2 weeks of school down and we are off to a great start! I LOVE the curriculum choices this year and think I found the right fit for our needs in that respect! Very happy. This is the first year I am 100% happy with curriculum! (so far- This is only week 2!) It has been a challenge getting used to all 4 kids in full time school now but we are getting there. I decided to hold off starting B in the Classical history and science cycle until 2nd grade because otherwise I would have the other 3 kids in the Ancients/Biology cycle his 2nd grade year and he would be in Rome- Reformation/Earth Science. I just want to keep them together and since the other 3 kids grades fall naturally on the same cycle he can wait a year. I don't foresee that being a problem. Its going to be a busy year with B in Cub Scouts, Awana and 4H, J in Awana, 4H and wrestling, T in Volleyball, Basketball, Awana, and 4H, and S in 4H, Awana, Youth Group and an Awana leader (she is a Cubby's teacher) Should be a very fun and productive year though! We are excited!
This year T and S (4th and 8th grades) are doing Physics and they both love it! They are having so much fun because both of their science books are loaded with experiments and they do their experiments together so its been fun. Plus I bought 3 Physics science experiment kits. S love history! Can you believe it? This is the same child that fought me the first 2 years we homeschooled because she "hated history" I guess correct curricula and the way you approach it makes a huge difference!!
The boys are focusing on the 3 R's this year and Bible. That also is going well. I expect a great year this year! Sorry about the quick post but I need to run. More later :)
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Wow Its been a really long time since I updated this
All I can say, is I am so glad we school year round after the way this year has gone. My short 6 month (is that short???) stint of working while Jerry was looking for a job really put us behind! Lets just say that he was NOT created to be a homeschool teacher :) We are getting nicely caught up. Sierra is behind in History and Science but those will be caught up by the end of July! Unfortunately it appears that I did not catch her math weaknesses this year while its been so hectic so I am doing some remedial math with her this summer. Then we will start VideoText Algebra in the fall. (albeit probably a bit later than the rest of her 8th grade materials, I have a plan on how to get her nicely caught up and that may run a bit into the fall) That is one of the good things about homeschooling! I have to freedom to take as little or as much time to get my kids where I feel they need to be. Would she be behind if in the public schools? Probably not but for our goals and her long term goals, she is at the moment. Anyways, It will take maybe (if all goes well) 3-4 months (not to bad in my opinion) to get her caught up and going again. I really struggled with where to go with her for math after getting her caught up. Do we stick with Chalkdust? Do we move on to Teaching Textbooks. I just could not get past the review of teaching textbooks to go there with her. Although the reviews are decent for the most part, nearly every one said that it was atleast a year behind grade level. Sounds ok right? Just put her in a year ahead? Nope- they do not have the depth I am looking for. I would LOVE to continue Singapore with her, but her learning style completely clashes with the Singapore method :( . So at the moment, I plan on doing VideoText Algebra with her and Patty Paper Geometry once I have her caught up to par.
I am so excited about starting this school year! It should be so fun! We are going to do My Fathers World Exploring Countries and Cultures. I am going to add onto that and teach also about the government and economic systems of each country we learn about. I can not wait! For some reason that is something that has always fascinated me! Sierra and Taryn will be doing most of that. The boys will be listening in as their ability lets them. They will cycle through and do ECC 1 more time before they both hit High School so I am not to worried about it. It sounds weird to talk in terms of my Kindergartner and 1st grader and high school LOL.
Brock has come such a long way in his school abilities! He is at a 1st grade reading level, end of 1st grade math level. If you know what the boy put me through at the beginning of the school year, I didn't think he would EVER read or do math! I am so excited. The last few months he has made such amazing progress. Now that I know more about his needs it has helped me to really teach him where HE needs me to teach him at! I am going to wait a year to start formal science and history with him, because in his second grade year Taryn will be in 5th grade and Jayce in 1st grade and they will both be beginning the Classical history and science cycle over again. So I will have him do it with them (much easier instead of doing 2 cycles with him just 1 year ahead of the other two) I am so excited about restarting the cycle again! Using My Fathers World's history cycle looks so fun! I will be adding to their science though and they will start over again in 1st (and 2nd for Brock) and 5th grade biology. We will be using the Gods Design for Life series, plus adding in supplements for Taryn to make it more rich for a 5th grader.
