Summer Schedule

We have decided to go on and begin our summer schedule. The wonderful sunshine and nice breeze we've been having recently has called us outdoors many many times and since we live in the deep South we are enjoying it while we can. I know that all too soon that horrible heat will find it's way to our home and we'll be cooped up yet again until after 5 in the afternoon. So, with that said, we spend most of our time outdoors. I love it. We even do school outside a lot of times. Most of the time they just pretend play and make up games...kids just being kids. I hate that most of my friend's children are still stuck inside a classroom in the local public school. By the time school lets out for summer it's already way too hot to play outside. Ah, the joys of homeschooling.

Our summer schedule consists of our most fun things and things I need to catch up on. We're not done with Saxon 3 yet for Dd7 so we'll be finishing that up this summer. We're also digging a little deeper into Ancient Egypt, Ancient Rome, and Ancient Greece. We are loving this history section and we're spending a lot more time on it than I had planned. No problem though, another joy of homeschooling. We will also continue with our Astronomy science and finish that up. The kids love history and science so that's our main focus. We also will continure with a literature selection daily. Right now it's PollyAnna. They're loving this one. Dd7 is independently reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe as well. It seems like a lot but it's a good mix of things, I believe. When the heat of the summer arrives we may add the rest back in since we'll be inside longer. But then again, it IS summer... ;)

Jill

Weekly wrap-up - Jan 4-8

This was our first week back and our first week with the new schedule. We got EVERYTHING done this week (well, minus one day of history which we'll make up for this afternoon) for the very first time. I'm so excited about our new schedule and the time that we have for a few "extras". We start with Bible each moring, prayer, Bible verses, Books of the Bible, and the treasured "Fruit of the Spirit" song that even my 2 year old knows. The kids then illustrate their Bible story and my 5 year old son started this as well. I love seeing his little drawings and it's so neat to see the different things that each child gets through the stories. God is good!

We then move to handwriting, language arts, and spelling. We're loving our handwriting book, Handwriting Without Tears. Only Dd7 is doing this as Ds5 is doing Explode the Code. Yesterday Dd7 learned to write a formal letter through this book. It's great. For spelling we started something new this term. We will be using Spelling Wisdom from the Simply Charlotte Mason website/curriculum. This has been a favorite find of mine as it teaches spelling using phrases from classical books, Bible verses, famous quotes, etc. We're learning two things at once. LA is also new this term. I have never really done LA because I couldn't find a curriculum that I was happy with. English For the Thoughtful Child seems to be exactly what I was looking for so I'll let you know how that goes.

Math is all the same. Horizons k for Ds5 and Saxon 3 for Dd7. They're doing great with these and really excelling. I guess they take after their daddy!

After a break we come back together and do science and history together. I'm still trying to figure out the timing of these lessons but for now we're doing science one week (every day) and history one week (every day). It was too confusing for ME to try to do one on Monday and Wed. and the other on Tues and Thurs. This week was history and we learned about Ancient China and the Shang dynasty. I requested some books from the library that were listed in the "extra resources" section of SOTW and they really helped bring the history alive. That's what CM style of education and living books are all about.

There are other things that I'll add in as soon as we get used to this schedule. Mainly, picture study and music study. But those only take a few minutes a week so I'm not worried about fitting that in. When the weather is better we'll be back to our nature studies as well. But living in MS we're not used to having weather in the single digits...brrrrr....it's cold!!!

Jill

A New Semester, A New Beginning

The kids are thumbing through some picture books right now about ancient Egypt. These are books that I've been collecting over the years in preperation for our year with the Ancients. I waded through the books on my shelves (I have many, many books...it's a passion of mine) to make sure that these books won't be overlooked this year. We are officially starting (and continuing...lol!) our year in the Ancient World.

