Confession: This is the second try at this post. The first time was dry as dirt! Hopefully this attempt will be better.
We've actually finished 3 weeks of school so far, and I thought I would take a look back over the weeks.
First Day of School
Our tradition is to go out for breakfast. The kids chose IHOP and it was yummy!
Math
Ruth just started Saxon 8/7 this past week. I'm actually making her do all the facts practice sheets and mental math this year. I'm mean that way. :) Actually, no complaints from her.
Robert is loving Algebra I with Mrs. Genco. He actually told me this week that math is now his favorite subject. Excuse me while I pick myself up off the floor.
Science
The kids both like Mr. Harmon. Ruth has never enjoyed DVD instruction, but this is going well. She says it's long, but she likes it. We've done one science experiment so far, but I was so involved in the experiment with the kids that I forgot to take pictures.
I plan on doing 8 labs this year and have ordered most of my supplies from Home Science Tools. BJU included a shopping list with HST part numbers, so that made it very easy. I also bought a triple beam balance off Craig's List. I have to say that I love having all this science-y stuff around. I have test tubes! And beakers! And graduated cylinders! :) I'm such a geek.
Grammar
Robert is doing grammar in the fall and literature in the spring. I had planned on him doing Rod & Staff, but we had the BJU class, so I thought we'd try it. I compared the two programs and figured out if we did the first chapter of BJU Grammar and didn't like it, we could easily switch back to R&S, skipping the first couple of chapters. However, after the first test I asked Robert and he says he wants to stick with BJU.
Literature
Ruth is doing literature in the fall and grammar in the spring. Working from a textbook is forcing me to cover all kinds of literary terms with Ruth (irony, foreshadowing, and more). I am so hopeless with this that if it's not explained in the teacher's manual, I don't really get it. It makes for some interesting discussions. Or maybe I should say, some NOT interesting discussions. I'm very thankful that we are going for an introduction here and it's not the last time these concepts will be covered.
Writing
We began our IEW SICC-B class this week. The kids are doing this with a friend's son and we will rotate houses. We started first at ours. It was an easy week because we are doing a review of key word outlines. I'm anxious to get to meatier stuff, but I do enjoy the easy start to the year.
Cultural Geography
I think this is going to be our least favorite class this year, and the one for which I'm most likely to drop the DVD instruction. I'm not terribly impressed with the teacher, but Robert hasn't complained about it yet, and we'll keep going as long as he wants. I also think that there is something to the idea of being able to learn from teachers with different lecturing styles, so it may be that we should stick with it just for that. We'll see. I am keeping our options open.
American History
Ruth's attitude about is history is "I don't care. I just want to get it over with as quickly as possible." Lovely. I'm trying to engage her more, but it's a struggle. This is nothing new, so don't blame it on the textbook approach.
I kind of wish (okay, more than kind of) that I had gotten the latest edition of BJU American History, rather than the previous edition. I like the Student Activity Manual much better in the new edition. However, this edition is being lent to me by a friend and free is good.
Latin
We are using the DVD instruction with First Form Latin. The teacher is adequate. As Ruth puts it, he doesn't talk too long and it gets the job done. I guess that's good enough!
I've decided to do Latin with Ruth this year. Since I've never learned it, I am often at a loss as to how to help her. I think I also need something to keep my brain active. (ha!)
Books
Robert finished his assigned reading of Around the World in 80 Days.
Ruth has read Landing of the Pilgrims and Stink Alley for school. She also read The Pushcart War for free reading.
Overall
Switching to textbooks has been more of a change than I thought. It feels... strange. Not in a bad way, but it's very different. I have more things to grade and am having to do more teaching (at least with Ruth). However, it's also easier in that I'm not stressing that we are missing something. And it's getting done! I'm also very impressed with the quality of BJU textbooks. The kids are both having to do more critical thinking, which was something that was harder for me to guide on my own. So overall, I'd have to say this is working out well.
