We started homeschooling... in GEORGIA!!!

Well, it was goodbye Florida and hello Georgia. My husband is no longer working as a full time store manager and "part time" minister (no such thing as part time ministry), and he is now a student pastor at a church in Georgia. Our boys have been true champs through the "good-byes" and new house, new friends, and new church. The truth is that God has been so faithful to our family; it is all been very overwhelming.

Now, our GA homeschool journey includes tracking our days and hours and making sure to touch on all the "required" subjects along with my usual daily planner. The adjustment hasn't been difficult as we have been doing everything needed except a writing curriculum, which I quickly corrected when I saw what was required for a first grader.

The first week of school gone well. Luk did well on day one and then like usual asks for a break on day two and three.

Here is a glimpse of our week and our new school "room" aka dining room:

Before we left we visited some Mummies

It concluded our study on Egypt over the summer.

 Around the World

PreK School

Paper Mache Globe

A little taste of our home.

Fun shots with dad

FPEA Ambassador & Why we love FPEA

This Thursday starts Florida's largest Homeschool Convention done by the FPEA. At the beginning of this year I became their ambassador for Twitter. If you live in Florida, you should consider joining us as we celebrate 25 years! If you can't...

There are a couple of things to check out. It is really what makes them an amazing part of our homeschooling journey.

FPEA Convention Mobile App

Getting Started Guide with 6 easy steps

Myth Busters in Homeschooling

Guide to Homeschooling (one of my personal favorites & free to download)

This is really just a small portion of what they offer homeschool families in Florida. Their website is full of knowledge to get you through your homeschool journey. Browse around even if you don't live in Florida you may find many of their things valuable to your schooling. You can learn more about our homeschool ride here. 

Kindergarten Begins...

The start of our new normal has begun today as Luk was introduced to his first few pretest so that I could determine exactly where he was, and so that our evaluator could see our starting point. Today, I put in some basic critical thinking tests in math and reading/phonics. It was a care-free testing so that he could just do his thing. They were built so that he could self-administer, really. It turned out pretty pain free. As he did each one, I let him know that when I give him the tests that it would done like this and this.

The first test: Pre-primer Dolch Sight Word List Assessment

Luk scored 35%; he 18/40 words, which was pretty good this we've been focusing more on phonemes and blends. The sight words that he did know were ones that have been seen in his Explode the Code books and readings that we have done on our own. I wanted to make sure that I didn't push him before this year. I have to remind myself everyday that he is only five years old. This can be quite a challenge when he talks like teenager many times!

The next test I put in front of him was one on a critical thinking basis with the alphabet. Each section was covered once he finished the top sections. 

My husband and I really want to make sure that he knows his stuff, not just something that is routine. In that sheet there are above are blanks in random areas, but the third section is completely empty. Sure, Luk can sing his ABCs, but to write them with no help in the correct order proved that sometimes the Y goes before the X... interesting. Luk scored 34/38 so 89%.

The third sheet is a number sheet with blanks. I only made him do half of it, and he will complete the other half for tomorrow. He also did number recognition from a 1-100 chart (random picks).

He did perfect on it.

We also incorporated Mama Jenn's "Read It, Spell It, Write It" page. He really liked it. So, we will keep on keeping on.

After we did these things, there was 30 minutes of quiet/reading time. So, we had a little Star Wars action going because well, we like Star Wars. Luk was in a battle field mode as we began our day reading the book of Judges. He drew a photo on how the Canaanites had chariots and the Israelites struggled with this:

I think he wanted to pretend some fighting scenes. Logan tagged along (waiting to get him his Education Cubes also from Mama Jenn)

As our day came to climax (dinner making time = stress time) Luk pulled out his US President Flashcards (shocked me). I pulled out our $1 Wal-Mart place mat of the Presidents, and we had a nice matching game going on.

Luk's favorite President: Abraham Lincoln. Why? He was such a good one. (nice)
Luk's bad President: Richard Nixon. Why? He did a bad thing. (Watergate, just in case)
Luk's actor President: Ronald Reagan. Why? He was an actor. (DUH!)

However, we learned a bit about Theodore Roosevelt about the "Teddy" Bear story. As Luk would say, "he didn't kill the bear when he went hunting... I don't know why though." In this we also learned about Pres. William McKinley who was President and Teddy was Vice President. What Luk and I really liked about him was the fact that when he was shot before he died he asked the people around him not to hurt the man that shot him. We were really impressed with that response. I am going to look further into his spiritual life especially after reading this I am curious to see where he stood.

