Cieslak's Homeschool-journey
It's all about the fun, the craziness, the things we learn and our thoughts!!!
It is unbelievable, but we finished our last day of the school year. When we started last August, I wasn't sure how things would go, and how I would manage, but I am not regretting the decision at all, especially with the way the world is changing and what children have to deal with nowadays, and I feel like not only have we learned a lot during the last 9 1/2 months, we are also closer as a family. Of course we still have our struggles and fights and arguments, but I feel like we have learned to love spending time together and even our boys seem to be getting along great (most of the time at least) and have become real good buddies. I love it. Our school room has also changed quite a bit compared to when we started out last year. Our walls have filled up with maps, art work and posters and our timeline has also changed since we have added many different famous people, or events, from the past. Classroom before (beginning of the school year): Classroom after (end of the school year): And of course here are also pictures of our boys, at the beginning of the school year and a picture of them from today. :) We are excited for our well-deserved summer break, but we are also determined to keep up certain learning habits during the summer, like reading and math exercises. We also have a few more weeks of spelling words/ tests left, since we started those a few weeks after the school year started (I had to get used to our new schedule and different teaching style's and curriculums). I have to say it will be strange not to have our set daily routine over the summer months, but I am very grateful that things worked out so well, and I am already excited for the new school year. It was so much fun to learn so many cool and interesting things and I know more fun is going to await us in the school year of 2017/2018.
1 Comment
Since we are almost at the end of the school year, our last Geography lesson called for more presentations/ reports. We studied Asia this year and learned a lot about many different things, different countries and how big Asia actually is. Both boys had to pick a country, (in Asia) of their choice, and put together a report/ representation. They both had a blast researching the internet, finding pictures and information and putting it all together. They presented their finished work to us during Family night, and both hubby and I were very impressed. Nathan said afterwards that he wanted to do another presentation because it was so interesting to learn the things he did. He had picked Russia and found out many things he didn't know about. Josh on the other hand picked China and also learned a great deal. They were still excited the next day and were hoping a different lesson would ask for a report as well. ;) I think complimenting your kids on a job well done, surely does the trick of motivating them some more. Today we had our second last music lesson and I have to admit, I am bit sad. I seriously loved every music lesson we had because I love music and we got to listen to a lot of great musical works. The lesson was on "Songs that unify" and we learned about the War of 1812, WWI and WWII. It is always fascinating to me when a song has a special meaning or was created for a special purpose and event. I already knew the story behind the "American Flag", since I learned a lot about American History in my college classes, and also when I prepared for my citizenship test, but the boys didn't really seem to know much about it. The lesson didn't get much into it, but it explained the purpose of our national anthem "The Star-Spangled Banner". I don't know what it is, but I always choke up and get teary-eyed when I hear that song. It was my favorite anthem even before I moved to the States. Just the melody alone touches me and there is something about it that really goes right through me. I love how, in the following video, they got everyone involved in the presentation of that amazing song. :) www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4p7V0s3tXI
We also listened to the beautiful song "God bless America". I didn't know the story behind that at all, and so learning about it was a great treat. I am sharing some of the lesson here in this post so you can either be reminded of the story or learn something new. :) The lesson states: "In 1938, Irving Berlin dusted off and improved a song he had previously written in 1917 to celebrate the end of 'The Great War' or the 'War to End All Wars'. Americans throughout the country heard it on the radio for the first time on November 10, 1938, the twenty-first anniversary of the end of World War I." "God Bless America" is another song that touches me and I love the video version they added to the lesson. I am very proud of myself for recognizing Ronald Reagan, as one of the actors, right away even though you only see him for a moment in that scene. ;) Kate Smith is the singer, and is singing this so beautifully. :) www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zF7a0wB-Lg Music, like the above, makes me grateful that there were (and are) so many talented composers who, used their talents, and did not let it go to waste. It makes me realize how important each of us is, and that Heavenly Father gave us different gifts and talents on purpose. I always believed that music can tell stories and touch our hearts, but I am also thankful that it has the power of uniting us and that it can help us through challenges and tough times. It is hard to believe that we have only 2 weeks left in this school year. It is crazy to think that we home-schooled so long already and we still enjoy it, have not gone (completely at least) crazy and are still alive. ;) Haha, I am still amazed that I am a home school mom and actually love it. The other week an ad on Facebook popped up and when I saw what it was, I just had to get it. It is just so fitting for us right now. ;) Over the course of this school year I had plenty of times when the schooling of the boys came up during conversations. The reactions were interesting, but also really cool. My German friends and relatives had (still have) the hardest time with the concept, but I don't even blame them because homeschooling is a foreign concept in Germany and against the law and so of course they have a hard time with it. At the same time a lot of them were kind of jealous we have the freedom to do that. I personally find it irritating and strange that many governments in the world think we as parents are not good enough to teach our kids and that we don't even get a say in the matter (even though they are our kids), but that's just me. I guess being an American citizen now, and having lived in the States for so long, sure does change your thinking and opinions. It also makes me appreciate the freedoms I have as an American citizen. I never thought much of homeschooling until 2 years ago and even then I fought it for the longest time. Public schools are not all bad, and most of the time the teachers are great and try their best, unfortunately the government likes to butt in more and more and that ties the teachers hands together. They can only do so much and have to follow regulations and rules. I think if teachers could do and teach the way they wanted to, learning in public school would be so much more meaningful, fun and helpful to our children. There are so many teachers out there that are so wonderfully creative and loving, but as I said they can only do so much and since classes are not that small either, it is hard for them to focus on those children that have a hard time learning. I still admire teachers and had plenty of great ones myself. I loved the teachers in our boys school in San Diego and appreciated all they did. Still, I had a very strong feeling about homeschooling and think highly of the inspirations we receive from our Heavenly Father. It wasn't easy to make that decision, but I don't regret it at all.
During one of our last Science lessons the boys made a presentation about their choice of their favorite animal. Nathan put together a little presentation about the "raven" and Josh put together a presentation about the bald eagle. I only took a picture of Josh's presentation since Nathan wrote his information on a bunch of pages, but Josh put his together in a poster. I always love when I see my kids be creative and research things they like and want to know more about. :) |
AuthorI am a sarcastic German-born American citizen who loves life and enjoys writing. I am a mother of two boys and we are now experiencing the freakiest adventure of our lives. Archives
November 2017
Categories |