How do you present a lesson??

[Lynna]

How do you present your lesson? I ask this because I think that my approach may be what is not working. What is my approach, you ask? UUMMM, I'm lost and trying this feeling like I'm blindfolded and you just need to go with the flow!

I really want to hs my boys but just feel like I am missing the mark on presentation. We do have our math books yet and we are just winging it with review. But my problem is what to do with the FIAR? Do you just read the book, and read aloud the lesson, then talk about it?

Maybe if I understood what others did, I could get a grasp on this. I would love to come and spend the day at someone's house while schooling but I fear that would be to much distraction, so I am asking for written input!

Please walk me through this!!!! I need help in the worst way:D

Thanks
Lynna

[Alana]

Hey Lynna that is not a stupid question. Very valid in fact. Here is a thread that has a wonderful quote from Jane on one way to present FIAR. You have to scroll down to see it but it is all in red lettering, can't miss it.

Link (http://www.fiarhq.com/~gbprnhrz/forum/showthread.php?t=14673)

[Lynna]

Hey Lynna that is not a stupid question. Very valid in fact. Here is a thread that has a wonderful quote from Jane on one way to present FIAR. You have to scroll down to see it but it is all in red lettering, can't miss it.

Link (http://www.fiarhq.com/~gbprnhrz/forum/showthread.php?t=14673)

Thanks Alana this is very helpfull!

Something that I have been thinking about, is this enough? I mean the FIAR lessons in the book. I wondered if this was all the info or if I needed to get more supplamental lessons. I like how it said, all the info should be all you need for a lesson. In fact, at the Midwest Kick-off, Wendy KY had made a point that I keep forgeting, my brain says, "more info please." But his 7 year old brain says, "I can only handle so much, keep it simple and build on it each year."

That is a big weight of me. So, basically I need to get some coloring pages or go along activity pages and have fun. (which is my goal. I don't want the boys to feel like they are in school, chained to a desk or table. They are at home where they can explore freely.)

What do other hsing families do, I mean this is great info but what is your "trick" to get the info from the book to the brain?

Thanks
Lynna

[DD in IL]

I pick out the activities that I think would interest dgs the most and just naturally lead into it after the story.......sometimes it might be discussion, sometimes it might be an activity, etc. It will come more natural as you go along. Have fun with it and don't try to overthink it.

[Kendra AU]

We do math and reading first and then move to FIAR. We read the book, discuss things that can be done verbally, and then move on to a craft or activity that matches the book we're rowing. We often have something to "show" at the end of the day. My six year old likes doing things with his hands, so we expand on that.

Kendra

[Alice R]

This is what my house looks like:

I take some time (a few minutes) to review the FIAR manual.

"Everyone sit down and lets get going before work calls and we can't finish. COME HERE, people! NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" :lol:

Ok, now that I have everyone sitting around me, I read the story but in my head I am mindful of the parts we want to focus on. Sometimes I point things out and sometimes I just keep reading.

Then, we stop and might take a break and try to bribe the toddler with a cookie or something so she will be quiet.

Then, I open my manual to what specific area we are going to study. We talk about that. I follow Jane's ideas.

I THEN decide that we might go to the library and look up our rabit trails and take it from there.

Kinda simple but everyone seems to be learning.

[DeniseR]

We lightly rowed some of the Vol. 1 titles last year. I say "lightly" because dd5 lost intererest usually after a few minutes and often balked at some of the activities and reading the book 5 days in a row despite my trying different "tricks" to get her engaged.

I learned about theme/display tables from a former school teacher about three years ago and tried them at home on general topics (snow, jungle, etc.) and they were a big hit. Then I read about FIAR display tables so shifted to those (nothing elaborate). DD is also facinated by idea of going to different places and loves to do projects.

Two weeks ago I set up a display table for Japan (A Pair of Red Clogs) so it was ready when dd came out in the morning to get her excited about Japan. We did her worksheets (she likes worksheets), then headed to the couch and I told her we were going to read a story that took place in Japan. We read the book and, afterwards, I pointed out some things about Japan that were different that the U.S. (clothes, mail box, etc) and had a couple of non-fiction books that we very briefly looked at the pictures.

Next day, after worksheets, I discussed the word reminisce with her and then started the book, stopping at the end of the first page (the author sets up the story on the first page) and pointing out the transistion (don't think she caught on but at least I tried).

Art day I told her to look for yellow on each page and she thought that was great fun. I also breifly reviewed reminisce. We also matched the stick figures in the back of the manual to pictures in the book (instructions said to use tracing paper but we just winged it). It was like an "I Spy" game to her. I also pointed out the crosshatching and blending of colored pencils and we then tried it on our own which she thought was fun.

Math day I had her count things and she also noticed the various colors of things (from the art lesson).

Friday, when I pulled out the book she immediately asked me "What are we looking for today?" That caught me off guard because it hadn't occured to me that she would want to go on a "hunt" everyday. I told her that we would be talking about weather and to let me know when we got to ways of telling weather - which she did and, along the way, she continued to notice colors, count things, etc.