Showing posts with label homeschooling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label homeschooling. Show all posts
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Friday, July 22, 2011
New Schoolroom
When we moved into our house 8.5 years ago, we decided that an extra room we had on the first floor would be a gameroom. However, we didn't really have anything to put in there to make it a gameroom, so it just became a sort of catch-all (read "junk") room. There were bookshelves, Griff's LP's, a desk, my sewing cabinet, and a weight bench (yes, actually used). With no true definition for the room, and only occasional use, it became filled with more and more... junk. I cleaned it out several times over the years, but never seriously, and it would always return to its former glory (or lack thereof).
Meanwhile, we started homeschooling 5.5 years ago, and we did school all around the house. Kitchen, den, dining room... And the gameroom was ignored because, well, it was going to be a gameroom. Finally, this summer, I decided enough was enough. The gameroom was no more. It would now be the schoolroom. And the great purge began.
In the interest of complete disclosure, here's a "before" shot.
(Oh, my word, that's just terrible.)
I got rid of books, curriculum I knew we would never use, and piles of paper. Things were moved to an upstairs storage room, and many items were donated. I was brutal! I wasn't able to get rid of some bigger items, but they are not interfering with the room's new purpose, so they will stay for now.
Here's the final result.
The desk in the corner is the desk that was originally in there. I cleaned it up and rotated it so that I can keep an eye on a certain teenage boy who is easily distracted. More about the shorter bookshelf and items on the desk later. The kids will work at the not-so-pretty brown table.
Bookshelves are filled with books, curriculum for spring semester, and scrapbooks. That 6-drawer unit contains craft supplies that I couldn't fit in the room's closet. See the weight bench? Yes, it's still in the room. There's no place else to put it and it is still used by Griff, so it stays.
Griff's LP's and my sewing cabinet, with Ruth's latin posters on the wall. I'd love to have a big, overstuffed chair in that corner, so I'm hoping to find a different storage place for the LP's and possibly sell my sewing cabinet.
You can see our whiteboard hanging on the wall. The door at the far left of the picture is the closet, which now holds most of my scrapbook and art/craft supplies. There is a door to the right of the closet that leads to the rest of the house. The french doors lead to our back porch.
My desk. :) Actually, it was my mom's desk, and she technically gave it to Griff years ago, but I have now claimed it for my own. (he hasn't used it since we moved into this house). You can see 3 Desk Apprentices from Staples. The kids' are on the left and hold all of their school books. Mine is on the far right, and holds teacher manuals and tests.
The bookshelf was in the dining room when our school was done in there, but I moved it in here when I decided to convert the room. The top holds the boxes the kids use to hold their personal pencils, ruler, protractor, etc. I use the digital frame with our artist study. Artwork from that artist will rotate in the frame. The top shelf holds extra books I want the kids to read. On the left are Ruth's American History supplement books. On the right are Robert's geography books. That plastic box holds notebook paper. The middle shelf holds a dictionary, thesaurus, bibles, blank index cards (in a box) and some miscellaneous papers of mine. The bottom shelf holds Robert's DVDs and binders with class notes and handouts.
The one thing this room does not have is a dedicated space for Robert to watch his DVDs and take notes. I think the best solution is going to be a portable DVD player that he can watch at the table, but if anybody looking at this has a better idea, leave me a note in the comments.
This room is not going to win any design awards, but it's very functional and I'm very happy with how it turned out.
Meanwhile, we started homeschooling 5.5 years ago, and we did school all around the house. Kitchen, den, dining room... And the gameroom was ignored because, well, it was going to be a gameroom. Finally, this summer, I decided enough was enough. The gameroom was no more. It would now be the schoolroom. And the great purge began.
In the interest of complete disclosure, here's a "before" shot.
(Oh, my word, that's just terrible.)
I got rid of books, curriculum I knew we would never use, and piles of paper. Things were moved to an upstairs storage room, and many items were donated. I was brutal! I wasn't able to get rid of some bigger items, but they are not interfering with the room's new purpose, so they will stay for now.
Here's the final result.
The desk in the corner is the desk that was originally in there. I cleaned it up and rotated it so that I can keep an eye on a certain teenage boy who is easily distracted. More about the shorter bookshelf and items on the desk later. The kids will work at the not-so-pretty brown table.