Now it appears I am rambling because I am talking about plans for over a year away... I guess its time to go LOL.
So back to the point. This year with Brock and Jayce I am planning on just doing a light science over view with experimentation! That should be fun. I am getting books from Sonlight Core A (or B??) Whatever the core is that is for cultures. I have so many books to add to the girls studies. I have to some how narrow it down. That is going to be hard! I love adding in lit to our studies. It makes our studies so rich and deep. Amazing! Classical Education is about a rich and deep education, I wish I was taught this way. I am so glad I am able to do this for my kids!! God has been so good to us :)
I am so excited about starting this school year! It should be so fun! We are going to do My Fathers World Exploring Countries and Cultures. I am going to add onto that and teach also about the government and economic systems of each country we learn about. I can not wait! For some reason that is something that has always fascinated me! Sierra and Taryn will be doing most of that. The boys will be listening in as their ability lets them. They will cycle through and do ECC 1 more time before they both hit High School so I am not to worried about it. It sounds weird to talk in terms of my Kindergartner and 1st grader and high school LOL.
Brock has come such a long way in his school abilities! He is at a 1st grade reading level, end of 1st grade math level. If you know what the boy put me through at the beginning of the school year, I didn't think he would EVER read or do math! I am so excited. The last few months he has made such amazing progress. Now that I know more about his needs it has helped me to really teach him where HE needs me to teach him at! I am going to wait a year to start formal science and history with him, because in his second grade year Taryn will be in 5th grade and Jayce in 1st grade and they will both be beginning the Classical history and science cycle over again. So I will have him do it with them (much easier instead of doing 2 cycles with him just 1 year ahead of the other two) I am so excited about restarting the cycle again! Using My Fathers World's history cycle looks so fun! I will be adding to their science though and they will start over again in 1st (and 2nd for Brock) and 5th grade biology. We will be using the Gods Design for Life series, plus adding in supplements for Taryn to make it more rich for a 5th grader.
Now it appears I am rambling because I am talking about plans for over a year away... I guess its time to go LOL.
So back to the point. This year with Brock and Jayce I am planning on just doing a light science over view with experimentation! That should be fun. I am getting books from Sonlight Core A (or B??) Whatever the core is that is for cultures. I have so many books to add to the girls studies. I have to some how narrow it down. That is going to be hard! I love adding in lit to our studies. It makes our studies so rich and deep. Amazing! Classical Education is about a rich and deep education, I wish I was taught this way. I am so glad I am able to do this for my kids!! God has been so good to us :)
Friday, April 1, 2011
Let the Games Begin
And it starts again, planning what curriculum to use next year. I actually think I have it (mostly) figured out.
J- He will be using MFW K and following along Gods Design for Science- life science with B
B- He will be using MFW 1st grade, Singapore Math, Horizons Math and MEP math. Sounds like alot of Math? Well through is testing we found out he is a math whiz! So now I have the responsibility of developing that natural math ability of his. He will also be doing Phonics Pathways, Reading Pathways and Explode the code along with MFW phonics (plus various readers, I have Sonlight core 1 level readers and Bob books so far.) He is going to do God's Design for Science- Life Science. I think he might listen in with the girls read alouds for ECC, not sure yet though.
T- She will be doing MFW Exploring Countries and Cultures for Bible and History. Property of Ecosystems, and God's Design for the Physical World (since 4th grade is Physics according to the WTM) That was the best I found so far since Apologia does not have their Physics books out yet... <sigh> I have been praying that would be ready but its not. Oh well. God's Design is an awesome curriculum as well. (after all it is put out by AIG)She will be doing Singapore Math and Horizons Math 4. Intermediate Language Lessons by Emma Serl. She will start writing strands. Continue with Spelling Power. She might possibly start vocabulary cartoons, not sure thought.
S- She will be doing MFW Exploring Countries and Cultures for Bible and History with T (S will do the 7th & 8th grade add on package though). She will also be doing Properties of Ecosystems with T. In addition to that she will be doing BJU English/writing 8, Writing Strands, All American History 2, Apologia Physical Science with the Red Wagon DVD's, Chalkdust Algebra 1, Patty Paper Geometry (1day a week), Logic I am unsure about. I guess it depends on how far we get this year. She is almost done with Fallacy Detective then will start The Art of Argument. She is going to do vocabulary vine science roots. I think for literature we are going to do Excellence in Literature: Intro to Lit. We are going to take it slow but I am going to have her do the honors course.
