Monday, November 19, 2012
Special Guest Speaker
School Break!!!
This week is a school break. We have schooled 12 weeks so far!!! 1/3 the way through!
So this is the time I get to organize myself; re-examining how we are doing, dropping what doesn't work, trying new things. I am going to make a schedule for myself, for the things that I am in charge of. I need to have written goals. For instance, I want to get through our history books before the end of the school year, so I need to put the chapters on a weekly schedule to see how many chapters I need to read each week. I need to put Latin on a schedule as well. Sometimes we repeat lessons for extra practice and sometimes we get lazy and don't do latin every day. Maybe I could make a visual chart to check off for every time we do scripture reading, devotional, FHE and memory work so that the kids will motivate ME instead of the other way around all the time. I could do that for poetry and science too. They'll hold me to it because they love those subjects. Hmm....
I learned something new this week in 3rd grade english; when to use "me and Isaac" and "Isaac and I". I never learned this in school. If you didn't either, here is the scoop on the poop:
The pronouns I, you, he, she, it, we, & they are used in the subject of a sentence. The pronouns me, you, him, her, it, us, & them are used in the predicate of a sentence.
So it would be:
Isaac and I / went on a date.
Marissa / babysat for me and Isaac.
How easy is that? Why did I not learn this in school? It is a little embarrassing, as a teacher, to be learning along with Savannah. I just explain to her that I never learned this in school and that is one of the reasons I'm homeschooling her. Thank heavens for great curriculum!
Did you know that those who have earned teaching degrees and then homeschool their own children claim that their degree did not help them one little bit? They say that teaching degrees teach mostly classroom management. So don't feel bad that you don't have a teaching degree. You don't need one. It DOES help to be educated, but not necessarily with an education degree. If I had more schooling I would no doubt be a better teacher. As it is, I spend a great deal of time educating myself, and that will just have to be enough for now.
So this is the time I get to organize myself; re-examining how we are doing, dropping what doesn't work, trying new things. I am going to make a schedule for myself, for the things that I am in charge of. I need to have written goals. For instance, I want to get through our history books before the end of the school year, so I need to put the chapters on a weekly schedule to see how many chapters I need to read each week. I need to put Latin on a schedule as well. Sometimes we repeat lessons for extra practice and sometimes we get lazy and don't do latin every day. Maybe I could make a visual chart to check off for every time we do scripture reading, devotional, FHE and memory work so that the kids will motivate ME instead of the other way around all the time. I could do that for poetry and science too. They'll hold me to it because they love those subjects. Hmm....
I learned something new this week in 3rd grade english; when to use "me and Isaac" and "Isaac and I". I never learned this in school. If you didn't either, here is the scoop on the poop:
The pronouns I, you, he, she, it, we, & they are used in the subject of a sentence. The pronouns me, you, him, her, it, us, & them are used in the predicate of a sentence.
So it would be:
Isaac and I / went on a date.
Marissa / babysat for me and Isaac.
How easy is that? Why did I not learn this in school? It is a little embarrassing, as a teacher, to be learning along with Savannah. I just explain to her that I never learned this in school and that is one of the reasons I'm homeschooling her. Thank heavens for great curriculum!
Did you know that those who have earned teaching degrees and then homeschool their own children claim that their degree did not help them one little bit? They say that teaching degrees teach mostly classroom management. So don't feel bad that you don't have a teaching degree. You don't need one. It DOES help to be educated, but not necessarily with an education degree. If I had more schooling I would no doubt be a better teacher. As it is, I spend a great deal of time educating myself, and that will just have to be enough for now.
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Still chugging along. Week 7 & 8
This week is only a three day week. My big kids are out of town today and tomorrow. It has been a good, uneventful two weeks. Nothing to report on.
Wait, I can always ramble about homeschooling...
As much as the girls complain about doing school, I am surprised how much they want to do more. Charlotte wants a full load like Savannah. However, I need to spend more time with my three little ones. I finally put my foot down and told her no. She has to go and play. She is only in first grade, for heavens sake! What is the rush to grow up? Lol. I've also trimmed back her required academic school work.
Required academics 1st grade: Math Mammoth, XtraMath, Spelling & Latin (as a family), 2 sentences of copywork, and reading outloud to me.
Optional: phonics and spelling workbooks, science, geography. She was begging me to let her do Writing With Ease too. NOooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!! I don't have the time.
Required academics 3rd grade: MM, XM, Spelling & Latin (as a family), R&S English, WWE 3, Greek Myths, read for 1 hour. Optional: science, geography, spelling workbook. And I'm thinking about dropping WWE 3 again. I really don't want any wasted time.
So, spelling as a family: I was going to start Spell to Write and Read, then changed my mind because of how time-consuming it was and went to R&S spelling this year. The kids actually really like it, but I kind of thought it seemed like busywork still. In R&S spelling, the word lists are easy, but the value supposedly lies in the application of the spelling rules to the word lists.
So I took that idea and applied it to SWR. Instead of having the girls in separate levels, I started them both on Charlotte's level. First we review our phonogram flashcards. Then I dictate the day's words (20 of them) and they take turns writing them on the white board and mark them (apply the spelling and phonics rules). Then we sing the spelling rule that applies (songs are from Phonics Road) while the girls dance around the room.
After that, they sit down and get out a piece of paper. I dictate two sentences to them that have one of their new spelling words in them. Then they take a test on a previous list of words from a few weeks ago that I dictate to them. I have found this method to be very effective.
Anyway, that's it. I'm tired.
Salvete!
Wait, I can always ramble about homeschooling...
As much as the girls complain about doing school, I am surprised how much they want to do more. Charlotte wants a full load like Savannah. However, I need to spend more time with my three little ones. I finally put my foot down and told her no. She has to go and play. She is only in first grade, for heavens sake! What is the rush to grow up? Lol. I've also trimmed back her required academic school work.
Required academics 1st grade: Math Mammoth, XtraMath, Spelling & Latin (as a family), 2 sentences of copywork, and reading outloud to me.
Optional: phonics and spelling workbooks, science, geography. She was begging me to let her do Writing With Ease too. NOooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!! I don't have the time.
Required academics 3rd grade: MM, XM, Spelling & Latin (as a family), R&S English, WWE 3, Greek Myths, read for 1 hour. Optional: science, geography, spelling workbook. And I'm thinking about dropping WWE 3 again. I really don't want any wasted time.
So, spelling as a family: I was going to start Spell to Write and Read, then changed my mind because of how time-consuming it was and went to R&S spelling this year. The kids actually really like it, but I kind of thought it seemed like busywork still. In R&S spelling, the word lists are easy, but the value supposedly lies in the application of the spelling rules to the word lists.
So I took that idea and applied it to SWR. Instead of having the girls in separate levels, I started them both on Charlotte's level. First we review our phonogram flashcards. Then I dictate the day's words (20 of them) and they take turns writing them on the white board and mark them (apply the spelling and phonics rules). Then we sing the spelling rule that applies (songs are from Phonics Road) while the girls dance around the room.