Let me explain: I love Charlotte Mason, I love classical style of education as well. I love The Well Trained Mind and I love the CM series. Wow. They're not too different, yet they're completely different at the same time. I first stumbled upon WTM a few years ago and I couldn't wait until my oldest was old enough for first grade. I had plenty of time to get my ducks in a row and waited impatiently for that 1st grade mark. We were going full steam ahead with everything that Jessie and Susan Wise Bauer said. But then Miss Mason grabbed ahold of me. I love the "gentle art of learning". I love the fact that I don't have to be at a certain spot or through a certain book by a certain time. I want my school and home full of living books that tell stories rather than spurting out facts. I love letting our school be the guide and not a book. I developed a new philosophy. I guess it's mostly CM with Classical undertones.

So for a year and a half I've been following the Ambleside Online (CM) schedule and really loving it. Yet, we were also doing Story of the World (classical) history on the side. It has just been too much for me. I never keep up and always feel bad for being behind, even though we're doing more than enough school each day. Over the break I prayed about it and I realized that I can really do both CM and classical if I work at it. I have decided to put AO on pause (although I love the books and will continue using them as extras) because I didn't like how it jumped around to different time periods in history. I wanted to focus each year on a specific time period and maybe have different books outside of that period as our free reads. I am sticking with Story of the World for now, as I like the maps and extras provided in the workbook. The kids are learning so much about Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt, China, and India. I'm learning much as well. I honestly was NEVER taught this! We're all loving it! Last night I searched our library online for some of the extra books that are recommended in each chapter and we have at our library at least two of the extra reads per chapter. So I'm going to request those and add those into our weeklong study of each chapter. I feel this will take away some of the stress of following two curriculums at once and it'll get me back to where I wanted to be in the history rotations. Now, we are a litte behind since my oldest is half way through second grade but it worked out perfectly! God is good isn't he?? See, now my son is old enough to listen and participate and he's getting a lot out of the Ancients as well.

I guess what it all boils down to is do what works for your family and don't be afraid to change/tweak/abandon a curriculum if you're not happy. Our day is still slam full of living books and CM style of education (picture study, music study, nature study, etc) with some classical history added in. I think we're all going to love it. And if not...I know what to do! ;)

Jill

Beginning to plan again!

I'm starting to plan out the next term for our school. I have a CM planner guide from the SCM conference that I went to and it really gives great tips on how to plan your curriculum. I actually feel like I could come up with my own curriculum on my own now. Before now I've been trying to find a curriculum that's already set and making it fit my needs. I'm not sure it's been working the way I want it too.

I'm debating, now...whether to make a few more changes. See, I've been using a lot of Ambleside Online. I love the books that they suggest, however I'm not happy with the order in which they suggest them. For instance, today we read some about the Vikings, followed by Buffalo Bill. They're both great books but there's no time continuity. We took their year 1 and did it for 1 1/2 years so we're about ready to start Year 2 for AO. I've already got the books so I can't just ditch them, but I may need to come up with my own reading schedule. I'd just like for the kids to be reading chronologically as much as possible. We're also using The Story of the World book 1 so we're getting a great Ancient history lesson. Maybe I need to add in more Ancient history living books rather than the ones AO suggests.

Any suggestions?? What have you found that works in the way of history using living books?? I'd love any help you can give!

Scripture Memory and Copywork

Scripture memory and copywork have been going together hand in hand recently in our homeschool. I have learned that sometimes it's easier to have dd7 copy something that she's already learning. The way we learn scripture is by printing off a Bible verse and placing it inside a plastic sheet in a 3 ring binder. I have certain days that I go over different verses but we always recited at least 10 verses a day. I've even noticed ds5 memorizing a lot of scripture this way, without our even asking him too. For copywork I have dd7 write parts of the poem we're currently learning (right now it's Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken) or she copies different verses from our scripture notebook. She is really getting great with her handwriting and her memorization always continues to amaze me!

Catching up!

We had a wonderful homeschooling week this past week. Since Monday was a holiday and Friday my dd7 goes to an enrichment school I really only had three days of school this week. I knew we wouldn't be able to get through with an entire AO week so I took the opportunity to play catch-up. Can I tell you how wonderful it was??!! I decided to do some of the activities that get put to the side when we run out of time. We had wonderful nature studies (lots of them!) and we did lots of "extra" reading about topics that interest us. We did do Math and Bible each day but other than that we just had fun and played. The kids and I both got so much out of this past week. I know that this is how Charlotte Mason really wants a school run. I know that this week I got a glimpse of her vision. It's a beautiful school once all of the elements come together and the kids are learning and growing on their own time!

