A New School Year
OK. I know that our school year started more than a month ago, but I have still needed to post about it. Unfortunately, there are no pictures to go along with this entry. Somehow in the middle of the daily grind, the last thing I am worried about are taking pics.
Honey is starting her 3rd Grade Year and Bobo is starting his 1st Grade Year. How did this happen? I still can't believe that this is the beginning of our 3rd year of Homeschooling!
So far, its been going really well. We are trying a few new things this year and sticking with a number of things that worked for us last year. I planned the school year by weeks. Each week we have a list of items to complete. This has made it easier for me to prep in advance and has made it simpler for the kids. If they get all of one subject done at the beginning of the week, they don't have to worry about it for the rest of the week. They love being able to make these kinds of decisions and I love it too. What a great way to teach them to discipline themselves. With Jayson's work schedule still 4-10's (M-Th) and Fridays off, we also try to get all our schoolwork done so we have FRIDAY FREE as a FAMILY. (Say that 3 times over!) Its like having a holiday every week. It also gives us time to get those household chores or errands done that we just don't have time to do on school days. This has really been a huge blessing in our lives. I will be so sad if Jayson's work switches back to a 5 day work week.
We are still following the 4 year plan by Kindred Learning. I love knowing that anything we cover this year, we will be able to cover again in 4 years on a higher level. This way the subjects can grow with the kids. I am not a huge fan of some of the suggested science textbooks although maybe its because the kids are still pretty young for them. For now, we find a lot of books at the library to supplement with.
We did change to Saxon for math. This has been interesting because although I love the simple way its presented to the student, it also requires a lot more personal teaching instruction than our last program. I am still trying to work the kinks out in our schedule. However, the kids are learning well and definitely love it. Compared to what I was requiring out of them last year, it is a breeze. They have a front and back worksheet and a drill to do after the lesson and then they are done! Math is now a favorite subject at our house. Bobo's reading is on the verge of taking off! He still thinks he can't read, but somehow if I am pointing to the words, he can. The Reading Goal now has become to BUILD READING CONFIDENCE. (Ironically he feels more confident at spelling than reading right now. I guess that's Spalding for you!) Bob Books did NOT work for him. He thought they were dumb and so we stopped using them and I found some other readers that he seems to barely tolerate but will actually read. I wish I could find a few simple readers about sports or science because this kid would eat it up!
We also started participating in a Science Co-op. This has also been a huge blessing. There are four families with kids from 11 down. We meet twice a month. I was in charge for the first two meetings (Stress!) and we had fun making homemade telescopes and mapping out the solar system with Toilet Paper. Yes, you heard right. T.P.!!! We needed 360 TP squares to get from the sun to Pluto and what was really amazing is that on this scale, we would still need about 200 miles of TP squares to get to the nearest star in the Milky Way. Cool! I love the co-op because it motivates me to do more larger scale projects than I would typically do on my own. Not to mention the huge benefit of only having two months of teaching. We do our own science reading at home in preparation for the co-op beforehand.
We also hosted our first History Party (Or for this year-- Geography Party). We have been in a history party group for the last 2 years, but this year we changed that up a bit. We only have 4 families and no longer include dinner. This has also been a huge blessing. We had so much fun last week! Jayson gave the MOST AWESOME presentation on his Mission to St. Louis. Seriously, he pulled out all the stops. He worked hard to make an entertaining and informative presentation complete with a power point slide show. Hot!!! The kids were fascinated. We stamped the kids passports which another mom had provided and decorated geography notebooks (an idea snagged from YW girls camp journals). We ate ice cream in waffles cones in honor of the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair where they were originally introduced over a hundred years ago.
I am still reading out loud to the kids. We finished Pollyanna and celebrated by watching the movie. Just this week, we finished reading The Swiss Family Robinson and watched the movie for FHE. I totally adored this book! The language was well over the kid's heads and we spent a lot of time explaining the eighteenth century vocabulary, but it was so worth it. The book was filled with good Christian values and wonderful family relationships. When we went to Disneyland a couple of weeks ago, the kids were excited to walk through the Tarzan tree, knowing that it originally was built like the Robinson's Eagles Nest! You just have to love a book which includes scenes of daily family prayer. Precious!
We are still memorizing short poems, learning sayings, and this year introducing Smoochie to the nursery rhymes. We are also working hard at learning the 13 Articles of Faith for primary.
Spalding Spelling is going well and handwriting has been good this year. When they get 100% on the weekly spelling test, we happily REWARD them with an AIRHEAD Candy! I just love the IRONY of this!!! Honey is doing really well with cursive and is also learning to type proficiently. She started writing a "Kids News" Newsletter. It deals with... and I quote here... "all sorts of Kids Issues." The first edition was all about losing teeth, which HAS been a big issue at our house lately. I will include a copy of it later.
Smoochie does preschool a couple of days a week. She informed me on Monday and Tuesday that she WOULD be doing school. Today, she said, "I not do school today Mom, I just play ALL day. OK!" OK. For a 3 year old. OK.
Its been harder with Pookie this year. She thinks she should be sitting ON the kitchen table and right in the middle of things. Last year, as a newborn she slept a lot!!! I miss that! But she is learning all sorts of interesting things too. Like how to tatoo her entire body with pen, make the computer screen upside down and how to pull apart the entire house while Mom is busy with the other three kids. Good times!!! I remind myself daily how lucky I am for such a sweet angel baby. She really is great! Her only problem is that she is ONE and a typical one year old mess. She is still napping and that is also a blessing.