Bookshelves are filled with books, curriculum for spring semester, and scrapbooks. That 6-drawer unit contains craft supplies that I couldn't fit in the room's closet. See the weight bench? Yes, it's still in the room. There's no place else to put it and it is still used by Griff, so it stays.
Griff's LP's and my sewing cabinet, with Ruth's latin posters on the wall. I'd love to have a big, overstuffed chair in that corner, so I'm hoping to find a different storage place for the LP's and possibly sell my sewing cabinet.
You can see our whiteboard hanging on the wall. The door at the far left of the picture is the closet, which now holds most of my scrapbook and art/craft supplies. There is a door to the right of the closet that leads to the rest of the house. The french doors lead to our back porch.
My desk. :) Actually, it was my mom's desk, and she technically gave it to Griff years ago, but I have now claimed it for my own. (he hasn't used it since we moved into this house). You can see 3 Desk Apprentices from Staples. The kids' are on the left and hold all of their school books. Mine is on the far right, and holds teacher manuals and tests.
The bookshelf was in the dining room when our school was done in there, but I moved it in here when I decided to convert the room. The top holds the boxes the kids use to hold their personal pencils, ruler, protractor, etc. I use the digital frame with our artist study. Artwork from that artist will rotate in the frame. The top shelf holds extra books I want the kids to read. On the left are Ruth's American History supplement books. On the right are Robert's geography books. That plastic box holds notebook paper. The middle shelf holds a dictionary, thesaurus, bibles, blank index cards (in a box) and some miscellaneous papers of mine. The bottom shelf holds Robert's DVDs and binders with class notes and handouts.
The one thing this room does not have is a dedicated space for Robert to watch his DVDs and take notes. I think the best solution is going to be a portable DVD player that he can watch at the table, but if anybody looking at this has a better idea, leave me a note in the comments.
This room is not going to win any design awards, but it's very functional and I'm very happy with how it turned out.
Sunday, May 08, 2011
2011-2012 Curriculum
Robert did BJU's Space and Earth Science this year with their DVDs. He enjoyed it so much that he has asked to do all of his classes this way next year. I am still trying to figure out the finances for this, but if we can possibly swing it, that's what we're going to do. So, assuming this works out, this is what he'll be doing.
BJU Geography (supplemented with Sonlight Core 5 books)
BJU Algebra I
BJU Physical Science
BJU Literature (1 semester class)
Rod and Staff English 7 (I know. It's not BJU, but this falls under "if it's not broke, don't fix it". It's a fantastic grammar program.)
IEW SICC-B
viola lessons/orchestra
I am aware of the time involved with BJU's DVD classes. However, I also know that I am in control of it, rather than it being in control of me. I will modify as I see fit.
Ruth does not enjoy DVD classes, so while she will be doing some BJU courses, she will not be using the DVDs. The possible exception is Physical Science. I am not sure if she will be doing that with Robert or in an outside class.
BJU American Republic (supplemented with Sonlight Core 100 books)
Saxon 8/7
Physical Science (BJU or outside class)
BJU Literature 8 (1 semester class)
possibly a couple of Total Language Plus guides
Rod and Staff English 7
IEW SICC-B
Art (outside class)
cello lessons/orchestra
There are other things I would love to do. I've always wanted us to go through Literary Lessons from Lord of the Rings. However, our days are going to be full enough, and sometimes you have to say no to even the good stuff.
I cannot believe that I will have a high schooler next year. Where has the time gone?
(Yes, I know Sonlight has renamed their cores, but I'm referring to them by the names I'm familiar with.)
BJU Geography (supplemented with Sonlight Core 5 books)
BJU Algebra I
BJU Physical Science
BJU Literature (1 semester class)
Rod and Staff English 7 (I know. It's not BJU, but this falls under "if it's not broke, don't fix it". It's a fantastic grammar program.)
IEW SICC-B
viola lessons/orchestra
I am aware of the time involved with BJU's DVD classes. However, I also know that I am in control of it, rather than it being in control of me. I will modify as I see fit.
Ruth does not enjoy DVD classes, so while she will be doing some BJU courses, she will not be using the DVDs. The possible exception is Physical Science. I am not sure if she will be doing that with Robert or in an outside class.