For nature study (see previous post for more about this) what I had the children do was explore, have fun, point out new and interesting things. We found spider webs with spiders waiting for their prey, acorns, pecans that haven't rippened yet, vines growing up trees, deer tracks, and so much more. Dd7 brought a few things inside for a type of show and tell. I didn't ask her to do this, she suggested it on her own. We then drew pictures of their favorite parts of the walk. Ds5 drew a picture of a neat stick that he found (such a boy!). And dd7 drew many many drawings on her sheet. She even made a cover art for our nature study notebook. They are loving this new part of school and I promise that this will not be pushed aside any longer. To see my children notice and appreciate all of God's creation is such a joy to my heart. They point out things to me that I would just walk right by. I almost stepped on a mushroom on the ground before they yelled and told me to be careful. We then got down low to the ground exploring this mushroom. God made all things in heaven and earth to proclaim His glory and I don't want to take that for granted anymore.

I think we'll do a catch-up week every six weeks or so from now on. It's a wonderful time to have fun, do some of the things you've missed, and take a little break from the monotony. I can't wait for this week to begin. There is so much in store for us all!

How to fit it in!

The school year is just beginning. We're in week 4. Well, actually we're almost done with week 4. Is anyone else finding it hard to fit it all in? I've been hearing this so much recently and it makes me feel a little better knowing that I'm not the only one. So what do we do about it? How do we find more time?

For me, I have to realize that my goals are still being met even when I don't have time for everything. There is SO MUCH GOOD and wonderful material that I'd love to teach my children. I find more everyday.

Through prayer I pick out what I feel God is leading me too on the major subjects. He led me to a wonderful Bible story book, Egermeier's Bible Story Book. We begin each day reading a story from the book and my dd7 draws a picture to go along with the story. We started this last year and she has a beautiful portfolio of her drawings over the past year that I know I will treasure always! This is how I test what she's learned from each story. It's amazing to see what she decides to draw. She'll find the little things in the story sometimes and draw about those. Or other times she'll draw one big picture about the main theme.

We also make sure each morning to go over our Bible verses and Key Passages from the Bible that we're learning for Bible buddies. Bible buddies is the class that comes before Bible Drill in our church and the children have a list of verses and Key passages to learn each year. Once we're done learning those I'll add more to our morning routine.

For me, those are the major, most important things to get done each day. Teaching my children about the Lord and bringing them up in the "nurture and admonition of the Lord" is my #1 goal. All else will come as a blessing from God for doing those things.

Now I'm not saying that that's all we do! Not by any means. What I'm saying is that that is my PRIORITY! Language Arts, Math, Science, and History, Handwriting, and Copywork always follow...but if there is a day that I can't get one of those done then I know I can make it up.

We really love doing art, picture study, and our AO readings in our home. To me, these are some of the things that set us apart from a regular school. What are you doing in your homeschool that sets you apart? What is something that you do with your children that they wouldn't get if they were in a public school? Focus on these positive aspects of your school. No, we don't get to our picture study or art everyday or even every week (which is what I have it planned for). But it's there and we love it when we can do it. It's o.k. It's o.k. to not fit it all in.

Keep going, don't give up, and most importantly pray! Pray that God will give you a peace about what to teach and what's o.k. to save for later. There will always be more that we'd like to teach our children than time in the day to get it accomplished. Focus on doing what you can do with all of the energy and love that it requires. Remember, quality-not quantity!

I can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for all of us this year!

Jill

This week

This was a fun week. This was week three and we're finally getting everything down pat. We got off schedule first thing Monday morning with Dr's appts. for the girls. Don't worry, they were just check-ups. But still, there was little else done that day! Oh, well. But we quickly made up for everything on Tues., Wed., and Thurs. Our little schedule is coming along nicely.