After that, they sit down and get out a piece of paper. I dictate two sentences to them that have one of their new spelling words in them. Then they take a test on a previous list of words from a few weeks ago that I dictate to them. I have found this method to be very effective.
Anyway, that's it. I'm tired.
Salvete!
Friday, September 28, 2012
Week 6
...is almost over! I think we will do school tomorrow (Saturday) because we are three days behind. Next week is supposed to be our week off, but we have to make up those days, so we'll school tomorrow, Monday, and Tuesday, and then have the rest of the week off.
I don't know what the deal was, but this week I have been dragging my feet getting school done. I let the girls sleep in, we get started late, it is beautiful outside so they just want to play and I just want to let them... I think that maybe I should re-think our yearly schedule. More breaks in the fall and spring, and just school right through winter and summer when it is no fun going outside.
Anyway, we DID do school and it went well. I asked the girls their opinion of each subject and they really like all of their subjects except math (just because they are learning new concepts and it is sometimes a struggle) and Savannah doesn't like english very much, for the same reason. It is a lot of writing, which I like but she doesn't. All well. Our english and math programs are solid and I love them.
I am not thrilled with R&S spelling. I think spalding/O-G method is far superior. But the girls refuse to drop R&S spelling; they both really like it. It is their only workbook, which is why I think they like it so much. So yesterday and today, right after latin, we did spelling together. I use the lists from Spell to Write and Read (the Wise Guide) and the spelling rule tunes from Phonics Road. We spell and mark 20 words together on the white board, discuss/sing the spelling rules that apply (while dancing around the room), and then I dictate two sentences from the Wise Guide that uses some of the spelling words we just went over. It is very effective and will definitely become part of our routine for now on.
I read aloud at night while the kids are in bed because my little ones (Caroline mainly, and Zach) are difficult to read with. We've been reading our history books, Story of the World - Middle Ages and Our Island Story (a history of Britain) three times a week.
The other nights I've read Charlie's Monument. It is a very short book. I think I have only two more chapters. It is just a good story and the kids love it. I bawled through the whole first chapter. It is set in the midwest in the 1800s. It is about a boy who is born physically handicapped. His mother teaches him about his individual worth and how to treat others like Christ treated others. She is killed by indians when he is a young teen. The town gives him a job as a lookout on a hilltop to help him earn money so he can take of himself. So he spends his entire life on this hill and realizes that when he dies, no one will remember him or know he was even there, so he begins to build a monument out of rocks, one at a time, day by day. Then one day the bankers daughter decides to venture up to the hill to see the mysterious Charlie that she has only heard about and never met. .... It is about REAL love. My mom read it to me a few times when I was little and I loved it.
Week 2 of P90X is almost complete. I really enjoy the workouts. I enjoy getting stronger and being able to do certain exercises that I couldn't do last week.
And I need to get more sleep.
I don't know what the deal was, but this week I have been dragging my feet getting school done. I let the girls sleep in, we get started late, it is beautiful outside so they just want to play and I just want to let them... I think that maybe I should re-think our yearly schedule. More breaks in the fall and spring, and just school right through winter and summer when it is no fun going outside.
Anyway, we DID do school and it went well. I asked the girls their opinion of each subject and they really like all of their subjects except math (just because they are learning new concepts and it is sometimes a struggle) and Savannah doesn't like english very much, for the same reason. It is a lot of writing, which I like but she doesn't. All well. Our english and math programs are solid and I love them.
I am not thrilled with R&S spelling. I think spalding/O-G method is far superior. But the girls refuse to drop R&S spelling; they both really like it. It is their only workbook, which is why I think they like it so much. So yesterday and today, right after latin, we did spelling together. I use the lists from Spell to Write and Read (the Wise Guide) and the spelling rule tunes from Phonics Road. We spell and mark 20 words together on the white board, discuss/sing the spelling rules that apply (while dancing around the room), and then I dictate two sentences from the Wise Guide that uses some of the spelling words we just went over. It is very effective and will definitely become part of our routine for now on.
I read aloud at night while the kids are in bed because my little ones (Caroline mainly, and Zach) are difficult to read with. We've been reading our history books, Story of the World - Middle Ages and Our Island Story (a history of Britain) three times a week.
The other nights I've read Charlie's Monument. It is a very short book. I think I have only two more chapters. It is just a good story and the kids love it. I bawled through the whole first chapter. It is set in the midwest in the 1800s. It is about a boy who is born physically handicapped. His mother teaches him about his individual worth and how to treat others like Christ treated others. She is killed by indians when he is a young teen. The town gives him a job as a lookout on a hilltop to help him earn money so he can take of himself. So he spends his entire life on this hill and realizes that when he dies, no one will remember him or know he was even there, so he begins to build a monument out of rocks, one at a time, day by day. Then one day the bankers daughter decides to venture up to the hill to see the mysterious Charlie that she has only heard about and never met. .... It is about REAL love. My mom read it to me a few times when I was little and I loved it.
Week 2 of P90X is almost complete. I really enjoy the workouts. I enjoy getting stronger and being able to do certain exercises that I couldn't do last week.
And I need to get more sleep.
Monday, September 24, 2012
Week 5
Week 5 went fabulous. I'm glad I added Writing With Ease 3 in. It doesn't take much time and I do think it is helpful.
Charlotte is learning clocks in MM1B. Savannah is learning multiplication in MM3A. Both are progressing nicely in math.
This is my first year using Rod & Staff English. I really like it; it is very thorough. A lot of people say they do it orally and skip problems. I have Savannah do every problem and she writes it all out. I feel that it is right on her level and provides the perfect amount of work. If anything, she might need more practice, so I bought the workbooks and tests that go with it. They will arrive in the mail soon.
We are going to repeat lesson 5 in Prima Latina this week so that we can really solidify the vocabulary. Savannah memorizes very easily, whereas Charlotte does not. She needs LOTS of repitition. I want to keep them together in latin because it is more enjoyable (and easier on me) to learn latin in a group, so we are going at Charlotte's pace.
Let's see... spelling is fine. I don't know that I will do a spelling curriculum next year. It just seems like busywork. I don't want to quit on the workbooks we have started, so we will finish them.
Savannah is really liking MP's Greek Myths study. Like I said, she memorizes very quickly. I am amazed at the sheer amount of information she has memorized so far.
Exercise went great! I finished my first full official week of P90X; the previous week I only did 30 min. of each video as a transition. I love exercising. It has become an enjoyable habit. I love the way I feel, I love that I'm getting stronger, I love the way I look! My 5-baby-belly is shrinking :) Mostly, I just really like how I feel; that is my main motivation for getting up in the morning. I look forward to it.
Today is the first day of week 6 in homeschool, but I decided to take the day off since the girls slept in until 900am. We just got back from spending the weekend in Atlanta. It is so nice outside. The kids spent the whole day playing outside. Not homeschooling, however, throws my schedule off, so I accomplished nothing, wasted time, didn't clean, didn't do much of anything. I look forward to our scheduled day tomorrow.
Charlotte is learning clocks in MM1B. Savannah is learning multiplication in MM3A. Both are progressing nicely in math.