BJU American Republic (supplemented with Sonlight Core 100 books)
Saxon 8/7
Physical Science (BJU or outside class)
BJU Literature 8 (1 semester class)
possibly a couple of Total Language Plus guides
Rod and Staff English 7
IEW SICC-B
Art (outside class)
cello lessons/orchestra
There are other things I would love to do. I've always wanted us to go through Literary Lessons from Lord of the Rings. However, our days are going to be full enough, and sometimes you have to say no to even the good stuff.
I cannot believe that I will have a high schooler next year. Where has the time gone?
(Yes, I know Sonlight has renamed their cores, but I'm referring to them by the names I'm familiar with.)
Friday, May 06, 2011
Looking Ahead to Next Year
I've been a horrible blogger lately. So bad, I'm not even sure you can call me a blogger anymore. However, I'm giving it a try once again. I will have a high schooler next year (and 2 high schoolers the year after that!), so I'm feeling the need to savor every minute I have left with them. One way to do that, and to hold on to all the memories, is to blog about our adventures.
I thought I would start out by talking about the changes I am making to our homeschool next year. The biggest change is that I'm going to change to textbooks. I've thought of doing this in the past, but guilt over the lack of a living books education for my children held me back. Something I read awhile back has really stayed with me, though, and I've let go of this guilt.
What was this "something" that I read? Basically, it was said that our goal in homeschooling is to teach our children to have a heart for God. This can be done with any style of education, all the way from unschooling to traditional textbooks. Pondering this over the months has helped me realize that thinking that one educational method is the "be all and end all" is just plain wrong. I need to find what works for me and for my children. And honestly, the few textbooks we've done over the years have been very successful. I have felt comfortable with them and the kids have learned.
I made the final decision a few months ago to switch to textbooks for next year and I have never felt such peace about a curriculum choice. Even the arrival of the annual Sonlight catalog had absolutely no impact on my decision. :) I am eager to start our new adventure in the fall with textbooks.
I will be posting my list of exactly which textbooks we'll be using in another post.
I thought I would start out by talking about the changes I am making to our homeschool next year. The biggest change is that I'm going to change to textbooks. I've thought of doing this in the past, but guilt over the lack of a living books education for my children held me back. Something I read awhile back has really stayed with me, though, and I've let go of this guilt.
What was this "something" that I read? Basically, it was said that our goal in homeschooling is to teach our children to have a heart for God. This can be done with any style of education, all the way from unschooling to traditional textbooks. Pondering this over the months has helped me realize that thinking that one educational method is the "be all and end all" is just plain wrong. I need to find what works for me and for my children. And honestly, the few textbooks we've done over the years have been very successful. I have felt comfortable with them and the kids have learned.
I made the final decision a few months ago to switch to textbooks for next year and I have never felt such peace about a curriculum choice. Even the arrival of the annual Sonlight catalog had absolutely no impact on my decision. :) I am eager to start our new adventure in the fall with textbooks.
I will be posting my list of exactly which textbooks we'll be using in another post.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Plans for 2010-2011
Along February or so, I really get the itch to start planning next year's curriculum. (I don't think I'm alone in this.) And, since I need to spread out purchases, I usually start my shopping sometimes in April. So, with no further ado, here are my choices for next year.
History
I've decided to go back to Sonlight. Several things led to this decision
- I have always l
oved Sonlight books.
- We've used it in the past with great success.
- I want Robert to have a one-year overview of history before entering high school. We haven't done the ancients since we started homeschooling 5 years ago. Finding this at the 8th grade level has been tricky.
- I want everything scheduled for me.
Robert will be doing Core Alt 7. Ruth will be doing Core 6. I gave her the option of doing either and she chose Core 6. She's my true reader, so she will enjoy having more books for the time period.
Language Arts
I have also purchased Sonlight LA 6. I've never used it before, but I wanted a different type of writing assignment, rather than the informational reports we've been doing most of this year. There seems to be quite a few complaints about the lack of writing instruction in SL's LA. We will be doing them using IEW's methods, so I'm hoping this will not be an issue. I'll be sharing our experiences with it as we combine the two.