So this is the run down of our year so far. It will be interesting to compare this entry to the one at the end of the year. Wish us luck!
Honey is starting her 3rd Grade Year and Bobo is starting his 1st Grade Year. How did this happen? I still can't believe that this is the beginning of our 3rd year of Homeschooling!
So far, its been going really well. We are trying a few new things this year and sticking with a number of things that worked for us last year. I planned the school year by weeks. Each week we have a list of items to complete. This has made it easier for me to prep in advance and has made it simpler for the kids. If they get all of one subject done at the beginning of the week, they don't have to worry about it for the rest of the week. They love being able to make these kinds of decisions and I love it too. What a great way to teach them to discipline themselves. With Jayson's work schedule still 4-10's (M-Th) and Fridays off, we also try to get all our schoolwork done so we have FRIDAY FREE as a FAMILY. (Say that 3 times over!) Its like having a holiday every week. It also gives us time to get those household chores or errands done that we just don't have time to do on school days. This has really been a huge blessing in our lives. I will be so sad if Jayson's work switches back to a 5 day work week.
We are still following the 4 year plan by Kindred Learning. I love knowing that anything we cover this year, we will be able to cover again in 4 years on a higher level. This way the subjects can grow with the kids. I am not a huge fan of some of the suggested science textbooks although maybe its because the kids are still pretty young for them. For now, we find a lot of books at the library to supplement with.
We did change to Saxon for math. This has been interesting because although I love the simple way its presented to the student, it also requires a lot more personal teaching instruction than our last program. I am still trying to work the kinks out in our schedule. However, the kids are learning well and definitely love it. Compared to what I was requiring out of them last year, it is a breeze. They have a front and back worksheet and a drill to do after the lesson and then they are done! Math is now a favorite subject at our house. Bobo's reading is on the verge of taking off! He still thinks he can't read, but somehow if I am pointing to the words, he can. The Reading Goal now has become to BUILD READING CONFIDENCE. (Ironically he feels more confident at spelling than reading right now. I guess that's Spalding for you!) Bob Books did NOT work for him. He thought they were dumb and so we stopped using them and I found some other readers that he seems to barely tolerate but will actually read. I wish I could find a few simple readers about sports or science because this kid would eat it up!
We also started participating in a Science Co-op. This has also been a huge blessing. There are four families with kids from 11 down. We meet twice a month. I was in charge for the first two meetings (Stress!) and we had fun making homemade telescopes and mapping out the solar system with Toilet Paper. Yes, you heard right. T.P.!!! We needed 360 TP squares to get from the sun to Pluto and what was really amazing is that on this scale, we would still need about 200 miles of TP squares to get to the nearest star in the Milky Way. Cool! I love the co-op because it motivates me to do more larger scale projects than I would typically do on my own. Not to mention the huge benefit of only having two months of teaching. We do our own science reading at home in preparation for the co-op beforehand.
We also hosted our first History Party (Or for this year-- Geography Party). We have been in a history party group for the last 2 years, but this year we changed that up a bit. We only have 4 families and no longer include dinner. This has also been a huge blessing. We had so much fun last week! Jayson gave the MOST AWESOME presentation on his Mission to St. Louis. Seriously, he pulled out all the stops. He worked hard to make an entertaining and informative presentation complete with a power point slide show. Hot!!! The kids were fascinated. We stamped the kids passports which another mom had provided and decorated geography notebooks (an idea snagged from YW girls camp journals). We ate ice cream in waffles cones in honor of the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair where they were originally introduced over a hundred years ago.
I am still reading out loud to the kids. We finished Pollyanna and celebrated by watching the movie. Just this week, we finished reading The Swiss Family Robinson and watched the movie for FHE. I totally adored this book! The language was well over the kid's heads and we spent a lot of time explaining the eighteenth century vocabulary, but it was so worth it. The book was filled with good Christian values and wonderful family relationships. When we went to Disneyland a couple of weeks ago, the kids were excited to walk through the Tarzan tree, knowing that it originally was built like the Robinson's Eagles Nest! You just have to love a book which includes scenes of daily family prayer. Precious!
We are still memorizing short poems, learning sayings, and this year introducing Smoochie to the nursery rhymes. We are also working hard at learning the 13 Articles of Faith for primary.
Spalding Spelling is going well and handwriting has been good this year. When they get 100% on the weekly spelling test, we happily REWARD them with an AIRHEAD Candy! I just love the IRONY of this!!! Honey is doing really well with cursive and is also learning to type proficiently. She started writing a "Kids News" Newsletter. It deals with... and I quote here... "all sorts of Kids Issues." The first edition was all about losing teeth, which HAS been a big issue at our house lately. I will include a copy of it later.
Smoochie does preschool a couple of days a week. She informed me on Monday and Tuesday that she WOULD be doing school. Today, she said, "I not do school today Mom, I just play ALL day. OK!" OK. For a 3 year old. OK.
Its been harder with Pookie this year. She thinks she should be sitting ON the kitchen table and right in the middle of things. Last year, as a newborn she slept a lot!!! I miss that! But she is learning all sorts of interesting things too. Like how to tatoo her entire body with pen, make the computer screen upside down and how to pull apart the entire house while Mom is busy with the other three kids. Good times!!! I remind myself daily how lucky I am for such a sweet angel baby. She really is great! Her only problem is that she is ONE and a typical one year old mess. She is still napping and that is also a blessing.
So this is the run down of our year so far. It will be interesting to compare this entry to the one at the end of the year. Wish us luck!
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