year baby cycle and teaching Peter everything. He was delayed and I taught him and his brother the same stuff. Now Peter has pulled ahead and has become a confident reader. Sam is still struggling but with enough time reading together he'll catch on. Joe is just a step behind Sam, if Sam doesn't hurry up Joe might be on the same level with him. Then there's Will. Poor little Willy. He gets interrupted and sideswiped by his older brothers. He is usually such a shy little boy that its easy for him to hind in his brother's shadow especially with Joe being so lively. But now Will is showing signs of wear and tear from the years of being interrupted and he is starting to throw fits and whine a lot. He blames other people for not getting him dressed or meeting his needs. Its rough to be 5 with 3 older brothers. Charlie is really developing a personality and sounding more and more like his brothers. He does things that Joe does. Charlie seems older than 3.

So this week school started on Monday and I started with Power of an Hour and I remember we did an hour of PE. We got everything done but we ran out of time to do art. So talking it over with Chris he suggested that I stop school at a certain time weather we're done or not and have lunch and then art. Then whatever we didn't finish up we can do after art. I thought that seemed like a good idea. I want to be able to fit time in for cool projects and rather than let distractions and various reasons for not getting to art--its best to make time. That way the kids know its there.

What's Power of and Hour you ask. Power of an Hour is this neat little thing that helps add in fun stuff. Mondays is an artist so this Monday is was Carravaggio. Then Tuesdays is a musician and this Tuesday it was Handel. I can't remember what Wednesday is. But each day is spotlights someone and gives links to more information about that person. Then I add art to the day that an artist is spotlighted. We didn't get to it, but Carravaggio paints with a lot of light and dark colors so my thought was to try and draw and/or paint like Carravaggio for art time. Which sadly we didn't get to doing, but Carravaggio is the artist for the whole month so next week we'll get there.

Music was Handel this week so we listened to some of his work. We did get to music because I stopped like Chris suggested. So I got out the music box and we banged around for a while and then I tried introducing things like rhythm and I think the kids would have rather just kept playing. Next week I think I might try adding in a little more. I found a music curriculum thing that I got as a freebie that I might try. I'd also like to start having music lessons so I might have the kids get a tablet and a keyboard and go have a music lesson--there is this awesome online music lesson website where you can get free lessons. Lots of possibilities with music!

Wednesday was our 'no school' day so we didn't do Power of an Hour. I realize that will throw us off from whatever Wednesday is suppose to be with it. So instead of worrying about what day we're doing what thing we'll just follow a different method. I got the idea on the internet--get 180 file folder and label them 1-180 and just take out 'Day 1'. So instead of planning a whole week and then being thrown off course when one of the days doesn't work out right, I just pull 'Day 1' and then if Tuesday is horrible and bad things happen my schedule isn't thrown off I just pick up with 'Day 2'. That sounds so simple like I should have thought about it years and years ago, but its really been a revolutionary idea for me. Sometimes its the simplest things that give us the biggest answers to our problems!

So anyway, Wednesday I have declared a 'no school day' this year. Its the day we'll have Knights of Freedom every other week and since the Knights starts at 12:30 and will take 45 minutes to get there I figure our day will be too short to get much done. Plus I have been itching to get a little time to pursue my interests. So I am going to take Wednesday mornings to do my hobby of cooking and baking and making homemade sorts of stuff. I want to make hard lotion and homemade bread and can beans and dry fruits. Learn to sew and make sewing patterns, read, write, create! I am excited for this year because I will get to pursue my interests a little and I hope the boys take it as a day to join me in exploring our own interests.

So this week for our No School Day we went to Kleb Woods Nature Center. We had trouble getting going early because I wanted the kitchen clean and the kids were resistant to helping. So we didn't get there until after lunch. We took along some grapes to snack on and went for a walk in the woods. I had brought the camera and was hoping to get a few shots of them in the woods. Well... its turned into a photo shoot. Begging, sweat and tears... I ended up with some nice shots of each child but I may have scarred them from ever doing it again. I had to really beg them! I was in tears at one point telling them how I had hoped to get pictures of them for the wall. Willy was the most resistant, he really did not want to have to sit on a log and smile. They have all perfected the fake mug-shot smile so it takes effort to get a genuine happy look out of them. It was painful and I hope my efforts were worth it.

