Homeschool 2023-2024!

 

We are off on another year of homeschooling adventure!  Lucas is in 8th grade, Vinnie is in 7th grade, and Sulley is in kindergarten.  Percy gets the added perk of "pre-k" that is really kindergarten because he's doing it all alongside Sulley!

Thinking Tree: 

    We use a variety of Thinking Tree materials in our homeschool.  We have the entire Dyslexia Games series for Lucas and Vinnie (and eventually Sulley too!). We also have the Poetry curriculums and Lucas and Vinnie are both working their way through those.  

Gameschooling- 

    We originally started "Game Schooling" in 2019 when we went 100% tech/screen free on the advice of our awesome therapist, Ms. Amy.  Gameschool Academy is a vital resource for gameschooling!

    Those first 6 weeks were rough, but we noticed such a change in the boys!  Then, CV19 brought the world to its knees and we caved a little at a time.  Now, actual video games are heavily restricted but the kids are allowed to watch Disney+.  All other streaming/video services are locked and require permission to view.  Our modern game collection went from the dozen or so games we picked up for Christmas gifts that year to an entire wall shelf and a closet full of games today, in Aug. 2023.  Our most recent game additions came from a Tryazon party with Exploding Kittens games!  We got "The Best Worst Ice Cream" and "Hurry Up Chicken Butt".  They are cute preschool logic games!  Basically *ALL* games are educational, because they teach vital skills.  

Easy Peasy:

    Easy Peasy is a free online homeschool curriculum.  They do also sell workbooks on Amazon.  We got the math workbooks in grades 3 and 4 last year to help Vinnie and Lucas master their basic math facts. I like that the workbooks teach the content as they go, so that the boys can look back at the teaching lessons if they need a refresher.  

Co-Op:

    Colorado Springs Thematic Secular Co-Op is the co-op group I started two years ago.  We just began our 3rd school year.  Each week we have a theme that we run stations on and the students rotate through.  This week we had 20+ kids!  We have grown a little each year and changed things up.  This year we are focusing on elementary school age for our group lessons.  We are also hoping to incorporate at least one field trip or special event into each month.  

Explorer's LARPing Club:

    A local entrepreneur, Dana Susan Beasley runs Explorers LARPing Club for homeschoolers and public schoolers year round.  They meet twice a month on Thursday for homeschoolers and once a month on Saturday for all kids.  While a lot of what they do is play-based they also learn about history and the Bible. Lucas and Vincent both love LARPing and spend a lot of time pretending and planning for LARPing club. 

My Tech High:

    MTH funds our homeschooling adventures.  They do require a shot record or waiver for each child.  In return, we get $1800 per student in reimbursable funds.  Lucas and Vinnie's funds go almost exclusively to karate.  Which is awesome, because that covers the entire family for a year!  

Karate:

    Our entire family participate in Shorin Kempo Karate at 3T Martial Arts in Colorado Springs.  We love the family atmosphere at our dojo.  

    Lucas, Vinnie, and myself are all in the Advanced program.  Tim is in the basic program still, but he takes the adult class.  Sulley is a little tiger and Percy is a tiny tiger.  

    The tiny tiger program is for ages 3-4, it took Percy a while to get comfortable and start really participating in class, so at 4.5 he is a green belt.  Sulley did the tiny tigers for a year and a half and then moved up to little tigers. 

     Little Tigers is for 5-6 year olds.  Sulley is currently a blue belt but he will graduate to purple belt in September.  He is hoping to stay in little tigers to earn his black belt!  When he earns his little tigers black belt he will move into the basic program, which is for people ages 7 and up.  

    After you earn your orange belt in basics you are given the opportunity to do the advanced test.  You have to take the test before you earn your green belt.  Tim is a high gold belt, so at his next graduation he will get his advanced test!  Lucas and Vinnie are both high blue belts but Lucas is ahead by one tip.  I am a green belt.  

Leadership Elite:

    Lucas and Vinnie both just got accepted into the Leadership Elite team at the dojo.  This comes with a lot of extra responsibilities.  Vinnie will be teaching one tiny tiger lesson a week.  Lucas will be teaching one basic class a week.  They both also have to attend two 15 minute Leadership classes each week.  Finally, they will have the opportunity to go to Sempei and Leadership training classes twice a rotation and learn more about being a teacher and leader at the dojo!  