For grammar, I've decided to have a year of review. We'll be using Daily Grams and Better Sentence Structure Through Diagramming. This will free up some time for other subjects.
Sonlight recommends Wordly Wise for vocabulary. We haven't done vocabulary work in quite awhile, so we're going to use that as well.
We'll also continue history narrations using notebook pages.
Science
As I said before, I've decided I need to outsource science. Ruth will be taking BJU Science 7 in an outside class. Robert will be using the BJU DVDs for Science 8. I'm hoping this will take care of my deficiencies in teaching this area.
Math
Robert will be using Lial's Basic College Mathematics. It's supposed to be a very good pre-algebra program, and I plan on using Lial's for Algebra, so it seemed like a logical choice. And, as a bonus, I can find an old edition for cheap. Ruth will probably go back to CLE, but I haven't decided for sure.
Other
A Beka Health - very low key. We just read and discuss.
Getting Started with Latin - We quit using this at Christmas, but Ruth has asked to start using it again. Who am I to argue with a child that wants to learn Latin?
Logic - something, but haven't decided yet.
Art - This one is... complicated. We're going to use Meet the Masters again with our friends. However, I feel that we need more than that. Ruth is very talented in art and I need to encourage that more. I've looked for awhile at Harmony Fine Arts curriculum. I decided to go ahead and purchase Ancient and Medieval/Renaissance. They each have things that appeal to me. I have yet to figure out how it's going to work, but I want to use them both in some way.
Extracurricular
The kids will continue playing their instruments. We're looking at options for an orchestra program as well.
We're going to rejoin the world of co-ops. I'm feeling the need to add more fun, social activities. This year has been kind of "blah". I've found a group that has a lot to choose from and we will most likely join them in the fall.
I think that's it. All in all, I'm very excited about next year. Now, on to finishing this year.
History
I've decided to go back to Sonlight. Several things led to this decision
- I have always l
oved Sonlight books.- We've used it in the past with great success.
- I want Robert to have a one-year overview of history before entering high school. We haven't done the ancients since we started homeschooling 5 years ago. Finding this at the 8th grade level has been tricky.
- I want everything scheduled for me.
Robert will be doing Core Alt 7. Ruth will be doing Core 6. I gave her the option of doing either and she chose Core 6. She's my true reader, so she will enjoy having more books for the time period.
Language Arts
I have also purchased Sonlight LA 6. I've never used it before, but I wanted a different type of writing assignment, rather than the informational reports we've been doing most of this year. There seems to be quite a few complaints about the lack of writing instruction in SL's LA. We will be doing them using IEW's methods, so I'm hoping this will not be an issue. I'll be sharing our experiences with it as we combine the two.
For grammar, I've decided to have a year of review. We'll be using Daily Grams and Better Sentence Structure Through Diagramming. This will free up some time for other subjects.
Sonlight recommends Wordly Wise for vocabulary. We haven't done vocabulary work in quite awhile, so we're going to use that as well.
We'll also continue history narrations using notebook pages.
Science
As I said before, I've decided I need to outsource science. Ruth will be taking BJU Science 7 in an outside class. Robert will be using the BJU DVDs for Science 8. I'm hoping this will take care of my deficiencies in teaching this area.
Math
Robert will be using Lial's Basic College Mathematics. It's supposed to be a very good pre-algebra program, and I plan on using Lial's for Algebra, so it seemed like a logical choice. And, as a bonus, I can find an old edition for cheap. Ruth will probably go back to CLE, but I haven't decided for sure.
Other
A Beka Health - very low key. We just read and discuss.
Getting Started with Latin - We quit using this at Christmas, but Ruth has asked to start using it again. Who am I to argue with a child that wants to learn Latin?
Logic - something, but haven't decided yet.
Art - This one is... complicated. We're going to use Meet the Masters again with our friends. However, I feel that we need more than that. Ruth is very talented in art and I need to encourage that more. I've looked for awhile at Harmony Fine Arts curriculum. I decided to go ahead and purchase Ancient and Medieval/Renaissance. They each have things that appeal to me. I have yet to figure out how it's going to work, but I want to use them both in some way.