This is my first year using Rod & Staff English. I really like it; it is very thorough. A lot of people say they do it orally and skip problems. I have Savannah do every problem and she writes it all out. I feel that it is right on her level and provides the perfect amount of work. If anything, she might need more practice, so I bought the workbooks and tests that go with it. They will arrive in the mail soon.
We are going to repeat lesson 5 in Prima Latina this week so that we can really solidify the vocabulary. Savannah memorizes very easily, whereas Charlotte does not. She needs LOTS of repitition. I want to keep them together in latin because it is more enjoyable (and easier on me) to learn latin in a group, so we are going at Charlotte's pace.
Let's see... spelling is fine. I don't know that I will do a spelling curriculum next year. It just seems like busywork. I don't want to quit on the workbooks we have started, so we will finish them.
Savannah is really liking MP's Greek Myths study. Like I said, she memorizes very quickly. I am amazed at the sheer amount of information she has memorized so far.
Exercise went great! I finished my first full official week of P90X; the previous week I only did 30 min. of each video as a transition. I love exercising. It has become an enjoyable habit. I love the way I feel, I love that I'm getting stronger, I love the way I look! My 5-baby-belly is shrinking :) Mostly, I just really like how I feel; that is my main motivation for getting up in the morning. I look forward to it.
Today is the first day of week 6 in homeschool, but I decided to take the day off since the girls slept in until 900am. We just got back from spending the weekend in Atlanta. It is so nice outside. The kids spent the whole day playing outside. Not homeschooling, however, throws my schedule off, so I accomplished nothing, wasted time, didn't clean, didn't do much of anything. I look forward to our scheduled day tomorrow.
Friday, September 14, 2012
Week 4
It has been a GREAT week!
My personal stuff: I'm RIPPED! (ok, not exactly)
I was supposed to do week 4 of Ripped in 30, but I didn't enjoy her exercises; they were very hard on the joints and not very effective because they were so awkward to me that I couldn't do them. I decided to start P90X instead. This week I only did 30 min of the total hour each day. Next week I am going to wake up at 5am so I can squeeze in the whole hour. I really like P90X so far!
What does exercising have to do with homeschooling? It affects my mood and energy level so much that if I don't do it, I notice that I'm not as happy of a mother or as motivated as a homeschooler. Exercise = a sucessful day. This is so new to me. I've never exercised before now and I LOVE it.
School has been great this week, other than Monday (see two posts ago). We did do the rest of the week with the new schedule: school from 8am to 10am, chores at 10am, followed by a snack, and a 4-5 hour break so we can hang out with Daddy before he goes to work.
It works so well! Since they know they have a huge break, they work really hard to get most of their work done within the two hours. Savannah usually has about one to two more hours to do, but it is the stuff that isn't teacher intensive, like reading, spelling, and piano. Charlotte usually does everything but piano and reading, which takes about 45 min. total. It has been awesome. School doesn't take all day now! Daddy has awakened to a clean house and a happy family this week.
The only down side is that I am fairly unavailable for two solid hours and so my littles don't get much attention during that time. I do focus my attention on them for the rest of the day to make up for it, though.
Changes: Savannah's language arts consists of R&S grammar & spelling. I was going to add in a writing curriculum next year, but I have decided to give WWE 3 a try again.
She finished reading a book this week, so I asked her to tell me what it was about. She gives lots of details and zero summary, so I'm thinking WWE 3 is in order. I just hate to add to her load though. We'll see how it goes next week and see. I'm undecided about what to do.
My personal stuff: I'm RIPPED! (ok, not exactly)
I was supposed to do week 4 of Ripped in 30, but I didn't enjoy her exercises; they were very hard on the joints and not very effective because they were so awkward to me that I couldn't do them. I decided to start P90X instead. This week I only did 30 min of the total hour each day. Next week I am going to wake up at 5am so I can squeeze in the whole hour. I really like P90X so far!
What does exercising have to do with homeschooling? It affects my mood and energy level so much that if I don't do it, I notice that I'm not as happy of a mother or as motivated as a homeschooler. Exercise = a sucessful day. This is so new to me. I've never exercised before now and I LOVE it.
School has been great this week, other than Monday (see two posts ago). We did do the rest of the week with the new schedule: school from 8am to 10am, chores at 10am, followed by a snack, and a 4-5 hour break so we can hang out with Daddy before he goes to work.
It works so well! Since they know they have a huge break, they work really hard to get most of their work done within the two hours. Savannah usually has about one to two more hours to do, but it is the stuff that isn't teacher intensive, like reading, spelling, and piano. Charlotte usually does everything but piano and reading, which takes about 45 min. total. It has been awesome. School doesn't take all day now! Daddy has awakened to a clean house and a happy family this week.
The only down side is that I am fairly unavailable for two solid hours and so my littles don't get much attention during that time. I do focus my attention on them for the rest of the day to make up for it, though.
Changes: Savannah's language arts consists of R&S grammar & spelling. I was going to add in a writing curriculum next year, but I have decided to give WWE 3 a try again.
She finished reading a book this week, so I asked her to tell me what it was about. She gives lots of details and zero summary, so I'm thinking WWE 3 is in order. I just hate to add to her load though. We'll see how it goes next week and see. I'm undecided about what to do.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Why we do what we do
Monday
|
Tuesday
|
Wednesday
|
Thursday
|
Friday
|
Saturday
|
|
Math
|
Math
Mammoth
XtraMath
|
Math
Mammoth
XtraMath
|
Math
Mammoth
XtraMath
|
Math
Mammoth
XtraMath
|
Math
Mammoth
XtraMath
|
XtraMath
|
Latin
|
Copy
vocabulary 2Xs
|
Copy
vocabulary 2Xs
|
Copy vocabulary
2Xs
|
Copy
vocabulary 2Xs
|
Copy
vocabulary 2Xs
|
|
English
|
1 Lesson
|
1 Lesson
|
1 Lesson
|
1 Lesson
|
||
Spelling
|
Test
|
Section A
|
Section B
|
Section C
|
||
Myths
|
Make
facts flash cards
|
Copy
vocabulary
1X
Review
flashcards
|
Read
chapter.
Review flashcards
|
Answer
questions.
Review
flashcards
|
Review
Flashcards
|
|
Literature
|
Read 30
min.
|
Read 30
min.
|
Read
Myths
|
Read 30
min.
|
Read 30
min.
|
|
Book of Mormon
|
Read 30
min.
|
Read 30
min
|
Read 30
min
|
Read 30
min
|
Read 30
min
|
Read 30
min
|
Piano
|
Play 3Xs
each
|
Lesson
|
Play 3Xs each
|
Play 3Xs each
|
Play 3Xs each
|
Play 3Xs each
|
Enrichments
|
Poetry
teatime/
Composer
|
Exploring
Creation-2-3 sent/ illustrate
|
Geography
|
Exploring
Creation-2-3 sent/ illustrate
|
Discover
the Old Testament
|
Real Science Odyssey-Life
|
This is what Savannah does everyday. She has a copy in her notebook and checks it off when she finishes each assignment.
