Well, we got the time4 learning account going and the kids have been glued to it. I love the fact that they are learning all about antonyms and rounding billions and matching, and all I have to is supervise. And they love it. They did Bigiqkids lessons yesterday and today too. Today they all had friend dates. Mason went to Toby.s, after he and I made a treasure chest and pirate sword out of foil and cardboard. Austin and Morgan went to Madi's to have their book club meeting and hiked up to the D-hill. We are trying to take things pretty easy for the holiday. We are gearing up to decorate the house for Christmas soon. The kids did quite a bit of chores today and cared for their animals.

Time4learning.com is Awesome!

Teaching 3 kids at three different levels everyday is a daunting task. I don’t always have enough time in a day to teach each on everything they need to learn in a day one-on-one. There are some subjects that I don’t even find time to get to. I find it emotionally draining to teach each kid, each subject, each day. As a matter of fact, my throat usually hurts half way through from reading aloud so often.

A couple of years ago I found this online site called Time4learning.com that I immediately thought was very cool and signed my kids up right away. For about a year my kids would log on each day into their own personalized accounts and enjoy entertaining, educational, and interactive lessons on all sorts of subjects like math, reading, science, history, etc.

It was so nice to know they could log on and do these lessons and really enjoy themselves while learning and it allowed time for me to do other things while they worked. I loved how I could change their learning level in each subject to fit their needs if it was too easy or too hard for them. And one of the very best features was the parental support. I could go on to the parent’s site and review reports on their work, read the support board of the other parent's using it, how long my kids worked, the grades they received, and more. It is a great way to get organized when I have 3 different kids in 3 different grades!

My kids literally begged to do school on the computer versus the workbooks and texts we usually used. I found the lessons smart, well put together, and complete. I was very impressed.

This program was especially useful for my oldest child who is a very visual learner and technically inclined. His attention was kept as he navigated through the lessons and liked the entertaining themes that were incorporated in subjects not normally considered “fun” like grammar.

Unfortunately, I was forced to cancel our account a while ago due to personal finances and family difficulties. I have been pleased and surprised how often my kids ask to get back on time4learning. Even my 5 year old asks for it regularly. I have been trying to find a way to afford the monthly membership again so my kids can once more enjoy the great program they have to offer. I do think the membership is a good deal and fairly priced, just a little more than I can squeeze out right now. We really miss it though and hopefully will be members again soon!

*This post is entirely my own opinion and the content was not written by Time4Learning, but the writer was compensated

Yesterday:

Online Studies: Each 3 kids did spelling, vocaublary, US state studies, and math on BigIQkids.com.
Music: Morgan practiced Paino
Reading: Austin read in Jane Eyre, Morgan in Nancy Drew
Theater: We attended a local play, Les Mierables
Math: Morgan did a lesson in Singapore math
Mason: Practiced numbers 1-12 and alphabet
Games: Austin and I worked on getting a computer game mounted and going
Household chores and care of pets

Today:
Online Studies: Morgan did Math, Spelling lesson, and US States on Big IQ. Austin did US states lesson and spelling lesson. Mson had US States lesson.
Math: Morgan play Timezattack game
Music: Morgan practice piano and had piano lessons.
Science: We read a book about rare animals
Art: Morgan practiced drawing faces and studied drawing videos on youtube. Fashion design. Gave her mom a makeover.
Household chores and care of pets

My good online friend Deanna plays the piano to inspire her kids to play the piano. She is so clever and such a great example to me. It got me thinking that maybe I would do the same. I used to know how to play basic piano, and I self-taught myself the basics of guitar, however it never really dawned on me to foster my own musical talents to inspire my kids until I read how Deanna does it.

She also labels what her kids do each each day on her blog in public school terms, even though she is very non-traditional in my opinion. I like how she exhibits how much her kids do in a day and when compared in public school terms, really showcases the quality of time spent. So, again, I am following her example. Thanks Deanna!

We had a pretty productive day. I am still easing back into Mom school this week (the time we learn together) and trying to focus on inspiring myself and the kids to learn, which I think is working.

Mom School
Prayer
Read science books together and discuss
Exotic Rainforests
African Critters

Austin
Life Skills – cooked Lunch
Music - Practice Guitar
Writing/Phonics/Spelling- 1 Explode the Code lesson
Math - 1 Singapore Math Lesson
Reading – 1 chapter of Jane Eyre
Science – Short lesson from What your 5th Grader…
Chores
Care for chickens
Social – Email Netherland penpal

Morgan
PE – Do flips on the school table
Music - Practice Piano
Art - Make Jungles out of craft supplies
Writing/Phonics/Spelling- 1 Explode the Code lesson
1 Singapore Math Lesson
Science – Short Lesson from What your 3rd Grader….
Math - 1 Singapore Math Lesson
Reading - Read one chapter of Nancy Drew book
Chores
Care for Dog
Social – Achievement Days at church

Mason
PE - Do flips off the school table
Letters - Watch Caillou
Science - Review 5 Senses
Art - Make Jungles out of craft supplies
Chores
Care for Fish

Mom
Practice the piano
Blog
Send Emails for work
Housework

Today, the boys spent the day enjoying a TV day at Grandma's house while Morgan and I took Gray to Provo. We managed a little school at the hospital.

