Happy Friday!

Down To A Science

Americans are known for their experiments in new perspectives.  Without trying new methods we wouldn't get anywhere.

The same is true in home education, ours specifically.  As we grow and change we discover new and better ways of doing, which is what has happened to us.

This plan of mastery teaching has evolved through my observations, data collecting, and research.  While no education plan is perfect, or perfectly suited to each person, we can always improve.

This year you will get to observe the results of implementing my new methods, and I hope you will continue to follow along.

2013-2014 Science Objective

To master the basic concepts of the life, physical, earth and space, and general sciences to prepare for further study; to study the great scientific minds of past and present.

Categories of Science

1. Life
2. Physical
3. Earth & Space
4. Computers & Technology

Stay Tuned...

For lessons, ideas, and resources.  In the mean time, check out my Weather Watcher's, Life Science, Physical Science, Nature, and Earth Science Pinterest boards, then hop on over to Mrs. Redd's Classroom on Facebook to share your favorite Science links.

Happy Homeschooling!
Mrs. Redd

More Science Links:

• Which Came First: The Q or the A?
• We've Got Learning in the Bag!
• Free Printable Keyboarding Practice Sheet
• Weather Watcher's Primary Lined Journal Paper
• Follow me at Teachers Pay Teachers to get the current month's Free Weather Watcher's Coloring Calendar 

Happy Thursday!

A Broader View

I'd like to zoom out from our daily schedules and take a brief look at our long-term goal for our children.  Specific lessons need an ultimate purpose, and our purpose is to prepare our children for leadership roles.  Social Studies plays an integral part in this goal through studies in people and events that have shaped our communities, nations, and world.

2013-2014 SOCIAL STUDIES OBJECTIVE

To cover the basics of people, places, and cultures; create a broad timeline of American and World historic events to prepare for further study; to study our roles as American citizens and heritage; to learn about our immediate surroundings through exploration and history; to learn about ourselves by studying our family history and preserving it for future generations.

4 CATEGORIES OF SOCIAL STUDIES

1. History 
2. Geography
3. Civics
4. Current Events

STAY TUNED...

For lessons, ideas, and resources.  In the mean time check out my Pinterest boards and then jump on over to Mrs. Redd's Classroom Facebook page to share links to your favorite Social Studies resources.

Happy Homeschooling!

Mrs. Redd

More Social Studies Links

• Asking the Hard Questions
• Always Before Our Eyes, Forever in Our Minds
• The Story of the States
• Preamble and Bill of Rights Classroom Visuals Printable
• What's in Your Family Tree?
• Friend of the Fleas
• Bears in Our Backyard
• When to do the Breakfast Chores

Happy Wednesday!

Class Combo

I've combined Art and Music on Wednesdays.  With the number of subjects versus the number of days, I had to double up on one day.  I chose art and music intentionally on Wednesdays.  We work our schedule around my husband's so that we maximize time together.  This set up allows education, family time, and pursuit of interests to coincide.

2013-2014 Art & Music Objectives:

Art:  To create through new mediums while pursuing our artistic talents; to master basic art concepts; to study great artists of past and present.

Music:  To develop our musical talents by mastering basic piano and music skills; to study great musicians from past and present across the genres.

4 Categories of Art

1. Basic skills
2. New Medium
3. History
4. Project

4 Categories of Music

1. Basic skills
2. Piano
3. History
4. Performance project

STAY TUNED...

For lesson plans, ideas, and resources.  In the mean time, check out my Art and Music Pinterest boards, then pop on over to Mrs. Redd's Classroom on Facebook to share your favorite Art and Music links.

Happy Homeschooling!

Mrs. Redd

More Art & Music Links:

• Connecting Talents With Traditions
• Fostering Talent: Raising Artists and Musicians
• Free Sweet Snowflake Edible Art recipe

Happy Tuesday!

Let's Review

Yesterday I updated the Math / Monday page to describe our Monday schedule and give you a peek inside what we plan to accomplish this year in math.

Across the Board

You will see a pattern as I share our daily schedule.  An important part of mastery teaching is breaking down broad ideas and topics into smaller, easier to learn (and teach!) bits of information.  Each day of the week has it's own subject we focus on. Then I divide that subject into 4 subcategories, teaching one subcategory on the first Monday, another on the second, etc. 

2013-2014 Language Arts Objective:

We are on a mission to grow as readers through absorbing quality material and developing deeper comprehension; to learn the art and value of penmanship; to meet and exceed our writing goals while sharpening our writing skills and exploring various forms of writing; to develop and nurture a love of words and languages.

Tuesday's Break Down

1. Reading
2. Writing & Grammar
3. Spelling & Vocabulary
4. Foreign Languages

STAY TUNED...