Our day is jammed packed. I was just sitting here going over her list of things to do, trying to decide if I can or should drop some of it.
A friend asked recently on her blog for us to write out why we do each subject, just so we have a defined reason for learning something rather than just doing it because someone else does it or thinks we should do it.
Doing an exercise like this really makes me go back to the root of why I homeschool in the first place and to think about what my ultimate goal is for my children as a mother/teacher.
The spiritual is at the top of the list, of course. I want my children to have a personal relationship with their Heavenly Father through prayer, to have their own testimonies, to know who they really are, to make the scriptures their dearest friends, to have a serving heart, etc. I am trying to get there, not by any curriculum or checklist, but by just by reading my scriptures, saying my prayers, and by striving to be worthy of having the Spirit as my constant companion. Then, by having consistent, daily family prayer, scripture study, and weekly Family Home Evening with the kids, I hope to accomplish this goal to my best ability. But this has nothing to do with her checklist.
So aside from my top reasons for doing everything I do, my second reason is more academic. I want my children to be well-educated and have a love of learning. She works hard in math, latin, and piano (and science in high school) because I want her to know how to think, how to work, and how to problem-solve. Love of learning, for me, happens when I put forth concentrated effort to accomplish a goal, develop a skill, understand a difficult concept, or learn a new idea. That all takes physical and mental work. I believe work is good for the mind and soul.
I want them to be well-read in worthy ideas and truth; there is no room in my curriculum for trivial reading. So we study great books, like the scriptures, Greek mythology and other Classical works, history, and high-quality literature.
I want them to be able to express themselves clearly, eloquently, and persuasively, so that they can make a positive influence on those around them as adults. So she studies grammar, writing, spelling, and handwiting. Grammar, spelling and handwriting are grammar school skills that need mastered first before we can really focus on writing and rhetoric later.
I think everything we do has a significant purpose. I purposely don't make histoy, science, or geography the center of our homeschool at this age. History is a read-aloud three times a night. Science is a fun, occasional activity on Saturday that we have yet to get around to. Geography is a matter of learning catchy tunes and wall maps. History and science will take a more significant role when the foundational skills are mastered.
So there you have it.
Monday, Monday
People say to me often, "I don't know how you do it." And I just shrug and smile, because what do you say to that?
Well today I yelled at the top of my lungs, out of complete frustration, to no one in particular, "I DON'T KNOW HOW I DO IT!!!!!!" SERIOUSLY. Ugh.
I have five little children that all need me at once.
Today I was giving a spelling test to Savannah, while holding Caroline, feeding Caroline AND Zach yogurt (Zach was standing beside me), and helping Charlotte with her phonics. OK, so maybe that was four children all at the same time.
I don't know exactly how it came to that. I think it was just interruption after interruption and we just had to get school done no matter what. I really wish I had a helper in the daytime for the little kids.
Savannah- Two tantrums today. SHE's 8! : ( It is very unusual for her. She was rude first thing this morning and it just went downhill from there.
Maddy-one tantrum; Thank heavens.
Zach-one tantrum and no major messes. :)
Charlotte- none... my sweet, wonderful, even-tempered child.
Caroline-none... my angel baby.
Here is my solution to the chaos that I am going to try this week. We will stop school at 10 am and will not resume until just after lunch. 10 am is about when everything starts to get out of control. Everyone gets hungry and grumpy. I feed everyone a snack, but then I try to keep pushing through with school because we have so much to do. I think that is my mistake. I need to feed everyone their snack and then hang out with the little ones for a few hours and let the bigs take a long break.
Plus, that is about when Daddy wakes up; he works nights.
He woke up early today from the screaming Zach in the hall, sees the gigantic mess that Maddy and Zach have made building tents all over the house (he hates messes), and I'm hyper-focused on schooling and mothering on a particulary bad day, which means I'm NOT in wife mode at all.
Grumpy, sleepy husband (large child) meets hyper-focused, unsympathetic wife (psycho) = NO GOOD. Isaac didn't say much, I could just tell he wasn't happy. He went outside to work.
So, we are stopping at 10am, eating, cleaning, and playing quietly and happily until naptime this week. We'll see how that goes.
On the positive side, we got everything accomplished, we had an enjoyable poetry tea-time outdoors, and everyone went to bed happy.
Well today I yelled at the top of my lungs, out of complete frustration, to no one in particular, "I DON'T KNOW HOW I DO IT!!!!!!" SERIOUSLY. Ugh.
I have five little children that all need me at once.
Today I was giving a spelling test to Savannah, while holding Caroline, feeding Caroline AND Zach yogurt (Zach was standing beside me), and helping Charlotte with her phonics. OK, so maybe that was four children all at the same time.
I don't know exactly how it came to that. I think it was just interruption after interruption and we just had to get school done no matter what. I really wish I had a helper in the daytime for the little kids.
Savannah- Two tantrums today. SHE's 8! : ( It is very unusual for her. She was rude first thing this morning and it just went downhill from there.
Maddy-one tantrum; Thank heavens.
Zach-one tantrum and no major messes. :)
Charlotte- none... my sweet, wonderful, even-tempered child.
Caroline-none... my angel baby.
Here is my solution to the chaos that I am going to try this week. We will stop school at 10 am and will not resume until just after lunch. 10 am is about when everything starts to get out of control. Everyone gets hungry and grumpy. I feed everyone a snack, but then I try to keep pushing through with school because we have so much to do. I think that is my mistake. I need to feed everyone their snack and then hang out with the little ones for a few hours and let the bigs take a long break.
Plus, that is about when Daddy wakes up; he works nights.
He woke up early today from the screaming Zach in the hall, sees the gigantic mess that Maddy and Zach have made building tents all over the house (he hates messes), and I'm hyper-focused on schooling and mothering on a particulary bad day, which means I'm NOT in wife mode at all.
Grumpy, sleepy husband (large child) meets hyper-focused, unsympathetic wife (psycho) = NO GOOD. Isaac didn't say much, I could just tell he wasn't happy. He went outside to work.
So, we are stopping at 10am, eating, cleaning, and playing quietly and happily until naptime this week. We'll see how that goes.
On the positive side, we got everything accomplished, we had an enjoyable poetry tea-time outdoors, and everyone went to bed happy.
Friday, September 7, 2012
Week 3
It has been a great week! The kids are getting used to the work load and the schedule. We are happy to have full and busy days. It is satisfying to see progress being made. I love watching/helping the kids to learn and grow. I'm learning and growing right with them.
I'm learning to be more patient as a math teacher. That is the hardest subject for me to teach and the kids to learn. Savannah needs lots of repitition. She could do five problems in a row correctly, and then suddenly on the sixth problem completely forget how to do it (ADD?). Today we figured out it is easier for her to focus if she writes her problems out on the whiteboard. I also do lots of sample problems on the whiteboard, as well as doing problems using manipulatives (apples and pencils this week). She is getting very good at thinking through math problems, even though occasionally her brain falls out. I'm am pleased with the progress she is making.