Extracurricular
The kids will continue playing their instruments. We're looking at options for an orchestra program as well.
We're going to rejoin the world of co-ops. I'm feeling the need to add more fun, social activities. This year has been kind of "blah". I've found a group that has a lot to choose from and we will most likely join them in the fall.
I think that's it. All in all, I'm very excited about next year. Now, on to finishing this year.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Hits and Misses (Updated)
It's only been 3 posts since I gave a 9-week review of our hits and misses. However, much time has passed, and, as the year is drawing to a close, I have a much bigger picture of what has worked and what hasn't.
Tapestry of Grace - This is a wonderful program. Having said that, over time I've found that it's just not a good fit for us. I don't feel that I, as the parent, am taking full advantage of all the wonderful things in the program. This has led to my decision to use something else next year (more on that later). I think if we were part of a co-op, it would be completely different. There is a co-op in our area, but we tried to get in this year and they turned us down because nobody in the group knew us. Really. A friend compared it to getting into a country club and I had to laugh. She's right!
I dropped TOG's literature and added CLE Reading after Christmas. This is a good, solid program, and the kids like it for the most part. (no complaints, at least, and they are getting good grades)
Math - Ruth completed Life of Fred Fractions, then Decimals and Percents. She's finishing up the year with BJU Math 6, reviewing and filling any gaps. I did find that LOF was not a good fit for Robert. He loved reading the lessons, but had difficulty seeing past the story to the math. I moved him back to CLE Math and that's gone well.
Science - Ugh. Ruth finished Apologia Elementary Zoology I, then has done some of A Beka Science 6 to finish out the year. I switched Robert to A Beka Science 7 after our struggles with Apologia. We've kind of limped through it this year. I've come to the conclusion that teaching science is a weakness of mine, and something that needs to be outsourced.
Our other hits of the year (IEW, Rod and Staff Grammar, Meet the Masters art program, workboxes, and History Scribe notebook pages) have continued to work well.
Up next... our plans for next year!
Tapestry of Grace - This is a wonderful program. Having said that, over time I've found that it's just not a good fit for us. I don't feel that I, as the parent, am taking full advantage of all the wonderful things in the program. This has led to my decision to use something else next year (more on that later). I think if we were part of a co-op, it would be completely different. There is a co-op in our area, but we tried to get in this year and they turned us down because nobody in the group knew us. Really. A friend compared it to getting into a country club and I had to laugh. She's right!
I dropped TOG's literature and added CLE Reading after Christmas. This is a good, solid program, and the kids like it for the most part. (no complaints, at least, and they are getting good grades)
Math - Ruth completed Life of Fred Fractions, then Decimals and Percents. She's finishing up the year with BJU Math 6, reviewing and filling any gaps. I did find that LOF was not a good fit for Robert. He loved reading the lessons, but had difficulty seeing past the story to the math. I moved him back to CLE Math and that's gone well.
Science - Ugh. Ruth finished Apologia Elementary Zoology I, then has done some of A Beka Science 6 to finish out the year. I switched Robert to A Beka Science 7 after our struggles with Apologia. We've kind of limped through it this year. I've come to the conclusion that teaching science is a weakness of mine, and something that needs to be outsourced.
Our other hits of the year (IEW, Rod and Staff Grammar, Meet the Masters art program, workboxes, and History Scribe notebook pages) have continued to work well.
Up next... our plans for next year!
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
First Term Hits and Misses
We finished our first 9 weeks of school recently. Woo-hoo! I planned a break week and am so thankful that I did. We definitely needed a break. :) We spent the week mainly relaxing around the house. I also spent quite a bit of time planning the next term.
Looking over the first term of our school year, I wanted to share what's working, and what's not.
Hits
History Scribe notebook pages - I really, really love these. I was struggling with how to make sure the kids are absorbing some of what they are learning and these fit that need perfectly. Having pre-made pages helps me to focus on just a few things each week, which is also beneficial. Love them! (one small criticism - I wish they had pages for more 20th century world history events, rather than focusing so much on American history)
Tapestry of Grace - I love this history program. We've read some great books and the kids have really learned a lot.