So that is our plans for the 2011-2012 school year. I will have a Kindergartner, 1st grader, 4th grader and 8th grader... YIKES!
J- He will be using MFW K and following along Gods Design for Science- life science with B
B- He will be using MFW 1st grade, Singapore Math, Horizons Math and MEP math. Sounds like alot of Math? Well through is testing we found out he is a math whiz! So now I have the responsibility of developing that natural math ability of his. He will also be doing Phonics Pathways, Reading Pathways and Explode the code along with MFW phonics (plus various readers, I have Sonlight core 1 level readers and Bob books so far.) He is going to do God's Design for Science- Life Science. I think he might listen in with the girls read alouds for ECC, not sure yet though.
T- She will be doing MFW Exploring Countries and Cultures for Bible and History. Property of Ecosystems, and God's Design for the Physical World (since 4th grade is Physics according to the WTM) That was the best I found so far since Apologia does not have their Physics books out yet... <sigh> I have been praying that would be ready but its not. Oh well. God's Design is an awesome curriculum as well. (after all it is put out by AIG)She will be doing Singapore Math and Horizons Math 4. Intermediate Language Lessons by Emma Serl. She will start writing strands. Continue with Spelling Power. She might possibly start vocabulary cartoons, not sure thought.
S- She will be doing MFW Exploring Countries and Cultures for Bible and History with T (S will do the 7th & 8th grade add on package though). She will also be doing Properties of Ecosystems with T. In addition to that she will be doing BJU English/writing 8, Writing Strands, All American History 2, Apologia Physical Science with the Red Wagon DVD's, Chalkdust Algebra 1, Patty Paper Geometry (1day a week), Logic I am unsure about. I guess it depends on how far we get this year. She is almost done with Fallacy Detective then will start The Art of Argument. She is going to do vocabulary vine science roots. I think for literature we are going to do Excellence in Literature: Intro to Lit. We are going to take it slow but I am going to have her do the honors course.
So that is our plans for the 2011-2012 school year. I will have a Kindergartner, 1st grader, 4th grader and 8th grader... YIKES!
Friday, March 25, 2011
B- testing, testing and more testing
We we finally decided to get B tested. We found out alot of things that I feel like I should have known. He has a sensory processing disorder (SPD), a sensory integration disorder (they think- but they are certain enough that they told me about it so that would lead me to believe they are very certain just not 100% positive) low tone, severe visual/spatial delays, low eye tracking and his eyes do not work together like they should. Now they think he has a form of Autism. He also has tourettes syndrome but we knew that. (not an official diagnosis until now though but sometimes you just know) I have mixed feelings. I feel like I should have seen this. I feel like I let my son down because I knew something was "off" but didn't get this looked into until now. Now he is about 6 months behind in kindergarten and its my fault.
On the other hand I am glad we know. Now I can look into what my son needs to help him. So that he can learn in the way HE needs to learn. I can meet him at where he is and we can go from there. Now I know that some of the things he does are not just him being defiant (how many times did I get after him for some of this stuff???)
I guess the past is behind me and no matter how much I would like to change I can't, I just know that now I can better deal with things now that I know. It could be worse- they didn't want to test him until 2nd grade. How far behind would he have been then? How many times would I have gotten after him for things he is not purposely doing to be defiant? Now I know.
On the other hand I am glad we know. Now I can look into what my son needs to help him. So that he can learn in the way HE needs to learn. I can meet him at where he is and we can go from there. Now I know that some of the things he does are not just him being defiant (how many times did I get after him for some of this stuff???)
I guess the past is behind me and no matter how much I would like to change I can't, I just know that now I can better deal with things now that I know. It could be worse- they didn't want to test him until 2nd grade. How far behind would he have been then? How many times would I have gotten after him for things he is not purposely doing to be defiant? Now I know.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Pinocchio and illness
We didn't do any school last week. The girls were in Pinocchio which was presented by the Missoula Childrens Theater. They were both Storytelling Urchins :) S was Urchin number 1, 11 and part of 6 so she had quite a large part. She also gave Pinocchio his nose everytime he told a lie. T was Urchin number 8 and part of 6 also. Urchin number 6 quit because she was moving. The directors were not happy because they asked at the beginning of auditions if everybody would be able to commit to this. The show was Saturday at 3pm and 7pm and ofcourse Friday night S started getting sick. She made it through the shows, then right when we got home Saturday night went to sleep and spiked a fever. She is still not feeling well. I might make her a dr appointment if she doesnt start sounding better. I know pneumonia is going around our town right now- quite a few people we know have it. We are slowly getting back to our school schedule this week. S is taking it slow. She started Life of Fred Pre-Algebra 2 w/ Economics and so far she loves it. She is only on Chapter 3 right now but this is her 4th Life of Fred book and she has loved them all.