Have I mentioned yet how awesome Math Mammoth is? It's awesome.
Charlotte is my over-analyzer. She will act like she doesn't know a simple concept, but it is actually her just over-analyzing it for the sake of clarity in her mind. I did the same thing when I was little. Both girls are a joy to teach though!
Charlotte got her wish for more work. I ordered R&S phonics 1 for her, even though it is really just busy work. She likes it. I also ordered Climbing to Good English 2, which I think I will save for next year or for when she is finished with the phonics workbooks. If you are looking for a workbook English, Climbing to Good English is EXCELLENT. At least it looks excellent, having not used it yet. I would recommend it. It looks very solid.
I've been thinking about preparing to teach highschool and self-educating now. Math, science, & discussing great books are my focus areas. Today I researched math. I found the best middle/high school math program available (according to the consensus of the Well-Trained Mind Forum experts). Commonly referred to as AoPS, which stands for Art of Problem Solving. http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/ It is described as being more in depth than typical math texts and it explains the WHY behind the math. It is NOT just memorizing formulas, which is how I was taught. You really know mathematics when you are finished. It is for mathy kids, not just the average student. It sounds like it will be a lot like Math Mammoth, which is challenging but fulfilling as well. I want to be a good math teacher and I want my children to have a solid foundation in math, so this is the curriculum I'm going to use.
I took a placement test and tested into PreAlgebra :) So I ordered the books. I'm going to work through PreAlgebra this year. I was actually really good at math in highschool, so I think it will all come back to me fairly easy.
It is a great website. They have additional curriculum to help students to prepare for a huge math competition.. forgot the name. They also have online math problems for each book; you work through different levels until it is mastered, much like Xtramath that the girls play online for their math facts. I'm working through Pre-Alg. There is a video that explains new concepts and is tied to the text as well. There is also a very active forum for questions.
Now to research science. I don't know that I am up to teaching chemistry and physics too. I can't be good at every subject. I might farm those out or get a good video curriculum to teach it; we'll see.
And lastly, what literature/history program to choose so I can begin reading through the books. This one is more difficult being quite under-read myself. It is hard to compare books and ideas when I haven't read them. Off the top of my head there is My Father's World, Ambleside, Memoria Press, The Well-Trained Mind, Tapestry of Grace, & Latin Centered Curriculum. I'm sure there are many more.
That's it. Here's to a great week!
Oh, and I'm still a rockstar. :D Week 4 of Ripped in 30, here I come!
I'm learning to be more patient as a math teacher. That is the hardest subject for me to teach and the kids to learn. Savannah needs lots of repitition. She could do five problems in a row correctly, and then suddenly on the sixth problem completely forget how to do it (ADD?). Today we figured out it is easier for her to focus if she writes her problems out on the whiteboard. I also do lots of sample problems on the whiteboard, as well as doing problems using manipulatives (apples and pencils this week). She is getting very good at thinking through math problems, even though occasionally her brain falls out. I'm am pleased with the progress she is making.
Have I mentioned yet how awesome Math Mammoth is? It's awesome.
Charlotte is my over-analyzer. She will act like she doesn't know a simple concept, but it is actually her just over-analyzing it for the sake of clarity in her mind. I did the same thing when I was little. Both girls are a joy to teach though!
Charlotte got her wish for more work. I ordered R&S phonics 1 for her, even though it is really just busy work. She likes it. I also ordered Climbing to Good English 2, which I think I will save for next year or for when she is finished with the phonics workbooks. If you are looking for a workbook English, Climbing to Good English is EXCELLENT. At least it looks excellent, having not used it yet. I would recommend it. It looks very solid.
I've been thinking about preparing to teach highschool and self-educating now. Math, science, & discussing great books are my focus areas. Today I researched math. I found the best middle/high school math program available (according to the consensus of the Well-Trained Mind Forum experts). Commonly referred to as AoPS, which stands for Art of Problem Solving. http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/ It is described as being more in depth than typical math texts and it explains the WHY behind the math. It is NOT just memorizing formulas, which is how I was taught. You really know mathematics when you are finished. It is for mathy kids, not just the average student. It sounds like it will be a lot like Math Mammoth, which is challenging but fulfilling as well. I want to be a good math teacher and I want my children to have a solid foundation in math, so this is the curriculum I'm going to use.
I took a placement test and tested into PreAlgebra :) So I ordered the books. I'm going to work through PreAlgebra this year. I was actually really good at math in highschool, so I think it will all come back to me fairly easy.
It is a great website. They have additional curriculum to help students to prepare for a huge math competition.. forgot the name. They also have online math problems for each book; you work through different levels until it is mastered, much like Xtramath that the girls play online for their math facts. I'm working through Pre-Alg. There is a video that explains new concepts and is tied to the text as well. There is also a very active forum for questions.
Now to research science. I don't know that I am up to teaching chemistry and physics too. I can't be good at every subject. I might farm those out or get a good video curriculum to teach it; we'll see.
And lastly, what literature/history program to choose so I can begin reading through the books. This one is more difficult being quite under-read myself. It is hard to compare books and ideas when I haven't read them. Off the top of my head there is My Father's World, Ambleside, Memoria Press, The Well-Trained Mind, Tapestry of Grace, & Latin Centered Curriculum. I'm sure there are many more.
That's it. Here's to a great week!
Oh, and I'm still a rockstar. :D Week 4 of Ripped in 30, here I come!
Friday, August 31, 2012
Week 2
It was a great week. We're on a roll! Here is how our day goes:
I wake up at 530 and do Ripped in 30 by Jillian Michaels. *APPLAUSE* Thanks. Yep, about to be half-way ripped, or I would be if it weren't for that daily bowl of ice cream.
Then I shower and dress.
You heard me right. I've showered and dressed EVERY MORNING for the last two weeks.
*APPLAUSE* I know! I'm pretty much amazing. These are things I haven't done in a very long time. You know WHY??? My 5th baby is about to be ONE!!!! The fog is lifting and the clouds are parting. I'm becoming human again.
After being a rockstar in the morning, at least half of my kids are awake and the baby is wanting fed, so I feed her sweet, chubby face.
7am I wake up the other half of my kids and we eat breakfast.
Right after breakfast we have family prayer and read scriptures together.
Then immediately do latin & math.
The rest of the day is scattered with spelling, english, reading, copywork, myths, piano, lunch, dinner, etc. It lasts all day long, from 530 am to 830 pm.
The kids do a lot of chores and keep the house clean. I do a lot of cooking, cleaning, changing diapers, wiping bums (Zach is potty training himself!!!!), laundry, teaching, nagging, sneaking chocolate, etc.
Usually at the end of the day we squeeze in devotional (song, scripture verse, scripture story) and then recitations (IEW poetry & The Living Christ).
And then we watch Ben Hur until bedtime :) It is so good! I've never seen it before. We've watched about 4 1/2 hours of it so far. It is perfect because we are learning about the Romans in our history book right now.
Then the kids go to bed at 8pm and I read to them from Story of the World-Middle Ages & Our Island Story or a fairytale.
