Sunday, September 9, 2012

Off to a Great Start

We not only survived week one, but thrived!  We managed to finish the bulk of our schooling in the morning leaving us with all those fun extras in the afternoon...although I'm not sure they would consider scrubbing the bathrooms a fun extra.  ;)   

We didn't get a ton of work completed since we had to go over new curriculum and what was expected of them, but I was planning for that.  We managed to finish all that I had planned...except for PE, music study (I was waiting on a cd), and handicrafts.  Hopefully things will move a bit quicker next week.  

Some of our Read Alouds:
  • Ben and Me
  • The Indian in the Cupboard
  • Linnea in Monet's Garden
  • The Children's Book of Virtues
  • Ambleside Online September poetry selections
  • Jenny's Surprise Summer, The Snowy Day, and The ABC Bunny for our FIAR selections
We will continue with all of these wonderful selections next week!  They are also loving Apologia's Swimming Creatures...unfortunately I didn't get a pic our our science experiment. We ended our week by watching Finding Nemo...It came up in our lesson on currents (remember Crush the sea turtle?) and I though it would be a fun way of getting them to think about all the wonderful ocean animals awaiting us!  We also managed a nature walk, complete with drawings of dandelions.  Our first Bible verse was 1 Corinthians 15:22, For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.  To go along with our Genesis readings, we are also learning the hymn, This is My Father's World.  

Next week begins our HS co-op, piano lessons, and gymnastics.  I'm praying my enthusiasm continues...and I still have enough energy to get through the laundry!  I'm also a bit nervous about DD's writing lesson in ILL.  She has done very little writing so far, and gets easily frustrated.  


Our first Math-U-See lesson...they love this program so far (and so do I)!:



Saturday, August 18, 2012

A new year begins...

Last year I read When You Rise Up by RC Sproul Jr.  One of the things I picked up from it was to think about which subjects God has called us to teach...not which subjects they say we should teach.  This took much consideration and prayer and I'm sure I'll have to continue this as long as we are homeschooling.  After all my children, my husband and I, and our circumstances and needs are constantly changing.   What I finally decided was to use the Charlotte Mason methods.

We've used many of her methods over the years, but I'm currently reading through her Homeschooling Series and changing quite a bit about our schooling.  I've especially enjoyed the schedules and curriculum recommended through Simply Charlotte Mason.  It seems a bit more laid back then other CM programs.  I've found if we have less curriculum, we can enjoy more real life learning.  One of my goals for this year is to make school fun again!  Last year we used a planned out curriculum and I felt like too much of our time was spent on science and history.  The 3Rs were getting pushed aside and we didn't have time for all those wonderful homeschool projects that every family seems to be doing.   Without further ado, here are the plans:

Math:
MUS Gamma with skip counting CD for 4th grader
Singapore 2a/2b for 2nd grader...also work on multiplication facts
Funtastic Frogs and Miquon for K'er

Science:
Apologia--Zoology 2: Swimming Creatures
nature walks
science kits (snap circuits, grow carnivorous plants, set up aquarium, etc.)

Language Arts:
Read good literature
narration (written, oral, dramatic, building models, drawing pictures, etc.)--I really want this to be fun!
McGuffey Readers for copywork, dictation, grammar
Intermediate and Primary Language Lessons by Emma Serl
poetry memorization--both classic poems and silly poems
ETC for 2nd grader, ETC primers for K'er
Reading Rods for K'er

Spanish:
CDs and workbooks we bought awhile back...I can't remember the name of the program
Spanish flashcards

History:
Read all the HOD Bigger books we didn't get to last year
Fun projects as they come up--I want to have the children come up with these so they are excited about them
Narration and Notebooking
Map Drills

Bible:
120 Bible Stories from CPH, 3 days/week
My First Catechism from CPH 2 days/week
Memory verses taken from 120 Bible Stories, using SCM Scripture Memory System
Hymns for a Child's Heart from Focus on the Family

Literature:
Still working on the books, but right now I'm planning:
The Indian and the Cupboard (already start this on Friday)
Charlotte's Web
Farmer Boy
Pinocchio
Winnie the Pooh
Plus lots of books to go along with our history readings!

Art:
SCM picture studies--beginning with Monet
Brush Painting
Mark Kistler's Draw Squad

Poetry:
various sources

Music:
SCM music studies--beginning with Bach
Piano lessons

Character Study:
The Children's Book of Virtues
Lessons from the Farmyard
Missionary Stories with the Millers

Handicrafts (picked out by the DC and me):
dog walking, swimming lessons, gymnastics (physical education)
laundry, setting the table, yardwork (my choices)
gardening, robotics, woodworking, sculpturing, sewing/quilting (the DC's choices)

My K'er and preschooler will also be using FIAR and BFIAR...I'm hoping the older DC will listen in on the books as well.  ;)

Stay tuned for scheduling...I'm still working on this!

And I have to share this pretty bunting I sewed for our schoolroom...The fabrics are from an I-spy quilt swap and are so bright and cheery!  The DC are working on some canvas paintings for the room as well.  I'm hoping to add a few more inexpensive decorations.  Pinterest here I come!