We wake up at a nice leisurely time, no rushing trying to get ready first thing. That's my favorite part about homeschooling! We eat breakfast together (unless one of the kids is still asleep but we're all usually done with breakfast by 8:30). We have group time first. This is where we say the pledge, sing the National Anthem (I decided they needed to go ahead and learn it this year), and sing our Fruits of the Spirit song. My dd2 joins in on this. While we're singing she dances and runs around the schoolroom table. I love it and we usually start cracking up so hard we can barely finish the song. We do our books of the Bible and our Bible story, followed by our Bible verses. Then, I have dd7 draw a picture of the Bible story while I do Explode the Code phonics with ds5. DD7 then moves onto her language book and handwriting and copywork while I do math with ds5.

By this time ds5 is done with school. He sometimes listens in on the afternoon reads, but other times I just let him play. Whichever he prefers that day. Before we take our break dd7 does her math. We then break for lunch and playtime/chores. The kids have a chore chart that they're working very hard on. We have a surprise vacation coming up in Dec. and they have no idea. But I told them that they needed to start earning money for Christmas and they're having lots of fun helping Mommy out. I'm loving it too. We'll see how long it lasts! lol!

Our afternoon reads consist of our AO reading, our History of the World (Mon and Wed) and our Apologia astronomy (on Tues. and Thurs). We also do Meet the Masters Art on Thurs morning.

So far this is all I can get in. I must admit that sometimes the afternoon reads get done on different days but even if I have to read on the weekend I'm trying to stick to the schedule this year. I fell behind last year.

Our nature study and artist study hasn't found a place yet but that's my goal for this next month. It may be on Friday afternoons after my dd7 gets home from her enrichment school. That would work nicely.

Well, I'm off to cook supper. I hope everyone has a very blessed weekend.

Week 2 begins

With an unexpected trip out of town at the end of last week we were able to take homeschooling on the road. Isn't that one of the very best things about homeschooling? You learn wherever you are! My husband's grandmother passed away (which is wonderful since she's now with our Heavenly Father and free from the Alzheimers that has imprisoned her for so long) and we traveled to North Alabama last Friday. The visitation wasn't until late Sat. afternoon so we visited a hands on science museum in Huntsville on Saturday morning. Oh, the kids had so much fun exploring and learning. Even my baby joined in the fun.

Since the funeral ended late Sun. afternoon we didn't want to make a 5+ hour trip right then. Plus, I've always wanted to do one very important thing in Huntsville, AL and I've never been able to do it...visit the SPACE and ROCKET CENTER! Oh, I felt like a kid again. You should have seen my ds5! HE WAS IN HEAVEN! We got out and he was running around saying, "Mom take a picture of this! Mom take a picture of that! Mom do you see that?" We stayed all day and had so much fun. Don't worry, there are many pictures. They'll be on here soon!

I had planned to begin our Apologia Exploring Creation series with the Botany book. But after this trip the kids and I unanimously voted to switch our science study for this year to Astronomy. As soon as I got home last night I ordered the new book and we can't wait to begin it. I even found out from one of my yahoo groups that there will be a meteor shower tomorrow night. How much fun! I love how the Lord gently guides us in our homeschooling endeavor and in our everyday life. I thank Him that He called me to homeschool and is with me each day. I thank God that He is the focal point of our school and the kids are free to learn about Him and His works. Isn't that what life is all about...praising Him, seeking Him, and following Him! Now I'm off to teach those precious angels of His!

And it begins!

We have officially completed our first day of school! We are doing a mini schedule this week as my husband's grandmother is on hospice and we are expecting to leave any minute to travel for a few days. However, I promised the children that we'd begin today and we did!

This was ds5's first day of Kindergarten. He was so proud to have new books and be doing Math! Dd7 started second grade today. She loves the fact that her brother is now fully doing school with her and he's even using the same books she used two years ago. And my little dd2 was very very good while her brother and sister did their morning activities. We begin school together so she either joins in or finds something to play with. Her favorite part of the morning is when we sing. She runs from wherever she is to join us in dancing. She's so funny! We end up laughing so hard at her that we're barely singing. What joy!

There are a few things that I still need to get done but I'm very happy with our start. With the Lord's help this will be a wonderful year full of discoveries, knowledge, and fun.