Incentives for littles

One of the difficult things for me about Homeschooling is finding a balance between being a parent and a teacher. I know my kids fool around, get distracted by shiny objects and run off in different directions a lot more than they would in a classroom setting at a traditional school. That's not altogether bad. But it can make it hard to accomplish what we need to on a daily basis!

So I came up with the idea of a School Store to help keep the kids motivated and on task. Most of these items were stocked by Grandma, she sends boxes full of items from Micheal's, Joann's and Target's $1 section (and other places). The goodies are things like craft kits, coloring books, stickers...you get the idea. I haven't added toys or candy. I really love that the incentives are creative items!

 

I keep everything in a box (waaaaayyyy out of kids reach). After a week (or so) we count up the stickers the kids received.  (More on how they earn stickers at the end of the post) And they get to choose items based on the points they have!

 This is a long process as they ponder, dig, count up points, make final decisions........

 I use colorful dots to make items worth certain point values. So coming up with interesting combos is fun (and mathematical!)

It's a pretty exciting end to any week! The kids look forward to it. Sometimes they practice patience and add up point from the last week if there is something they really want.

I'm sure you are wondering what it is I actually "reward" the kids for. Let me start by saying, school was frustrating for me at times. Many days I was dealing with whining, complaining, lost pencils, daydreaming, wasting time, fighting over crayons and scissors, etc.  I needed to come up with a way to keep the kids motivated, accomplish our goals each day and reinforce Godly character and principles. The kids don't earn points for speeding through Math, or getting 100% on their spelling. It's all earned through exhibiting character traits that are Godly. For us (for now) it's obedience, attitude, hardwork (diligence), orderliness and kindness. Within these character traits we can apply them to learning and treating each other with honor. Watching our attitudes and behavior as well.

In the past I've also used things like field trips, special trips to the ice cream shop, movies, trips to the park to help motivate the kids. Although these things are all part of our regular education as well, I would hate to only offer these as rewards. But you can be creative and add your own ideas in there!

Here is a simple free printable of our Daily Character Goals . There are scripture references for each character trait to help us why we want to practice these not only in school but in our daily lives!

Do you use incentives and rewards in your school setting? Share your ideas!!

Win something!

Head on over to the Crafty Classroom and enter to win this curriculum! I did!

Teach My Joy!

Weekly wrap up!

Phew what a week! Where do I even begin?

Honestly this week was nothing to brag about. I've had weeks where the units flowed and we threw Chinese parties and fun experiments. But this week was survival week. Just trying to plug along and get through the necessities just about had me beat.

It was exciting to get over the middle hump of our school year. Getting a late start means the middle and ending are a little off, but how wonderful that we see the end in sight now. We are starting some exciting things here in the future....new math concepts for both Jonah and Ellie (I can't believe she is adding now!!!!) and Ellie starting to actually read books....it's always very exciting to hear them start to read on their own.

Today was the best day of the week. I know, it's Friday right?? Well tomorrow we'll be doing a little impromptu learning because of taking Wed off to help a friends with her 3 kids. (yes that was an eye opener!)
Today though we found a new park in the area, met a Mom who I knew was looking at my kids with wonder since the 2 she had with her were 2 years old. She was eying up the height of Jonah and thinking to herself that kids has got to be of school age! Turns our she has been thinking about homeschooling, so I shared my information about the school the kids are enrolled in and the church. Maybe I'll see her again! (oh wait I ran into her again at the Library!)

We had lunch at McD's and then headed to the Library. That went surprisingly well with 4 kids in tow. We read some History, colored and ran wild through the isles...no wait. Wrong memory. We did go up and down the isles looking for new and exciting books.....

Linked to Weekly Wrap UP

So, to end this ordinary week.....I look forward to the next week.....with bright eyes and high hopes!

Homeschool Mother's Journal - 3

In my life this week...
I practiced having 6 and 7 kids by watching a few extras. It was both easy and hard (is that even possible?). Those days I decided school was pretty near impossible except for a few things here and there. Of course that means my floors are dirty and my laundry pile is enormous.
In our homeschool this week...
We made it to our halfway point! We started late because of moving in August, but we are  working at a pretty good pace consistently! We are going to have to use Saturday as a school day (just this week) since Daddy has a Men's Breakfast early in the morning!
Places we're going and people we're seeing...
Monday we took the kids night swimming at a new rec center in the area (I know, but we do live in Hawaii!) and also found a GREAT new park in the rec center! We made it to church a lot this week! (Dr. Fruchtenbaum was talking at our church). Last night we were treated to a night out by one of the Church members.
My favorite thing this week was...
Making Dr. Seuss hats with all the kids this week. It was quick and easy. Then we read Dr. Seuss books for circle time and even the 2 and 3 year old loved it! We even made some Oobleck!Thank you Dr. Seuss for your gift!
What's working/not working for us...
Me trying to plan the week on Sunday nights is SO not working! I'm tired by the time we get home from church, sometimes I get through the planning sometimes I don't all the way. I need to find another time to do it! (maybe Thursdays since Fridays are our Science/History/Art days)
Homeschool questions/thoughts I have...
How do some plan 6 weeks in advance and stay on target!? It seems my plans chance week to week! Sometimes we don't make it all the way through the weeks worth of stuff and it transfers over! I wonder if planning for 6 weeks at a time would help or hurt?
And how do I get my 6 year old to love spelling !? He reads at a 4th grade level but can't spell the words he reads! He hates Explode the code!
A photo, video, link, or quote to share...