For lesson plans, ideas, and resources.  In the mean time, check out my Reading & Writing, Spelling & Vocabulary, and Foreign Languages Pinterest boards, then pop on over to Mrs. Redd's Classroom on Facebook to share your favorite Language Arts links.

More Language Arts Links:

• Printable Primary Lined Journal Paper
• Choosing Our Words Wisely
• Bears in Our Backyard
• Dear Diary

Happy Monday!

Class Schedule

If you read my About page, you know that on Mondays we focus on Math.  After reviewing our educational philosophy and  personalizing our plan for the 2013-14 year, we divided the math concepts we need to learn into 4 broad categories:

1. Numbers & Operations
2. Measurements
3. Geometry & Algebra
4. Money & Finance

There is one topic for each Monday of the month when new concepts (or continuing coverage if mastery has not been achieved) will be introduced.  The skills will be practiced diligently throughout that week, then revisited through various activities during the month.

2013-14 Math Objective

We will master basic math concepts in order to prepare for more in depth study while discovering math in the natural world and delving into the minds of great mathematicians past and present.

We have 4 levels of learning (beginning, elementary, upper elementary, and continuing education) in progress in this season of our education process, and the main objective for each academic subject broadly encompasses all of them.

As we zoom in on our specific skills, more objectives particular to the lessons will arise.

What To Expect

My goal is to design, implement, and share our activities and resources as I complete them.  I will keep you posted! 

Pun intended ;)

Happy Homeschooling!

Mrs. Redd

More Math Links:

• Printable Primary Lined Math Journal Paper 
• Accidental Math on Purpose
• Measuring Up

Saturday Sneak Preview

Back To School

We never stop learning.  We just take breaks from schedules and routines periodically.  Technically, you could call us year-rounders.

We've been on hiatus for the summer, and we're getting back into the groove September 1st.  This week I'm smoothing out that groove so we slide right into place.

A Mastery Plan

I wrote the How Do I Teach For Mastery series as much for me as anyone else this past week.  I worked through the personalization phase, but I didn't have to start from scratch on that.  It did need some tweaking, and I have written new objectives for the year by subject.  I'll get those posted under the proper tabs (Math, Language Arts, etc.) in a couple days.

 I will have a more specific outline by subject up this week also.  Then it's back to the books on Monday!

Set Up For Success

Since we have undergone a rather drastic shift in our season of life, I have been pushed to get our temporary work space organized .  That is also on the schedule for the week.   If you need some tips for your learning space, check out the advice from Adventures In Mommydom and I have a Pinterest board dedicated to home classrooms.        

What's on your agenda for the week? I'd love to hear about it!

Happy Homeschooling!

Mrs. Redd

Panoramic View

The Big Picture

Are you trying to piece together the complex puzzle of a meaningful education without looking at the picture you want to create?  

4 Questions

1. Who are we?
2. Where are we going?
3. Where are we now?
4. How do we get where we are going?

These four questions make up the Big Picture.  

Pencil It In

• Lightly pencil in your answers.
• Create a bucket list
• Educate accordingly

Lessons Learned

Everything I've covered in the How Do I Teach For Mastery series is a summation of what I've learned so far.  Right now I'm in the Evaluate and Adjust phase.  Where are you?

Where Do We Go From Here?

• I have plans percolating in my head constantly, and I'm putting together some resources I think you'll love.
• Stay connected.  We are raising the future, let's do it together.

Class Discussion

• What do you think about the series?
• What are you looking for?

Thanks for stopping by this week, and I hope to hear from you soon!

Happy Homeschooling!

Mrs. Redd

Connect, Apply, Repeat.

"Education is not the learning of facts but the training of the mind to think." ~Albert Einstein

Make the Connection

An interest and need-based curriculum connects with the student.  A mastery connection is made when a concept is attached to something familiar and pleasant. 

For instance, a child who is passionate about horses will be more likely to grasp the distance/rate/time formula if it is explained using horse racing as opposed to an airplane or train.  

Here's an Example:

Concept to be taught: 

• Add/Subtract Fractions With Common Denominators

Personalized Application

• Cooking (My daughter LOVES food and cooking.)  

• We hosted a lemonade stand for Lemonade Day 2013, and developed our own recipe for lemonade and no bake cookies.  (She wants to own a restaurant.)

The Results

• There has not been one instance where pencil has met paper to figure out a fraction problem.  She does it all mentally.  
• The best part (for me anyway) is that she doesn't know she has mastered the above concept.  She knows she has learned to do something she loves.
• The entire unit's objectives were mastered instead of just the one I intended, plus a whole list of other skills in a variety of subjects.
• Her interests and passions were fed, inspiring her to pursue them further.