Tuesdays we go into town about 45 min away and take Savannah and Charlotte to piano lessons (I'm not sure about this teacher though...) and gymnastics (Savannah, Charlotte, & Maddy). Next week we will also be going to homeschool class (PE, art, computers) on post on Wednesday mornings and Savannah will start Activity Day Girls on Wed. nights.
I have to say that I am really loving homeschool. I love our full schedule. I love learning along with the kids. I love my kids!
We did do a curriculum switch this week. I put aside Spell to Write and Read and purchased Rod & Staff's spelling for both girls. They love it; I love it. Charlotte wants more workbooks like her spelling, so today I bought her Rod & Staff's phonics and Climbing to Good English. She will be just as busy as Savannah now, but that's what she wants! Who knew?
I wake up at 530 and do Ripped in 30 by Jillian Michaels. *APPLAUSE* Thanks. Yep, about to be half-way ripped, or I would be if it weren't for that daily bowl of ice cream.
Then I shower and dress.
You heard me right. I've showered and dressed EVERY MORNING for the last two weeks.
*APPLAUSE* I know! I'm pretty much amazing. These are things I haven't done in a very long time. You know WHY??? My 5th baby is about to be ONE!!!! The fog is lifting and the clouds are parting. I'm becoming human again.
After being a rockstar in the morning, at least half of my kids are awake and the baby is wanting fed, so I feed her sweet, chubby face.
7am I wake up the other half of my kids and we eat breakfast.
Right after breakfast we have family prayer and read scriptures together.
Then immediately do latin & math.
The rest of the day is scattered with spelling, english, reading, copywork, myths, piano, lunch, dinner, etc. It lasts all day long, from 530 am to 830 pm.
The kids do a lot of chores and keep the house clean. I do a lot of cooking, cleaning, changing diapers, wiping bums (Zach is potty training himself!!!!), laundry, teaching, nagging, sneaking chocolate, etc.
Usually at the end of the day we squeeze in devotional (song, scripture verse, scripture story) and then recitations (IEW poetry & The Living Christ).
And then we watch Ben Hur until bedtime :) It is so good! I've never seen it before. We've watched about 4 1/2 hours of it so far. It is perfect because we are learning about the Romans in our history book right now.
Then the kids go to bed at 8pm and I read to them from Story of the World-Middle Ages & Our Island Story or a fairytale.
Tuesdays we go into town about 45 min away and take Savannah and Charlotte to piano lessons (I'm not sure about this teacher though...) and gymnastics (Savannah, Charlotte, & Maddy). Next week we will also be going to homeschool class (PE, art, computers) on post on Wednesday mornings and Savannah will start Activity Day Girls on Wed. nights.
I have to say that I am really loving homeschool. I love our full schedule. I love learning along with the kids. I love my kids!
We did do a curriculum switch this week. I put aside Spell to Write and Read and purchased Rod & Staff's spelling for both girls. They love it; I love it. Charlotte wants more workbooks like her spelling, so today I bought her Rod & Staff's phonics and Climbing to Good English. She will be just as busy as Savannah now, but that's what she wants! Who knew?
Friday, August 24, 2012
Week 1
Done!!!
It was a great week. The first few days were long as we were getting used to doing so much, but by the end of the week we were figuring things out. However, our days are still quite long & busy.
Savannah has quite a bit on her plate this year. Savannah and Charlotte both do Math, latin, spelling/writing, literature, piano, & enrichments (poetry, geography, science), but Savannah also does English, Greek Myths, Book of Mormon reading, summarizing, and Discovering the Scriptures. It is just a lot more than what we've done in the past. She really applies herself and gets her work done without much proding from me. I made her a to-do list to help with this. The only subject that she hates and drags her feet on is math. Today, math took around... two hours or more for one front and back page of math. Yeah, really.
I love Math Mammoth. I love how it shows patterns in numbers; how it shows different ways of solving problems. It is an amazing math program. *sigh*
She usually does just fine and completes her math page quickly without much help from me. Today, however, her brain was MIA. It might have been that I told her she had to complete her math before we went to a swimming party. Her mind was on swimming, not work. So maybe today was my fault.
I am exhausted.
It was a great week. The first few days were long as we were getting used to doing so much, but by the end of the week we were figuring things out. However, our days are still quite long & busy.
Savannah has quite a bit on her plate this year. Savannah and Charlotte both do Math, latin, spelling/writing, literature, piano, & enrichments (poetry, geography, science), but Savannah also does English, Greek Myths, Book of Mormon reading, summarizing, and Discovering the Scriptures. It is just a lot more than what we've done in the past. She really applies herself and gets her work done without much proding from me. I made her a to-do list to help with this. The only subject that she hates and drags her feet on is math. Today, math took around... two hours or more for one front and back page of math. Yeah, really.
I love Math Mammoth. I love how it shows patterns in numbers; how it shows different ways of solving problems. It is an amazing math program. *sigh*
She usually does just fine and completes her math page quickly without much help from me. Today, however, her brain was MIA. It might have been that I told her she had to complete her math before we went to a swimming party. Her mind was on swimming, not work. So maybe today was my fault.
I am exhausted.
Friday, August 17, 2012
Getting ready
Well, we are getting ready to start our first day of school on Monday. I am particularly excited about the latin. Savannah listened to O Come All Ye Faithful in latin over and over to get the pronunciation down all day today. She will really enjoy learning a new language... just to show off. I'm excited about latin because she is excited. It is fun to teach enthusiastic students (Charlotte will be learning it too).
Charlotte is excited about spellingcity.com and the fact that I'll let her play spelling games until her heart's content. I put their spelling lists, vocabulary lists, and latin words on there for them to play with. Should be quite helpful.
I took our school pictures today; I'll have them up soon. I like to make IDs with them.
Monday I am going to surprise them with something special... I'm just not sure yet. A trip to get donuts maybe? Or frozen yogurt? Maybe I can wake them up early and we'll go stand at the end of the driveway and wave at the bus as it drives by, lol. That is MY favorite part. We are going to a Not-Back-to-School pool party on Friday with other homeschoolers in the area.
Piano lessons start on Tuesday; we took the summer off. Homeschool class (PE, art, computers) starts next month, along with Maddy's gymnastics class.
Charlotte is excited about spellingcity.com and the fact that I'll let her play spelling games until her heart's content. I put their spelling lists, vocabulary lists, and latin words on there for them to play with. Should be quite helpful.
I took our school pictures today; I'll have them up soon. I like to make IDs with them.
Monday I am going to surprise them with something special... I'm just not sure yet. A trip to get donuts maybe? Or frozen yogurt? Maybe I can wake them up early and we'll go stand at the end of the driveway and wave at the bus as it drives by, lol. That is MY favorite part. We are going to a Not-Back-to-School pool party on Friday with other homeschoolers in the area.
Piano lessons start on Tuesday; we took the summer off. Homeschool class (PE, art, computers) starts next month, along with Maddy's gymnastics class.