All my cats

We had a few extras this day! Sean and Noah loved making their hats (Jonah didn't want to make one) The two toddlers look like some members of a secret Seuss religious group...

Fending off Burnout

[Burnout] ~ the experience of long-term exhaustion and diminished interest This could be physical, emotional or mentally.


It seems I've been here more often than I'd like to admit. Both as a public school teacher as well as a Homeschooling parent. Teaching in any location is difficult, it is tiring. However being a homeschool parent means you are taking on a full-time job (at home), the responsibility of educating your children! Where it normally takes a team of people to accomplish this from researching curriculum to planning field trips to teaching, you are doing it all yourself. No wonder burn out seems almost inevitable at one point or another. Maybe a few of these suggestions will help fend off that season in the year.....

1. Lay it all out ~ to your heavenly Father. Cry it out to Him, what you are struggling with. I Peter says to "Cast all your cares on Him because He cares for you!" He does! He led you to this place of Homeschooling and when you are weak and weary and don't quite know how to keep going, we will comfort you and care for you. And ask others for prayer as well, whether it's your spouse, a woman's group, your Mom, reach out!

2. Take it all in ~ Sometimes identifying an actual problem might be the solution to burn out....is there a curriculum or schedule that just.isn't.working.? It may be something just needs to be changed to make things run smoother or click. Sometimes it may seem hard to switch in the middle or even end of the year, but it's not the schedule that is important, it's your children!

3. Call for Back up ~ everyone needs reprieve. Maybe you know another Homeschooling mom (or many!) who will take your kids for a day. Send some things for them to work on! Or a Mom who will let your kids come play for an afternoon. A good chunk of truly quiet time to either catch up, pray, sleep, read, sew.....whatever! is maybe what you need! There will be a time that someone calls on you and you can repay the favor!

4. Call it Quits ~ that's right, just quit already! For a few days or maybe a week! (if you feel really guilty take notes on everything your child does for that week and label it your unschooling experiment!) That is one of the perks of choosing your own schedule and time line, it can fit your life. When you have hit a rough spot trying to barrel through and keep teaching for the sake of teaching isn't going to accomplish what you really want with your children.If your have fallen behind in your housekeeping or other duties, take a few days or week just to catch up. Give yourself permission to get things in order!

5. Go on an edu-vacation ~ Plan a whole week (or a few days) to get you out of the house and do fun (and perhaps educational) activities with your kids. We live on a small Island but I can fill up a whole week of fields trips.....and most for FREE if I wanted or needed to. A trip to the Library, Fire Station, Post Office....exciting and FREE! Visit some Botanical Gardens, Go play at the Park, read books under a tree, go swimming......the list is endless and life is educational.

6. Get in check ~ Make sure there isn't something medically wrong. Exhaustion, sadness, lethargy, lack of motivation can all be symptoms of medical issues! Everyone deals with these from time to time, but if you notice any one symptom is hanging around and really starting to interfere with life, it may be time to get a check up and seek help.

Don't give up though, whatever you do. Make a choice for your children and sanity sake to do something about the slump. Trying to push through a difficult season in life only makes the stress and burnout worse. Give yourself permission NOT to feel guilty about asking for prayer, help or taking time to just catch up with life. You'll thank yourself later!

National Reader's Day

Did you know TODAY {March 2} is National Readers Day?? 

How fun! Maybe today is the day to take your little one on a trip to the Library and get her very own Library card! Or throw a Library themed Party and print these out:

Photo Credit: familyfun Magazine

 

Throw together a little party with these invitations

Photo Credit: FamilyFun Magazine

Well whatever you do, make sure you snuggle up and read a few extra books with your littles today!

Unschooling {un}defined

Still here reading, pondering, searching......

and I came across this link to many many great articles on unschooling. SO here you go. Just bookmark it so you can come back to it.  There is so much goodness you won't get to it all in one sitting!

I'm taking the kids to their class today on Dr. Suess Science....should be fun! It's only an hour long today so I don't even know what I'll have time to do with the other 2 kiddos! Ususally we stroll around Ala Moana and get a snack or have storytime in Boarders.....we'll have to find an adventure somewhere tomorrow!


My favorite definition of {unschooling} up until this point is this

A peace, a harmony and a love of learning that does not get squelched over time.

 That is what I want for my kids. I want a life and a love of learning. Not just schooling and rote memorization of facts with no connection to them or their lives. I want learning to be their lives.....and I want to be a part of that.