We were supposed to do Mirette this week but dd was sick so the display table is sitting there waiting for this coming Monday and I will take the same approach - which, if you haven't figured out by now, is very much along the lines of what Jane discussed in the post that was in the other thread. We did do a few other things (oragami, fish prints, etc.) but the core was done conversational style and just built upon each day.

HTH

[Alana]

Denise, that is SUPER! That is a perfect example!

[Michelle in IL]

I get what you're saying you want the down and dirty nitty gritty, right? ;) How to get from reading the book to "instruction"?

Our days are always different. We go to the library on Friday so I like to get my "extra" books then. Monday we will be doing Papa Piccolo so I grabbed way too many cat and kitten books for bedtime read alouds, and a couple books about Italy.

My kids usually ask "What are we going to talk about today?" Sometimes I answer them and sometimes I tell them they need to wait and see. After we read the book, I will usually ask them some kind of leading question. Like, for Papa Piccolo I will ask them if they remember where the story took place. Then we launch into a discussion about Italy and Venice. I've got maps and flags printed out. I've got a book to read about Italy. I've got my globe (and my story disk in a perfect world). And we just go for it. Some days we don't do everything that I had loosely planned. We might do those things tomorrow or we might just move on to something else tomorrow.

If its art-related, I will tell them to pay special attention to "the colors", for instance. They will usually point stuff out while we read and then we will talk more when we are through. Then if its a hands-on projects, I'll ask them if they are ready to try. My kids are easy, they are usually ready to go.

So mainly I just try to segueway from book to activity/instruction by a question? "Did you notice the moon was full in Owl Moon? Have you noticed a full moon here before? Is the moon always full? Why do you think that is? Start discussion.

Do you rememeber how the boy in Ping had a barrel tied to his back? Why do you think his parents did that? Why do you think that barrel floated? Let's do an experiment to see why things float.

I hope that helps in some way. Just relax and have fun.

[Alana]

Ok, this is what Art with Very Last First Time looked like in our house.

I looked up Georges Seurat in my Discovering Great Artists Book, and found a picture of Le Grande Jatte on the web. I printed out some demonstrations of pointilism. I also printed out a color wheel. (This all took about 10 minutes)

Monday, I tell them we are going to do FIAR now. We just read the book at the school table. I pointed out the cool art in the book. "Look how the artist used dots and all these different colors." Afterward we went to our kitchen table where I had prepared watercolors and qtips and paper. I also printed out some pictures of Georges Seurat and his art. We learned a little about him, and how he made pictures. We talked about how large his paintings were, and how he made those dots all over the picture to blend color. "This picture is called Le Grand Jatte. Can you say that? Good! In real life this picture is bigger than your daddy, and as wide as our wall right here (pointing). Would you like to make a picture that big? How would you like to paint small dots all over that big picture? This style of painting is called Pointilism, can you say that? Good! George Seurat is the inventor of this style of painting. Isn't that neat to be an inventor of a style of painting?" We talked about the color wheel as I showed them a picture of one. Then we observed the cool colors and the warm colors on the color wheel. "Now let's look at our book again. Can you find where the artist used color to make the picture feel warm and cold? Why do you think they did that? See how warm the picture feels when Eva stands in the moonlight? Look how cool it looks when her candle goes out. Now let's look at all those colors used in the pointilism sections of the illustrations. See how many colors are used in just this part? Pretty neat huh? You want to try it? Ok, cool, let's sketch it out first so we can really focus on our colors. Remember that Seurat sketched over 200 versions of Le Grande Jatte before he painted the final painting? That is cool huh? What color are you going to use first? A warm or a cool color?.....then we all skipped off holding hands in the sunset!!:lol:

[Lynna]

Alana, I loved your link! It was an eye opener. With that I began to relax some and then I could see in my head what to do. Thanks

DD in IL, your right, I am over thinking it. In fact, many nights I have been up at night on the INTERNET for 3 or 4 hours digging deeper into the lesson when all I needed was right there. Thanks

Kendra AU, my little guy who is 7 is always moving too. Go Figure! Your right more actives would work for him. Thanks

Alice R, I like how you find out what they WANT to learn then go to the library so that you can get what interests them. I love it, Thanks

DenisR, I like how you touched on a lesson everyday. I have been keeping everything in its own box, but repetition helps. I like the table thing but as we live in a small house that might be to big but I could do like a shoe box of new finds from the book. Thanks

Michell in IL, if you have read any of my past posts you would see I am not a schedule person. In fact, schedules scare me! I like how you day is loosely planed. "So mainly I just try to segueway from book to activity/instruction by a question" NICE! Thanks

You ladies are great, this is a great help!!!!:clap:

[Alice R]

Alice R, I like how you find out what they WANT to learn then go to the library so that you can get what interests them. I love it, Thanks


I am disorganized by nature so that technique was an accident actually. But after the first day of reading the book, I can see what sparks their interest. I let them find their own books in the library on whatever they want. I guide them but I like to hear "mommy look at THIS!!!!!!!!" coming from the next aisle. :clap:

[Melissa]

This is a great question, Lynna! I need to come back and read through this more thoroughly and gleen from such homeschooling greatness.
Thanks all!