Morgan
Science lesson in What your 3rd grader....
1/2 of Math Review

Austin
Read a few chapters of Jane Eyre (A few chapters with me, reading outloud)

We are back. Feels good. We have been doing school, just not recording it. We have done a lot of half-days, field trips, "work with Dad" days, and taking it easy since I have been working. I decided it is way to hard to have Justin work, me work, and me teach the kids, along with all the other responsibilities I have. So, I am going to put more focus on school, less on work, more on being a wife and mom, less on things I can't control, and try and enjoy each day a little more. Even though it may not look like Mom School was much today, it actually took quite a while. We discussed, read, looked at pictures, and didn't rush through it. It was really informative, even to me!

Mom School
Read a book on Floods, Watch Tsunami video online, Discuss
Read a book on Forest Fires, Discuss
Play Twister - My kids first time
Introduce Pigs-in-a-blanket for lunch

Austin
Care for Chickens
Write Get Well Letter to his Grandma Kim
Begin reading Jane Eyre, 1 chapter
1 Lesson Explode the Code
1 Lesson Singapore Math - estimating with long division
1 section in What your 5th Grader Needs to Know - Science
Practice Guitar
Chores

Morgan
Care for Dog
Write Get Well Letter to his Grandma Kim
1 Lesson Explode the Code
1 Lesson Singapore Math - word problems
Read 1 Chapter of Nancy Drew book
1 Section in What your 3rd Grader Needs to Know - Science
Practice Piano
Chores

Mason
Feed Fish, Gather Eggs
Chores
Dictate a paragraph for writing – If I had 3 wishes
1 Lesson Singapore Math Kindergarten
1 Lesson Explode the Code
1 Lesson 100 Easy Lessons to Teach Your Child to Read

Weekly report Aug 31- Sept 3 (includind last week)

Well my goal is to write a weekly report of what we are learning and accomplishing in our homeschool. I am not really as on top of it as I would like to be, or as I was last year, but I have more to do this year it seems and one more kid to teach so I am giving myself a break.

If we manage 3 full days of school we cover so much information that I feel it is a good week. Last week we did 3 full days, 1 half day, and one field trip day. This week will be similar.

Tuesday of last week for Mom school, we practiced math facts (subtraction), reviewed spanish vocabulary we already know from last year, read 2 library books on weather and climate, Read a library book about the Constitution, Read a chapter in our classic (Farmer Boy), The story of Moses in our Book of Virtues, Read a book about shapes in art, reviewed 2nd Calvert famous art cards, and talked about the importance of a good audience in theater along with our regular scheduled things which you can read in the above post.

Wednesday Mason read his first word and is doing great! Morgan got a new ETC book. For Mom School we learned WOD (Word of the Day) border/abolish (looked up in the children's dictionary), Reviewed the American Presidents, Reviewed the Greek and Latin Roots from last year, 2 subjects in the Enc. of Geography book, Discussed the word Community and what it means to belong to a community, Read a chapter in classic, Poems from Book of Virtues, and discussed Speech and Presentation and the importance of it.

Thursday we did half day school due to trip to Roosevelt and did math, reading, and a little writing. We also gathered green beans as a family.

Friday, we did yard work, snapped beans, and chores. Austin and Morgan read quite a bit though.

Monday for Mom School we played Payday the board game, Practiced the Sign Language Alphabet, we studied maps including USA, Utah, and Duchesne County, map symbols, legends, compass rose, etc, also the Calendar, days, months, holidays, phases of the moon, etc.

Tuesday we took a field trip to the city and went to the Lehi Legacy Aquatics Center. FUN!

Wednesday we did half day school because of trip to Roosevelt. The kids read and did a math lesson. I know they did other educational things, but I didn't write them down.

Today we did full day and for Mom's school we had a dry ice science experiment which took the whole 2 hours.

If all goes as planned, tomorrow we will have WOD boundary and accomplish, Review Greek and Latin roots and learn one new word, Read a chapter of classic, one story from Virtues, and go to Library and learn about researching at library and library literacy. Austin learned about how computers work by reading a big Usborne book about it (3 chapters). Morgan studied drawing.

Other notes about our regular schedule; I have struggled waking up early but so long as we start morning devotional by 9 or 9:30 we can still make the schedule, we just have to eat while we have devotional. I am still working on waking earlier!

Math is going well. Morgan is learning fractions, Austin is doing advance clock reading, Mason is learning to write 1-5.

Reading is also going well, Morgan is still reading Goosebumps, Austin is ready Nancy Drew mysteries, and I have been reading picture books to Mason each day.

Grammar lessons are a success, I have been teaching Morgan her lesson and then teaching Austin his lesson and her lesson since he missed some of these things. They are learning nouns, adverbs, adjectives, proper nouns, pronouns, direct object, indirect objects, linking and action verbs, and conjunctions.

Journaling is good, Mason LOVES to tell me what to write and looks forward to it each day. Morgan's handwriting is improved and Austin still hates it but is getting better each day.

Both Austin and Morgan like the typing lessons and I can see they both should be pretty good by the end of this year. Spelling is awful for both of them, but it is coming along slowly. They just need lots of practice.

We are not getting as many chores done as I would like as a family and my house is always a cluttered mess, but I have relaxed a bit, since I of course can not do it all, and after school is over, we all just want to unwind.

Running laps and the point system is working well too, Austin detests it, but that is a good thing and they are getting lots of opportunities to earn points as well.

I hope to be able to do this on a weekly basis, perhaps next time with pictures even. I am still trying to find my groove.