Variety - the spice of blogs

What we've been up to lately, well at least for this past week.

In our homeschool this year we are focusing on reading and writing.  We read a lot!
magazines
fiction
non-fiction
news
advertisements
cereal boxes

You get the idea.  If it has letters strung together in words, we read it.  And we talk about it.

I am always looking for bits and pieces of great or terrible writing to share with the boys.  Sometimes I read just a few lines from a magazine article, or just a chapter from a book. 

Here's an example from Smithsonian magazine, an article about lions written by Abigail Tucker:

"Packer, 59, is tall, skinny and sharply angular, like a Serengeti thorn tree."

I just love that description of a man who lives at the lion house and has done so for 31 years.

We pick apart advertising and talk about how to be smart readers. 

And we write.  Much of the time I do the actual pen on paper and the boys do the thinking and dictating.  It can be too much to think, put ideas in a row, pencil on paper, spell, edit....intimidating. 

I don't want to ruin writing for my boys.  I hated writing until just about a year ago, and I'm 43 so do that math.  I suffered from red pen abuse, all the way through college.  So I stopped writing. 

Two of our favorite writing projects are:

• the boys spout out topics of interest to them
• i list the topics
• we vote to chose one topic
• they brainstorm, i write out their ideas either in list form or a web 
• we talk about and agree on how to organize our ideas sensibly
• then we put it all together

Sometimes I will have one son use our ideas to write a poem, one to write a letter or article about the topic, and the third son to illustrate a few pages.    We glue all parts together on a big sheet of paper and the boys can see how much work we did.

Our most favorite way to build a story is:

I make a statement.  The boys ask questions, which I write down.  Then I write for 10 minutes or so, then read what I have written.  The boys ask more questions, offer advice on where I need more interesting words, or where my thoughts need clarity.  I re-write. 

The boys watch me perform the writing process, then we use the 6 traits to refine what I write. 

Examples of leading statements:

It all started when I broke my nose...

It was the librarian's fault...

If only Jill hadn't shown up...

The day I got my head stuck in the chimney....

She was the worst part of 3rd grade...


The boys love to help me revise and edit my work, so  much safer than working on their own work.  This is building up to the time when they have the tools and the experience to write on their own, and to enjoy it. 

Of course we go outside.  Here's what we've seen:

Yo making walnut date bars.  You can't just head outside, you need sustenance first!

 Hiking with our Nature Studies class. 

Next year I'll be schooling all five of our boys; good thing I love teaching!