At this point, I am not so sure. I think if we hadn't found the twig bug at the end I may not have ended up getting Willy's picture at all. I sat outside the car on the ground trying to figure out what to do--4 kids done and only Willy left to take pictures of. I sat there trying to figure out if I should either leave him out, use an old picture for the wall frame or convince him to somehow sit on the log and let me do it. Then Sam came to cheer me up. He is a sweet kid for wanting to help me and cheer me up with a hug. I hope I am not scarring him by needing to be cheered up.

So Sam comes over to check on me and then I feel something on my arm and brushing it off I notice its a twig bug so Sam also being my nature lover and expert starts to pick it up and play with it. So my sadness over not having pictures of Will is replaced by the joy brought by this little twig-bug thing. It was so fun! I ended up getting an awesome shot of the bug on Sam's face! The other kids had come over by then and we were all having fun looking at the bug and letting him crawl on us. Then I made my one last effort and Willy gave in and let me take him back to the log and sit and get his picture taken. We even brought our twig bug friend to help out.

Then Thursday we had school again and we had a meeting in the evening with adoption. So I decided for several reasons to just do the core subjects--reading, writing and math. I had tried on Tuesday to take the youngest and spend time with each kid youngest to oldest getting all their school done in that order--more or less. So I started with Charlie on Tuesday and we had a good time reading a book and he took great care in coloring his picture of Handel. Then Thursday I did the same, I took Charlie and Will first and read a book and did some easy stuff with them. I have to say in the past I'd always started with Peter and I never got around to Will because by then he was off playing and hard to get back again. I like this way! Start with the youngest--its much better. Poor Willy, he hasn't had a lot of time with me reading books and doing things. I am glad to have found this idea and implementing it now. The first week wasn't perfect, we need to tweak a few things. Like I think rather than doing Power of an Hour first and then coming back to it with art or music or whatever that I will do it last right before art. So I think now I'll start with the youngest and do their core stuff like reading, writing and math then have lunch and do Power of and Hour followed by the activity--art, music, history or science.

I don't know where to put PE, maybe if we can keep getting up like we have been. I've started getting the kids up at 5 and telling them they can go watch a Magic School Bus episode and they jump right up and go! It used to be a pain in the butt to wake them up, but its getting easier and easier. Maybe once they wake up easier I can try taking away the show and seeing if they can do their morning routine and get going early. Then we might have time for PE at 6:30 or something. I don't know. But I feel good about where we're at!!

I am thankful for the internet and the good ideas I have found and for friends and their good ideas and support of the homeschool moms monthly meetings. I am thankful for the gospel of Jesus Christ, for our new bishop and for our old bishop and for twig bugs!

Another year has come and gone. We are trying to start anew with school. There are so many distractions which make it really hard. Joe is beginning to be more and more involved in school. Yesterday and today we worked on writing. He is such a funny kid, we start our day with exercise and scripture study. He slept through exercise and then we must have woke him because as Peter, Sam and I were starting scripture study, he jumps out of bed and starts exercising. He yells out, "wait for me!" He ran over to the bike and and trampoline and start trying to do a few moves. Then he came over to us sitting around the table and sits down ready to join our scripture study, Will is right behind him eager to also join. So I get all 4 of the boys sitting on the floor with the scripture video going for lesson 1 and then I run downstairs to print them off their scripture study notebooks. Then I help Will do it--he can't write so I asked him the questions and wrote for him. Then I help Joe. I asked him the questions and then wrote them on the nearby chalkboard. After a bit, he shows me his work and asks for my approval. I look and see all the words squished together--no spacing. I tell him that is looks good but that it lacks spacing, so for the next words start to space after each word like I had done on the board. He goes back to his desk and erases all of it! Then he starts copying something else! I asked him, what are you writing, he pointed to the question on the paper that apparently looked like something nice to copy. So I go over and sit with him and help him through it. I tell him to write T-H-E. Meanwhile Sam asks me a question, then I look back at Joe and he has written an 'A', I ask him why did you write an A?!! He looks at me and says "Oh!" And then I ask him, ok write a 'T'. I helped him all the way through it and he did great.

I am going to need a lot of patience with Joe. I am not sure how I am going to give each of them the time they need to get school done, but I am not ready to give up. As long as we are getting things done, I think we are doing ok.

Yesterday we had a lot of goofing off. So far today has been much better. No goofing off, just slower getting things done than I would like. Try try again!