What I Did

• I applied her interests to a concept and created a purpose for the knowledge. 
• I waited for her to ask for help.
• I demonstrated how to do it.
• I gave multiple and varying opportunities to practice the knowledge.
• Her work was evaluated and adjustments were made when necessary.

What You Can Do

• Find ways to show why something is worth the time spent on it.
• Provide practice opportunities: rehearsal of concepts will embed them into the long-term memory.
• Spend less time relaying information and more time answering questions.
• Ask questions that evoke thought and further action when providing feedback.

Class Discussion

Need suggestions? Post your child's interests and we will brainstorm ideas!

Questions? Ask away!

Happy Homeschooling!

Mrs. Redd

How Do I Teach … 5 Day Blog Series is brought to you by the following blogs:

Enchanted Homeschooling Mom ~ Homeschool Gameschool ~ Are We There Yet? ~ Life with Moore Babies ~ No Doubt Learning ~ Mrs. Redd’s Classroom Blog ~ Proverbial Homemaker ~ My Joy Filled Life ~ Preschool Powol Packets ~ Adventures in Mommydom ~ Vicki Arnold ~ Only Passionate Curiosity ~ Living Life and Learning ~ Farm Fresh Adventures ~ 3 Dinosaurs

The Setting

Where Creative Minds Think Alike

Brenda @ The Write Space:  I just spent 2 hrs in a marquee in the rain at the seaside teaching Creative Writing.

Me:  That sounds like a bittersweet experience! Proof, though, that learning is not confined to a classroom!

The Environmental Factor

In a well-written story, the plot cannot take place anywhere else: the location directly impacts the outcome of the story.  In the same context is the relationship between a child's learning environment and their education.  

Set the Scene

• Incorporate the Senses: Why not apply the logic that smells, sounds, tastes and textures can submit experiences to the long-term memory (mastery!)?
• Create themed snacks, meals, edible projects and experiments.
• Utilize candles, air fresheners, incense, flowers, potpourri, herbs, etc. for a pleasant aroma.
• Connect visuals and other activities (learning centers, sensory bins, etc.) to your lessons, rotate them often, and make them interactive.

• Think outside the walls:  

• Field trips, parks, outdoor exploration, nature study 
• Make it mover-friendly.
• Backyard learning spaces

• Regulate the Climate:  Concepts are more readily retained by association with joyful and interesting experiences.

• Associate positives with problems.  For example, if a child becomes tense over math, try playing their favorite music softly in the background, or moving study time to a favorite spot. 
• Attitudes, and smiles, are contagious.
• Try "Expectations" instead of a long list of Class Rules.
• Use delayed consequences instead of immediate punishments to defer emotions outside the study time.
• Give them choices. Even small ones help the stubborn child feel more in control of the situation.
• Playing is learning. When they are happily playing, leave them be.

Class Discussion

Share pictures of your favorite learning spaces!

Questions? Ask away!

Happy Homeschooling!

Mrs. Redd

How Do I Teach … 5 Day Blog Series is brought to you by the following blogs:

Enchanted Homeschooling Mom ~ Homeschool Gameschool ~ Are We There Yet? ~ Life with Moore Babies ~ No Doubt Learning ~ Mrs. Redd’s Classroom Blog ~ Proverbial Homemaker ~ My Joy Filled Life ~ Preschool Powol Packets ~ Adventures in Mommydom ~ Vicki Arnold ~ Only Passionate Curiosity ~ Living Life and Learning ~ Farm Fresh Adventures ~ 3 Dinosaurs

Time to Get Personal!

In order to identify your concepts and create a plan, you must know what you are going to teach.  Here's a guide to figuring that out.

Supplies

• Notebook
• Writing Utensil

Make this notebook your journal.

Process

Be Self-ish

Start chunking down tidbits about yourself.  Have your kids, if age appropriate, do so also. Make lists of favorites, strengths, weaknesses, goals and fears.  These things will point to interests and provide inspiration.

Unique Circumstances

Take note of any special qualities that will impact your design.

• Travel
• Special needs / Disabilities
• Work

The Family Fortune

Take note of your most treasured family jewels-the intangible ones.  

• Beliefs
• Values
• Ethnicity
• Goals as a family
• Parenting style

These are your why.

Mentoring for Mastery

You are guiding your child through this education you are planning.  How you do it makes all the difference.

Think of yourself as an OWL:

• Observe the student
• Work beside the student
• Listen to the student

These 3 behaviors done consistently will build trust for you in your child.  