Grammar/Writing - Alternating these two subjects is working very well. We finished two chapters of Rod and Staff English 5 and the first two units of IEW. Next term, we'll do units 2 (concentrating on adding dress-ups) and 3 of IEW and one more chapter of R&S. Love it!
Workboxes - I won't write more about these, but wanted to include them in the "hits"
Schoolroom - I don't know if I've mentioned this, but I turned our dining room in a school room this year and it is wonderful. It's great to have a room that is just for school, but is still close enough to everything that I can get small housework projects done while keeping an eye on the kids. I also set it up so that I can easily turn it back into a dining room.
Activity Points - I debated on where to put this, under hits or misses. I think the idea is still a "hit". However, our implementation was sort of a "miss". Ruth did well. She hit the goal of 30 points easily. Robert, however, did not. I think the open-ended nature of this was too much. I need to either make it part of his schedule, or do a lot more hand-holding until he gets the hang of it.
Meet the Masters - I love this art program. It combines art appreciation with art instruction, so we're covering both. We covered Frederic Remington in September. I won't say he's my favorite artist, but the kids enjoyed it. We also had a good time with friends working on the final art project. I am very glad we chose this program to use this year.
Misses
Math - BJU math is a very good program, but just doesn't seem to be a good fit for my kids. They were hating math, and as a math lover, this was just killing me. I made the decision to really shake things up and switch to Life of Fred. It is going tremendously well. The kids love the stories and are doing well on the assignments. We are currently using the Fractions book. We'll do Decimals after that (assuming it's still going well). We'll finish out the year using the BJU math to fill any holes I feel were left. The biggest bonus is the kids are loving math now. Amazing!
BJU Science - Ruth was really not liking BJU Science 6, so I decided to switch back to Apologia Elementary. A friend let me borrow her copy of Zoology 1 (flying creatures), so we're doing that.
I have not done well with Robert's science program (Apologia General Science). He is doing very poorly on the tests and we're not following through with science experiments very well. I need to figure out a better way to handle this subject. Any tips would be appreciated.
Overall, I'm very pleased with how the year is going. We have more positives than negatives, and that's a good sign.
Looking over the first term of our school year, I wanted to share what's working, and what's not.
Hits
History Scribe notebook pages - I really, really love these. I was struggling with how to make sure the kids are absorbing some of what they are learning and these fit that need perfectly. Having pre-made pages helps me to focus on just a few things each week, which is also beneficial. Love them! (one small criticism - I wish they had pages for more 20th century world history events, rather than focusing so much on American history)
Tapestry of Grace - I love this history program. We've read some great books and the kids have really learned a lot.
Grammar/Writing - Alternating these two subjects is working very well. We finished two chapters of Rod and Staff English 5 and the first two units of IEW. Next term, we'll do units 2 (concentrating on adding dress-ups) and 3 of IEW and one more chapter of R&S. Love it!
Workboxes - I won't write more about these, but wanted to include them in the "hits"
Schoolroom - I don't know if I've mentioned this, but I turned our dining room in a school room this year and it is wonderful. It's great to have a room that is just for school, but is still close enough to everything that I can get small housework projects done while keeping an eye on the kids. I also set it up so that I can easily turn it back into a dining room.
Activity Points - I debated on where to put this, under hits or misses. I think the idea is still a "hit". However, our implementation was sort of a "miss". Ruth did well. She hit the goal of 30 points easily. Robert, however, did not. I think the open-ended nature of this was too much. I need to either make it part of his schedule, or do a lot more hand-holding until he gets the hang of it.
Meet the Masters - I love this art program. It combines art appreciation with art instruction, so we're covering both. We covered Frederic Remington in September. I won't say he's my favorite artist, but the kids enjoyed it. We also had a good time with friends working on the final art project. I am very glad we chose this program to use this year.