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Savannah's Weekly schedule
So this is it. Charlotte's looks similar except she doesn't do quite as much in the morning. I kept the mornings light because on Tuesday & Wednesday we are going out of the house. Tuesday is piano lessons for S & C and the library for M and Z, and Wednesday is a homeschool co-op for S & C and hopefully gymnastics for Maddy. The rest of the mornings of the week contain fairly independent work for Savannah and Charlotte. I plan on giving my attention to Madelynn and Zachary on the mornings we are home, doing schoolish things and reading to them.
During the afternoon, right after lunch, Zach goes down for a nap and Madelynn will start going to quiet time for about an hour while I work with Savannah and Charlotte on the teacher-intensive stuff, mainly spelling and latin.
Devotional and recitations: that is our memory work. We are memorizing some of the gospel standards, some of the articles of faith, 6 primary songs, poetry, and The Living Christ as a family.
Then there are the chores. They don't have to do them at a specific time of day, but they do need to be done before dinner.
I'll be putting Maddy and Zach to bed around 7 or 730. Savannah and Charlotte will alternate reading the BOM or practing piano with me.
Caroline, of course, will play quietly throughout the whole day, taking long naps during my busiest hours.
And this schedule will be moved around at least 10 more times, and perhaps abandoned all together before the month is over.
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Memoria Press & Highlands Latin School
This coming up year (that I'm so excited about, if you can't tell) is largly patterned after Memoria Press's homeschool curriculum and Highlands Latin School. Memoria Press sells curriculum packages for grades K-6. Highlands Latin School uses books of Memoria Press's books. If you visit Highland's website, you'll find out immediately that the students are excelling with it.
Up until now, my kids have not done a great deal of seat-work. We've done math daily and usually some copywork or handwriting. Our focus has been on reading great books Charlotte Mason style and lots of free time to be a kid. It's been great and I wouldn't change a thing for grades K-2, and will continue doing light school for those grades. However, now that Savannah is entering 3rd grade I feel that it is time to focus more on academics. The goal this year is to ease into seatwork, learn to focus, and practice lots of writing (not composition, but the actual act of writing).
I have always LOVED the look of Memoria Press's products, but have never actually owned any until now. I purchased (used) the Greek Myths teacher and student guide. I love it. Savannah will know Greek Myths inside and out by the end of this course. It is plain and simple and intense. I've also just purchased Latina Christiana I & Prima Latina (used) that I am anxiously awaiting to arrive in the mail. I like plain and simple, to the point curriculum. MP seems to fit that bill.
If you like what you see and are interested in trying out their products as well, this blog: http://goldengrasses.blogspot.com/2012/07/memoria-press-delivers-core-6-review.html is giving away three different teacher/student guides.
Up until now, my kids have not done a great deal of seat-work. We've done math daily and usually some copywork or handwriting. Our focus has been on reading great books Charlotte Mason style and lots of free time to be a kid. It's been great and I wouldn't change a thing for grades K-2, and will continue doing light school for those grades. However, now that Savannah is entering 3rd grade I feel that it is time to focus more on academics. The goal this year is to ease into seatwork, learn to focus, and practice lots of writing (not composition, but the actual act of writing).
I have always LOVED the look of Memoria Press's products, but have never actually owned any until now. I purchased (used) the Greek Myths teacher and student guide. I love it. Savannah will know Greek Myths inside and out by the end of this course. It is plain and simple and intense. I've also just purchased Latina Christiana I & Prima Latina (used) that I am anxiously awaiting to arrive in the mail. I like plain and simple, to the point curriculum. MP seems to fit that bill.
If you like what you see and are interested in trying out their products as well, this blog: http://goldengrasses.blogspot.com/2012/07/memoria-press-delivers-core-6-review.html is giving away three different teacher/student guides.
Friday, July 13, 2012
The UNofficial PLAN of 2012/13
Savannah is starting 3rd grade on August 20th. Here is the plan so far (and, as always, I reserve the right to change my mind)
Ahem... drumroll please.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The curriculum:
Prima Latina
Math Mammoth 3 and XtraMath
Spell to Write and Read
Rod and Staff English 3
D' ulaire's Greek Myths (again) with Memoria Press's study guide
Story of the World: Middle Ages & Our Island Story (history of Britain)
Linguistic Development
Discover the Scriptures: Old Testament
The little things:
* Read literature for 1 hour daily and use free online lit guides for comprehension questions and vocabulary.
*Learn the 50 States, where they are located, the postal abbreviation, and the capital. Using black line maps, hopefully a geo puzzle, online free games, Geography Songs, free worksheets online, etc.
*Narrate the Story of the World
*Learn cursive
*Read, summarize, and illustrate sections from the Apologia science books.
*Orally read from McGuffey Third reader once a week
*Poetry Teatime once a week
*Piano
*Homeschool class
Notes:
I think Prima Latina will work out great this year. Next year I have my eye on Latina Christiana I from Memoria Press and then latin will become a major focus in her schooling. This year is just a gentle introduction.
MM and XtraMath have been hits in the past, so I'm sure they will be winners this year as well.
SWR- we'll see. I like the Spalding method, but if it just takes too much time it will be the first to go since Savannah is a natural speller. How it works: day 1: 20 new words, day 2: dictate 5-10 sentences with yesterday's words, day 3: 20 new words, day 4: dictate 5-10 sentences with yesterday's words, day 5: test on all 40 words. I think it can work like that.
R&S- another we'll see. I'm all about delayed grammar and R&S is known for thoroughness. I like it, but it may be too much. I want grammar this year to help with latin next year. She probably won't take grammar again until 5th or 6th grade.
Greek Myths w/ study guide- I am hoping this will be a raving sucess. She loves the book; now she will memorize it. There is a National Mythology Exam in February that I would like her to work towards. She would win a metal for the number of questions she gets right, if I understand it correctly. Lots of homeschool nerds take it. I don't know if this is something she will enjoy or not. I hope so. Greek Myths study will be a large focus of her schooling this year.
SOTW 2- I'll read 2 or 3 sections a week to the girls and have them narrate while I write their narration down. They don't particularly love SOTW, but they sure learn a lot from it.
Our Island Story- this will be an audio book that they will listen to at night. It is mostly set in the Middle Ages, but most importantly it sets the stage for understanding American history; understanding Britain history is fundamental to understanding WHY the settlers crossed the sea and why freedom was so important to them.
Linguistic Development: or in other words, memorizing 80 poems and being able to recite any of them on cue. We've already started this and the kids love it. We are on poem #3. Btw, I'm sure this will take a few years. 20 poems is the goal for this year.
Discover the Scriptures: Old Testament- we'll see. It is a workbook for the church's scripture readers. This is her only busy work, but it may prove useful.
Homeschool Class: Fort Rucker offers homeschoolers a class once a week for two hours. It includes PE (skating, Karate, games), computer skills, and art; She makes friends there and that IS important.
Piano: I don't teach her, I pay for a piano teacher.
Poetry teatime: this is where we sit at the table, each with our favorite book of poetry, and take turns reading a poem. Since maddy can't read yet, she chooses a poem for one of us to read. We also sip "tea" (chocolate milk) and eat a snack. SO much fun!
