The kids have been playing too many video games and watching too much crap TV. I have implemented a rule that there will be no video games or TV that are fighting or battling, unless of course it is educational, until 3 PM. I have been too lenient with this rule, so as of yesterday I am sticking to my guns. I am prepared for the whining and complaining because it is good for all of us. Most of the time there seems to be less stress with this rule. Hey, even I get some things done around the house when I follow the rule also. The morning was a little crazy. The kids were watching some episodes of Wild Kratts and running around crazy. They were wrestling, racing, and playing soccer. Half of the time they get along and the other half they are whining that the other hurt them, um hello, that happens when you are kicking each other for fun. At some point P and D disappear into their bedrooms and leave me with an unusual quiet, until the Furby Boom randomly starts talking. P and I played a game of chess. Of course he won! I think I was paying more attention to where he was moving and what would happen when he moved different ways to teach him different strategies that I didn't pay enough attention to my own pieces. He kept getting me in jams that I didn't see coming. Then D decided she was going to play against P. That didn't go so well, there was a bit of yelling and whining before D quit and I finished for her. A game of checkers was then played between P and D, same thing happened so we put it all away and ventured outside to play in the fresh snow. There was whining for no reason while getting snow clothes on so that was a sign of what was to come. Mostly everyone had fun playing in the snow. What brought the kids in early was the whining about each other for no reason and the not following directions. The dog didn't help the matter any by running over the kids and stealing their snow. When we came in both of the kids sat in their rooms thinking about why they got in trouble outside. At least it gave them some time to chill out from everything. While the kids had some hot chocolate and some food, I read chapters 7 and 8 of Mr Popper's Penguins. For some learning activities both of the kids worked on addition and subtraction Wrap-Ups. P worked on +1 and -2. D worked on +1 and -1 for what comes after and what comes before. P and I did a shared reading of Batman: The Brave and the Bold: Batman and His Friends.
For the rest of the day there was a good mix of iPad games, Wii U games, Wild Kratt and Ultimate Spider-Man shows, and playing on their own. Some of the iPad games P played were Wild Kratts Math, Pixel Guns, Survivalcraft, and Sonic Dash. While P was playing his iPad mini D was playing on her rolling fire truck and rolling on the floor with her Hello Kitty doll. Usually during the day the kids watch TV shows together. The Wii U games the kids played today were Transformers Prime, Mario 3D World, and Mario Party 9. The kids did get along a little better today during the video games. Although P does have a habit of telling his sister what to do and blaming her for things that happen. He also can't seem to remember that she doesn't have his experience or skill at video games. Other times he talks sweet to her and lifts her spirits! Last week at the grocery store they were getting along so well some guy walking buy us commented on how well they get along and seem to like each other! I should have mentioned because they are homeschooled and they have to deal with each other all the time, hehe.
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The morning started out nice and quiet really. D and Roxy, our 8 month old Chocolate Lab, were the ones to rise me out of bed, like usual. After D had her breakfast and I had my iced coffee and checked my email and Facebook D went on her computer and started playing on the Nick Jr website and I started cleaning up the living room. D then moved on to the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic website and played games. Between the dog wanting to go outside and D wanting me to watch what she was doing, I finally got most of the cleaning up done that I wanted to do. After playing games for a while D decided to watch My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic on Netflix and coloring a Pony coloring book. She was really into Pony this morning. All the while P was still sleeping. He must have needed it I thought, but then I found out he was watching Ultimate Spider-Man in the middle of the night because he couldn't go back to sleep after D woke him up some how.
I woke P up at about 12:30 PM. While he was eating lunch I read chapters 5 & 6 of Mr Popper's Penguins to the kids. D was dancing around the living room and doing puzzles while I was reading. Throughout the reading I ask different questions and we talk about what is going on in the story. I also try to pick out different things the kids can learn about throughout the reading. This is sort of a Five In A Row style of learning. While P was having some time to himself watching Wild Kratts on Netflix D and I were doing some learning activities. We read some flip-the-flap nursery rhymes, Little Boy Blue, Old McDonald, and Hey Diddle Diddle. To practice her letter recognition and sounds we did the Leapfrog Tag Jr and the Letter Factory Flash Cards. She was getting burned out toward the end of the flash cards so we zipped through the rest and let her go on her way. P and I did a shared reading of a Super Hero Squad Level 2 book. We take turns reading pages because he really doesn't like reading and the books that are his level are usually too long to keep his interest. We then did some addition Wrap-Ups. P wanted to play a game of checkers after his learning activities, D watched and played with the chess pieces that go along with the Super Mario checkers/chess set we have. Toward the end of the game we were just chasing each other and P was getting bored so we just let each other get jumped. We have had a book about learning to play chess from the library for a while and just haven't sat and done it yet so P decided it was time. My husband knows how to play and taught P once a few months ago but I think P has forgotten to have his dad keep up on the lessons. Chess really isn't has hard to learn as I had thought. P remembered some things, but the book was a good tool. We have decided that we are going to try to play every day so we can get good enough to beat his dad, uh, at least we can try. For the remainder of the day the kids did different things together. They watched a couple episodes of Wild Kratts while playing under the covers fighting. That didn't seem to work too well because the dog kept attacking them. They played Mater's Tall Tales video game and Mario 3D World on the Wii U. At some point P was hitting his sister because she was actually doing well so he got taken out of the game. To get back in he did some addition flash cards. P designed some BeyBlades for each of them so they can battle tomorrow morning. At about 8 PM the went to P's room to watch shows on their iPad minis and go to sleep. Since about Christmas time D has been sleeping in P's room. They enjoy having each other in the same room. They had done this before so I made one room a bedroom and the other a playroom. Not long after I had done that they were complaining they wanted their own rooms back. So this time I think I will leave things alone and just let them do their thing until one of them decides they don't want to share a room. Homeschooling is a journey that never stops. I have been homeschooling for a year and a half now, we have our ups and downs, but we love it. I have a 6 year old son and a 3 1/2 year old daughter so we are still trying to figure out what works best for us. We have done different curriculums along with unschooling. This blog is about our homeschooling journey, the ups and downs, maybe it will help other homeschooling families.
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About UsTake a step into the life of Auer (pronounced like our) homeschool. We are a family that likes to learn through life experiences. We would like to share our experiences so maybe we can make a difference in the lives of others. Don't forget to follow us on Facebook to get the smaller activities that go on that don't always make it to the blog. Archives
May 2019
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