How do we end our school day? We end it with a bit of unschooling in the science area with daddy.

I, also, wanted to share one of the many many many reasons why we love our public library. Our wonderful Mrs. Dee who does story time did a theme on cupcakes... did she know this is Logan's favorite little treat... hmmm...

YUM!!!

Florida Portfolio

Sometimes it is nice to just be told what to do. You know when you don't know where you want to eat, and you ask the person with you wherever you want and they comply with an answer. That's how I feel about the Florida Statute on End-of-the-Year Portfolios. It is pretty lax, but then you have to make the decision of just what is the best way to put it together. Well, the past three days I have been doing just that.

Research...

Research...

More Research... (no, I'm not from Pinellas, but they are a neighboring county)

Yes, I am a bit OCD, and on top of that I have to plan. Surprise on what the gender of your child is? Nope, not me. If I can find out and get things in order, that's me. I am not a fan of procrastination. So, before our crazy summer begins I have gotten a move on with what our Portfolio will look like. It is finally done, and now all that needs to take place is for Sept to come and start adding Luk's school work to it.

Starting point is knowing what needs to go inside this portfolio:

Simple Portfolio Evaluations

port·fo·lio noun  5: a selection of a student's work (as papers and tests) compiled over a period of time and used for assessing performance or progress

A homeschool portfolio is a sampling of your student’s work over a certain period of time, whether year-round or a traditional school year.  To use your portfolio for your annual evaluation, in the state of Florida, it must be reviewed by a Florida certified teacher and must show educational progress.  The average cost of a portfolio evaluation is $50 and a list of certified teachers can be found on our website (www.herijax.com). You can expect an evaluation to take about an hour.  Book an appointment for the evaluation at least 6 weeks prior to your anniversary date, so you are not rushed.

Your portfolio should have 5 - 9 work samples for each subject for each quarter. Dating all your students’ papers and organizing each subject in separate sections is very helpful.  In most cases the teacher will look at the portfolio and speak with the student to see that they have made progress from the beginning of the year to the end.  Most teachers are looking for simple and to the point work that the child has done.  Extra work, projects, lapbooks or a piece of artwork that cannot fit into the portfolio can be shared with the teacher as well.

Other items typically found in a portfolio are:

§  Your letter of intent to homeschool

§  Program description (Tip: photocopy the table of contents from your students text books)

§  Daily, Weekly or Monthly logs of your student's lessons and activities

§  Reading log (this includes what the student has read, what you have read to the student and what you have read about homeschooling or any subject you are teaching your student.)
Tip: Keep your book receipt from the library for your records

§  Pictures (some things cannot be documented as well as a good photograph)

§  Extracurricular activities log

§  Awards and certificates

§  Completed “Home Education Evaluation Form” (always keep a copy for your records)

With this here is what my last few nights and today have looked like:

Yes, Play time is essential!

Curriculum, Books, Portfolio, and Logan's Puppy

Cover

Who is Luk?

Letter of Intent

Curriculum List

Curriculum Excerpts

Monthly Calendar/Plans/Objectives

(our days differ, so this will only be filled out each week)

Journal Log 

(daily thoughts on progress)

 

Book List

Field Trip and PE Log

Subject Folders

These are the 27 Right Start Worksheets

 Previous Work to show initial progress

Show some of Luk's responsibilities

Quarterly Nature Journal (Science)

Quarterly Book Reports (Chapter books read together)

Vocabulary/Spelling (English)

Quarterly Historical Figures Report (history) 

Short Break for Cheetos

(notice orange ring around lips & orange smudges on shirt) 

Last are the Pre-Assessment Sheets for Reading

Also, there is going to be a copy of the Evaluation.

Inside the subject folders will carry the work throughout the year, and some already have what will be done so that I have it all in one area. Lesson plans will look at the monthly objective alone with the table of contents from each curriculum since it shows the scope of learning. 

Our days change due to illness, behavior issues, or just having dad home on Monday. So, my plans will only be a scope of learning along with journal entries. For those things that are done on the computer like his Math supplement, I will take photos. 

Hopefully this will be an adequate portfolio. I will only know so at the end of the year. I do think that it a good plan. I'm sure that over time things will be tweaked, but that's fine. Stay tuned to see what the final product will be. 

**The pages like the Nature Journal, Historical Figures, etc came from TOS Planner with me editing some for our needs.**