LEGO Spike Prime Robotics:

    During our first year of My Tech High we did the LEGO Spike class.  Unfortunately, we never actually had time to use the robot and do the course work.  We are hoping to make a dedicated effort to have Lucas, Vinnie, and Sulley work through the course this year.  

Crunch Labs by Mark Rober:

    Lucas and Vinnie have been recieving Crunch Labs boxes from Mark Rober since they started coming out.  These science, tech, engineering, and math themed boxes are great for the boys and they love working on them.  They get them using their hands and their minds.   

Spanish:

    As a family, we are working on learning Spanish this year.  We have started with the numbers and alphabet.  So far most of us are doing really well with the counting!  We have some cheap resources and plan to invest in some more materials later in the school year.  

Handwriting/Cursive:

    This year, Lucas and Vinnie will be learning cursive handwriting, beyond signing their names!  I am hoping to have them both writing and reading fluently in cursive by the summer.  

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo Membership:

    An extra resource that we have for our homeschool journey is our membership to the local Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.  We try to get to the zoo at least once a month but when time and the weather allow, we go more often.  The boys love to visit the animals, participate in hands-on interactions, and explore the zoo.  Riding the chair lift is a fun family favorite too!  Sulley has overcome his fear of the smell inside the hippo and monkey house and he really enjoys spending time checking out all the primates! 

Explorers LARPing Club-- Colorado Springs, CO

    Lucas and Vinnie love LARPing.  (live action role play). Lucas joined this group in September of 2021 and immediately found his people.  LARPing allows him to play act as a character of his creation.  It's basically a live version of Dungeons and Dragons.  He created a character with a back story and whole life-story and even dyed his hair to embody the character!  Vinnie was able to join this year because he turned 11 in August.  He's not as obsessed with LARPing as Lucas, but he definitely loves going!

Mrs. Dana Susan runs the group with her eldest son and husband.  She understands kids on the spectrum and is very open and understanding about food allergies.  Vinnie is completely comfortable being at her house.  I'm extremely grateful to Dana for creating a place where Vinnie isn't excluded and where he can be "just one of the kids" without having to fret about his allergies.  

    As the kids arrive (ages 11-18) they start playing sword fighting games and cooperative games in Mrs. Dana Susan's LARGE front yard.  Sam, her son, runs drills and teaches sword fighting techniques during this part of the day.  

    After the outdoor play part of the day is over, everybody heads into Mrs. Dana's house for snack time.  Each family brings snacks to share, Mrs. Dana Susan makes lemonade or hot chocolate for all the kids and everybody gets a nice time to fellowship together and make connections!  For teens, that relaxed time to just hang out is SO important.  

    After snack is done and as the kids are finishing up, things transition into crafting time!  Several times throughout the year, the group makes boffer swords.  Boffer swords are essentially the classic LARPing weapon.  LARP weapons have to be safe and effective at the same time.  Mrs. Dana provides all the materials and instruction and then the students are given time to customize and personalize their weapons.  

Other crafts that have been done throughout the last 2 years include making maps of their personal kingdoms, make shields and decorating them, making staffs, throwing knives, and daggers, and more.  Each session there is some kind of fun activity for the students.  

    After the craft time is over the students gather together in the sun room for Advanced Narrative Role-playing or ANR.  ANR is an oral version of a role-playing game that Mrs. Dana leads using stories that she has created based on Bible stories.  Each students plays either their character or one of the pre-made characters and during the story telling, Mrs. Dana goes around the group and gives each player opportunities to make decisions about what will happen in the story line.  

    Depending on the plausibility or outrageousness of the suggestions given by the students, Mrs. Dana will ask them to choose a number between 1 and X.  If its a simple request or idea then the number X will be relatively small, but if its a crazy suggestion then X can be a huge number, reducing the odds of the student guessing close to it.  Then, Mrs. Dana can continue the story telling with their suggestions included.  The students really enjoy ANR and have a good time contributing to the stories.  

    After each session, Mrs. Dana adds the stories to the web portal for the kids to be able to look back on!  

    After ANR wraps up, all the students head back outside to play some more sword role-playing games!

Students can be dropped off or parents can stay and observe or relax while their teens have a blast.  Some days allow siblings to participate and there are even special events.  

Lucas and Vinnie absolutely love going to LARPing and would love more friends to join them!