OWL Tips

• Take notes on behaviors and responses.  What brings your child joy? What frustrates them?
• Treat your schedules and lesson plans as guides.  Embrace the off-topic questions and spontaneity.
• Literally sitting beside your child, especially during the tough lessons, reassures them you are on their side.
• Listen to complaints.  You may or may not be able to do anything about them, but listen anyway. Then ask for suggestions. 
• Seeing you pursue your interests encourages your children to do the same.
• Notice when something isn't working. Then brainstorm other options.
• Be an example: further your education right along with the kids.
• Find out your child's goals and help them design a learning plan.  Help them see their own potential.
• Give personalized, age appropriate evaluations of work-this is different than grades.  
• Keep it simple.
• Don't get stuck in the comparison trap. 
• Don't seek approval.
• Know your (and your child's) limitations.

Class Discussion

What are some ideas you have for personalizing your child's education? Please share!

Questions? Ask away!

Happy Homeschooling!
Mrs. Redd

How Do I Teach … 5 Day Blog Series is brought to you by the following blogs:

Enchanted Homeschooling Mom ~ Homeschool Gameschool ~ Are We There Yet? ~ Life with Moore Babies ~ No Doubt Learning ~ Mrs. Redd’s Classroom Blog ~ Proverbial Homemaker ~ My Joy Filled Life ~ Preschool Powol Packets ~ Adventures in Mommydom ~ Vicki Arnold ~ Only Passionate Curiosity ~ Living Life and Learning ~ Farm Fresh Adventures ~ 3 Dinosaurs

Mastery Teaching Simplified

Mastery Teaching...

• Emphasizes retention and comprehension over quantity of information covered
• Inspires and fosters a love of learning
• Diminishes the need for reteaching
• Prevents gaps in education
• Is an ideal method for home educators

1 Goal  

To submit information to the long-term memory.

3 Steps

1.  Identify the basic concepts to be learned.
2.  Create a plan.
3.  Evaluate & Adjust

3 Keys  

1)  Personalized Education

2)  Learning Environment

3)  Curriculum Design

Unlock the Door

Follow the 3 steps, use the 3 keys, and you have unlocked the door to a mastery education.  

It's that simple.

Class Discussion

How do you know when your children have mastered a concept? Please share!

Questions? Ask away!

Happy Homeschooling!

Mrs. Redd

How Do I Teach … 5 Day Blog Series is brought to you by the following blogs:

Enchanted Homeschooling Mom ~ Homeschool Gameschool ~ Are We There Yet? ~ Life with Moore Babies ~ No Doubt Learning ~ Mrs. Redd’s Classroom Blog ~ Proverbial Homemaker ~ My Joy Filled Life ~ Preschool Powol Packets ~ Adventures in Mommydom ~ Vicki Arnold ~ Only Passionate Curiosity ~ Living Life and Learning ~ Farm Fresh Adventures ~ 3 Dinosaurs

How Do I Teach... (Blog Series)

You're Invited!

Enchanted Homeschooling Mom has organized a blog series that is sure to get your questions answered.  All the participating blogs and their topics are listed here.  The series starts this Monday (8/19) and ends Friday (8/23). 

My Topic

I chose to cover mastery teaching as my blog series topic.  I believe in this method because it works, and I hope to inspire home educators in every stage of the journey.  

I will define it and walk you through it.  I will answer any questions, and encourage you to share what works for you.  

Schedule of Posts

1. Mastery Teaching Simplified
2. Time to Get Personal!
3. The Setting
4. Connect, Apply, Repeat
5. Panoramic View

Class Discussion

After you check out the blog topics, which ones sound interesting to you?  Also, do you have any questions you would like me to answer about mastery teaching?

Happy Homeschooling!

Mrs. Redd

How Do I Teach … 5 Day Blog Series is brought to you by the following blogs:

Enchanted Homeschooling Mom ~ Homeschool Gameschool ~ Are We There Yet? ~ Life with Moore Babies ~ No Doubt Learning ~ Mrs. Redd’s Classroom Blog ~ Proverbial Homemaker ~ My Joy Filled Life ~ Preschool Powol Packets ~ Adventures in Mommydom ~ Vicki Arnold ~ Only Passionate Curiosity ~ Living Life and Learning ~ Farm Fresh Adventures ~ 3 Dinosaurs

Meet Your Teacher: Help Me Write My Bio!

Hello, My Name Is Mrs. Redd

In the spirit of Back To School, I'd like to introduce myself.  I am working on a bio, or "About Me" page for my blog visitors, and I'd like to know what YOU want to know about me.  

I don't want to bore you with what I think you might want to know, so please ask away!

Happy Homeschooling!

Mrs. Redd