T is starting Horizons Math 3B workbook Wednesday. She is a bit behind in math but she will get caught up soon enough. She is almost done with SOTW 2 but she is just reading through them since we are switching to My Fathers World next year. I will have her read SOTW 3 next then some American History books I have (short chapter books) Nothing deep- that will come with the My Fathers World cycle.
S is steadily going through Chalkdust Pre-Algebra. She is doing VERY well with it! She is almost done with Myster of History 2 then will move right on to Mystery Of History 3. We just got that in the mail friday!! I love the new format of MOH! Hardcover and color and very nice looking :)
B is doing good with My Fathers World K. I found somebody who is selling MFW 1st grade at a very nice price and its complete!!!! (YAY for our checkbook!!!!!!)
J is J. He is my busy 4 year old who is soon to be a busy 5 year old who at the moment wants nothing to do with K. Thats ok, he will start full K next year. He knows his letters and numbers so we are good :)
T is starting Horizons Math 3B workbook Wednesday. She is a bit behind in math but she will get caught up soon enough. She is almost done with SOTW 2 but she is just reading through them since we are switching to My Fathers World next year. I will have her read SOTW 3 next then some American History books I have (short chapter books) Nothing deep- that will come with the My Fathers World cycle.
S is steadily going through Chalkdust Pre-Algebra. She is doing VERY well with it! She is almost done with Myster of History 2 then will move right on to Mystery Of History 3. We just got that in the mail friday!! I love the new format of MOH! Hardcover and color and very nice looking :)
B is doing good with My Fathers World K. I found somebody who is selling MFW 1st grade at a very nice price and its complete!!!! (YAY for our checkbook!!!!!!)
J is J. He is my busy 4 year old who is soon to be a busy 5 year old who at the moment wants nothing to do with K. Thats ok, he will start full K next year. He knows his letters and numbers so we are good :)
Friday, January 28, 2011
This has been a good week for school. MFW K is a huge hit with B! J has kinda decided he doesn't want to do kindergarten so we are calling this "little kindergarten" and next year he will be in "big kindergarten" He said he doesnt like the word preschool so we are not calling it that :). He does participate once in a while though like here when the boys are making "S" books
As you can see in the back ground, S is making a Deco Cross for Mystery of History II. She learned about the Iconoclast Controversy. Here is her finished product.
After a 3 week break from Life of Fred we finally got Life of Fred Pre-Algebra 2 with economics in the mail so S will start that today. She is excited and she admitted it out loud for us all to hear!!!!! :) (THAT in itself is exciting!!!!!)
T did not have any art projects this week. I am just having her read through Story Of The World 2 because we decided to switch to My Fathers World next year and will start with ECC so she will get the full history rotation with that in good depth. So we are going to have her read through SOTW 2 and 3 then throw in some American History books/biographies to round out 3rd grade history. She got a bit behind in math so we really focused on getting her caught up and by next week she will be. YAY! She is struggling with long divison though so I am trying to find a way for her to understand that (without pulling teeth)
Oh, I forgot to say, the boys are making raisins for science so I will have pictures of the progress of that when they are done. This has been a really good week, lets hope next week is good also!
After a 3 week break from Life of Fred we finally got Life of Fred Pre-Algebra 2 with economics in the mail so S will start that today. She is excited and she admitted it out loud for us all to hear!!!!! :) (THAT in itself is exciting!!!!!)
T did not have any art projects this week. I am just having her read through Story Of The World 2 because we decided to switch to My Fathers World next year and will start with ECC so she will get the full history rotation with that in good depth. So we are going to have her read through SOTW 2 and 3 then throw in some American History books/biographies to round out 3rd grade history. She got a bit behind in math so we really focused on getting her caught up and by next week she will be. YAY! She is struggling with long divison though so I am trying to find a way for her to understand that (without pulling teeth)
Oh, I forgot to say, the boys are making raisins for science so I will have pictures of the progress of that when they are done. This has been a really good week, lets hope next week is good also!