Since Savannah is 8 she will now be reading from the Book of Mormon for 30 min. a day and writing something in her journal about it. She'll also be working on a Faith in God goal every 6 weeks or so.
Charlotte will be going into 1st grade according to her age, though she really could be considered a 2nd grader. She is very mature for her age. I don't know yet what I'm going to do about this...
Anyway, she will finish the second half of Math Mammoth 1 and XtraMath
Spell to Write and Read
Story of the World: Middle Ages & Our Island Story
Linguistic Development
Prima Latina
Copywork (2 sentences in cursive from any of her books, her choice)
Read literature together daily
Learn the states
Poetry teatime
Notebook the Apologia books if she wants to, but not required.
Piano
Homeschool class
Madelynn: Pre-school
Work on handwriting
Spell to Write and Read
Essential Math A
Maybe gymnastics.
Everything for Madelynn is optional.
Religion:
As a family, reading from the Book of Mormon for LDS Families has been a great sucess for a few years now. This year I have the goal of memorizing The Living Christ as a family. We already have memorized, "As we commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ two millenia ago, we offer our testimony of the reality of his matchless life..." There are some big words in there! Zach is super cute saying it; so is Maddy. There are FREE study helps on Discover the Scriptures website that I highly recommend if you want to do this with your family.
And then there's the daily devotional. We sing a primary song, have a prayer, memorize (this year) the articles of faith and the gospel standards for primary kids. Then we watch a scripture movie on lds.org or read out of the Friend magazine. This has worked well in the past.
That's it and that all folks!
**APPLAUSE** **APPLAUSE** **APPLAUSE**
Thank you! Thank you everyone!!!! I just want to especially thank my husband for not banning me from the computer. So many hours of research and planning and printing and buying and selling and buying and changing my mind... I know my Dear doesn't have a clue as to what's going on and yet he tolerates my insanity. I love you, dear hubby of mine!
Ahem... drumroll please.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The curriculum:
Prima Latina
Math Mammoth 3 and XtraMath
Spell to Write and Read
Rod and Staff English 3
D' ulaire's Greek Myths (again) with Memoria Press's study guide
Story of the World: Middle Ages & Our Island Story (history of Britain)
Linguistic Development
Discover the Scriptures: Old Testament
The little things:
* Read literature for 1 hour daily and use free online lit guides for comprehension questions and vocabulary.
*Learn the 50 States, where they are located, the postal abbreviation, and the capital. Using black line maps, hopefully a geo puzzle, online free games, Geography Songs, free worksheets online, etc.
*Narrate the Story of the World
*Learn cursive
*Read, summarize, and illustrate sections from the Apologia science books.
*Orally read from McGuffey Third reader once a week
*Poetry Teatime once a week
*Piano
*Homeschool class
Notes:
I think Prima Latina will work out great this year. Next year I have my eye on Latina Christiana I from Memoria Press and then latin will become a major focus in her schooling. This year is just a gentle introduction.
MM and XtraMath have been hits in the past, so I'm sure they will be winners this year as well.
SWR- we'll see. I like the Spalding method, but if it just takes too much time it will be the first to go since Savannah is a natural speller. How it works: day 1: 20 new words, day 2: dictate 5-10 sentences with yesterday's words, day 3: 20 new words, day 4: dictate 5-10 sentences with yesterday's words, day 5: test on all 40 words. I think it can work like that.
R&S- another we'll see. I'm all about delayed grammar and R&S is known for thoroughness. I like it, but it may be too much. I want grammar this year to help with latin next year. She probably won't take grammar again until 5th or 6th grade.
Greek Myths w/ study guide- I am hoping this will be a raving sucess. She loves the book; now she will memorize it. There is a National Mythology Exam in February that I would like her to work towards. She would win a metal for the number of questions she gets right, if I understand it correctly. Lots of homeschool nerds take it. I don't know if this is something she will enjoy or not. I hope so. Greek Myths study will be a large focus of her schooling this year.
SOTW 2- I'll read 2 or 3 sections a week to the girls and have them narrate while I write their narration down. They don't particularly love SOTW, but they sure learn a lot from it.
Our Island Story- this will be an audio book that they will listen to at night. It is mostly set in the Middle Ages, but most importantly it sets the stage for understanding American history; understanding Britain history is fundamental to understanding WHY the settlers crossed the sea and why freedom was so important to them.
Linguistic Development: or in other words, memorizing 80 poems and being able to recite any of them on cue. We've already started this and the kids love it. We are on poem #3. Btw, I'm sure this will take a few years. 20 poems is the goal for this year.
Discover the Scriptures: Old Testament- we'll see. It is a workbook for the church's scripture readers. This is her only busy work, but it may prove useful.
Homeschool Class: Fort Rucker offers homeschoolers a class once a week for two hours. It includes PE (skating, Karate, games), computer skills, and art; She makes friends there and that IS important.
Piano: I don't teach her, I pay for a piano teacher.
Poetry teatime: this is where we sit at the table, each with our favorite book of poetry, and take turns reading a poem. Since maddy can't read yet, she chooses a poem for one of us to read. We also sip "tea" (chocolate milk) and eat a snack. SO much fun!
Since Savannah is 8 she will now be reading from the Book of Mormon for 30 min. a day and writing something in her journal about it. She'll also be working on a Faith in God goal every 6 weeks or so.
Charlotte will be going into 1st grade according to her age, though she really could be considered a 2nd grader. She is very mature for her age. I don't know yet what I'm going to do about this...
Anyway, she will finish the second half of Math Mammoth 1 and XtraMath
Spell to Write and Read
Story of the World: Middle Ages & Our Island Story
Linguistic Development
Prima Latina
Copywork (2 sentences in cursive from any of her books, her choice)
Read literature together daily
Learn the states
Poetry teatime
Notebook the Apologia books if she wants to, but not required.
Piano
Homeschool class
Madelynn: Pre-school
Work on handwriting
Spell to Write and Read
Essential Math A
Maybe gymnastics.
Everything for Madelynn is optional.
Religion:
As a family, reading from the Book of Mormon for LDS Families has been a great sucess for a few years now. This year I have the goal of memorizing The Living Christ as a family. We already have memorized, "As we commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ two millenia ago, we offer our testimony of the reality of his matchless life..." There are some big words in there! Zach is super cute saying it; so is Maddy. There are FREE study helps on Discover the Scriptures website that I highly recommend if you want to do this with your family.
And then there's the daily devotional. We sing a primary song, have a prayer, memorize (this year) the articles of faith and the gospel standards for primary kids. Then we watch a scripture movie on lds.org or read out of the Friend magazine. This has worked well in the past.
That's it and that all folks!
**APPLAUSE** **APPLAUSE** **APPLAUSE**
Thank you! Thank you everyone!!!! I just want to especially thank my husband for not banning me from the computer. So many hours of research and planning and printing and buying and selling and buying and changing my mind... I know my Dear doesn't have a clue as to what's going on and yet he tolerates my insanity. I love you, dear hubby of mine!
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