Homeschool with Harley

Today Gloria's friend, Harley, his mom, and little brother, Tanner, all came to join us for homeschool time. His family is new to homeschooling this year, so we invited them to come see what a typical day is like for us. We followed our usual program of bible study, learned more about India in our Story of the World history book, and did some crafts and games, followed by P.E. outside.

The girls really seemed to enjoy having someone join them. They each got an animal cutout to use as puppets while we read a story from India about a hare, a monkey, a jackal, and an otter. They enjoyed doing a paint by number picture that related to our bible story. Then the girls showed Harley how to properly clean a paint brush when they were finished. That was cute to watch.

For me, it was interesting finding ways to share the activities and lessons with three kids in three different grades (K, 1st, and 2nd), while modifying them to be appropriate for each child's abilities. For instance, we played a math game I created where the kids each got a different color bunny and took turns rolling two dice. Harley had to add them together and my girls had to multiply them. When they got the right answer they could lift one of the green rectangles on the floor to see if a piece of clothing that matched their bunny was under neath. It was sort of a memory game mixed with math. Then when they found all the pieces, they got to glue them together onto a background paper and decorate it as an art project. It worked out really well.