Thursday, January 13, 2011
High School???
So I had to face reality that S is going to be in high school before I know it. I forced myself to make a tentative 4 year high school plan so I can better plan for 8th grade next year. Just for the record, it is not fair that my baby is on the verge of high school :(
9TH GRADEBible- Old Testament
Math- Chalkdust Geometry, Math U See: Stewardship
LA- Writing Strands (the level depends on how far we get next year in 8th grade), vocabulary, Ancient Lit
Science- Apologia Biology w/ DVD lectures & lab
Logic- Intermediate Logic
History- MFW Ancient History
Electives- Spanish and undecided what else
Volleyball and Soccer
10TH GRADE
Bible- New Testament and Church History
Math- Chalkdust Algebra 2, Budgeting (curriculum undecided for budgeting)
LA- Writing Strands (if we have not finished by 10th grade) World Lit, vocabulary
Science- Apologia Chemistry w/ DVD lectures and lab
Logic- I don't know what
History- MFW World history
Electives- Spanish and undecided what else
Volleyball and Soccer
11TH GRADE
Bible- Biblical Worldview
Math- Chalkdust PreCalculus and Business Math (not sure what curriculum yet for business math)
LA- American Lit, vocabulary (if series of book I chose are not completed in 10th)
Science- Apologia Advanced Biology w/ dvd lectures and lab
History- US History-1877
Electives- Spanish, French and undecided
Volleyball and Soccer
12TH GRADE
Bible- Spiritual Disciplines
Math- Chalkdust Calculus
LA- Modern Lit/Speech
Science- Apologia Advanced Chemistry w/ dvd lectures and lab
History- US History 1877-present
Electives- Spanish, French and undecided
Volleyball and soccer
Since she is planning on becoming a Vet she will be taking the Veterinary Medicine 4H class sometime in high school and we are hoping to get her an internship at the local vet's office. She will also start volunteering at the Humane Society. I am not ready for high school :(
9TH GRADEBible- Old Testament
Math- Chalkdust Geometry, Math U See: Stewardship
LA- Writing Strands (the level depends on how far we get next year in 8th grade), vocabulary, Ancient Lit
Science- Apologia Biology w/ DVD lectures & lab
Logic- Intermediate Logic
History- MFW Ancient History
Electives- Spanish and undecided what else
Volleyball and Soccer
10TH GRADE
Bible- New Testament and Church History
Math- Chalkdust Algebra 2, Budgeting (curriculum undecided for budgeting)
LA- Writing Strands (if we have not finished by 10th grade) World Lit, vocabulary
Science- Apologia Chemistry w/ DVD lectures and lab
Logic- I don't know what
History- MFW World history
Electives- Spanish and undecided what else
Volleyball and Soccer
11TH GRADE
Bible- Biblical Worldview
Math- Chalkdust PreCalculus and Business Math (not sure what curriculum yet for business math)
LA- American Lit, vocabulary (if series of book I chose are not completed in 10th)
Science- Apologia Advanced Biology w/ dvd lectures and lab
History- US History-1877
Electives- Spanish, French and undecided
Volleyball and Soccer
12TH GRADE
Bible- Spiritual Disciplines
Math- Chalkdust Calculus
LA- Modern Lit/Speech
Science- Apologia Advanced Chemistry w/ dvd lectures and lab
History- US History 1877-present
Electives- Spanish, French and undecided
Volleyball and soccer
Since she is planning on becoming a Vet she will be taking the Veterinary Medicine 4H class sometime in high school and we are hoping to get her an internship at the local vet's office. She will also start volunteering at the Humane Society. I am not ready for high school :(
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
My Fathers World
Welcome to my blog! After many people telling me to get one going here it is :) Pictures will have to wait until I get my battery back for my camera. We just bought it and ofcourse the battery was bad so who knows how long it will take to get a replacement. We sent it in last week. This will be mainly devoted to our homeschool but ofcourse other things will be in here now and then. I welcome any and all tips as I get used to this thing. Here is a warning up front, this is the time of year I get my final curriculum plans for next year so you have been warned :)
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