Misses
Math - BJU math is a very good program, but just doesn't seem to be a good fit for my kids. They were hating math, and as a math lover, this was just killing me. I made the decision to really shake things up and switch to Life of Fred. It is going tremendously well. The kids love the stories and are doing well on the assignments. We are currently using the Fractions book. We'll do Decimals after that (assuming it's still going well). We'll finish out the year using the BJU math to fill any holes I feel were left. The biggest bonus is the kids are loving math now. Amazing!
BJU Science - Ruth was really not liking BJU Science 6, so I decided to switch back to Apologia Elementary. A friend let me borrow her copy of Zoology 1 (flying creatures), so we're doing that.
I have not done well with Robert's science program (Apologia General Science). He is doing very poorly on the tests and we're not following through with science experiments very well. I need to figure out a better way to handle this subject. Any tips would be appreciated.
Overall, I'm very pleased with how the year is going. We have more positives than negatives, and that's a good sign.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Activity Points
I have always wanted to do projects with the kids, but never seem to get around to them. They don't ask for them, either, so I've never been too concerned with it. However, I do believe they have some value. I want the kids to think more about what we're studying, and I think these would help. I also think having them do some long-term (3-4 weeks) projects will help them learn how to schedule and some time-management skills. While thinking this through, though, I came to realize that I don't want to just assign them different projects. I want them to have some choices and some personal investment in what they choose. With that in mind, I came up with what I call "activity points".
For a 9-week term, I am requiring 30 activity points. These are divided into two different categories - hands-on projects and books. Since my children are not crazy about projects, I wanted to give them the opportunity to earn some of them by reading extra books. They have to do one long-term project that is worth 7 points. They also have to earn 5 points in books. Other than those requirements, they can earn the 30 points in any combination they choose.
BOOKS I went through TOG's alternate book selections and Sonlight's booklist. I had quite a few of these on the shelf already. The rest will come from the library. I made sure I had several biographies on the list, because Robert really enjoys those. My list of books for term 1 are the following:
I chose point values based on Renaissance Learning's Accelerated Reader program. We are not using their program, but I did find it a handy way to assign points to the books.
PROJECTS I went through TOG's guide and made a list of all the activities they suggested, broken down by week. From there, I assigned them anywhere from 1 to 7 points, depending on the difficulty of the project. Unfortunately, I can't share that list here because it is part of TOG's curriculum. For example, though, the drawing that Ruthie did our first week of the Model T was 3 points. I do plan on adding things that are not associated with our history study at some point. I know that I want the kids to do a science fair type project in the spring, and that will be a high number project.
After compiling all this information, I made a chart and printed it off for them. They are in charge of choosing their activities and making sure they have the correct number of points by the end of the first term. Of course, since this is new for them, I'm doing a lot of hand holding at this point. My hope is that by the end of the year, they will be working on this completely on their own.
For a 9-week term, I am requiring 30 activity points. These are divided into two different categories - hands-on projects and books. Since my children are not crazy about projects, I wanted to give them the opportunity to earn some of them by reading extra books. They have to do one long-term project that is worth 7 points. They also have to earn 5 points in books. Other than those requirements, they can earn the 30 points in any combination they choose.
BOOKS I went through TOG's alternate book selections and Sonlight's booklist. I had quite a few of these on the shelf already. The rest will come from the library. I made sure I had several biographies on the list, because Robert really enjoys those. My list of books for term 1 are the following:
Bully for You, Teddy Roosevelt (4 points)
Wilbur and Orville Wright: Young Fliers (3 points)
All-of-a-Kind Family (5 points)
Dragonwings (10 points)
Five Children and It (8 points)
Freckles (13 points)
A Girl of the Limberlost (18 points)
The Good Master (5 points)
Angel on the Square (8 points)
Hero Over Here (1 point)
After the Dancing Days (8 points)
Letters from Rifka (4 points)
Rilla of Ingleside (16 points)
Homesick (6 points)
Li Lun, Lad of Courage (3 points)
Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze (10 points)
Wilbur and Orville Wright: Young Fliers (3 points)
All-of-a-Kind Family (5 points)
Dragonwings (10 points)
Five Children and It (8 points)
Freckles (13 points)
A Girl of the Limberlost (18 points)
The Good Master (5 points)
Angel on the Square (8 points)
Hero Over Here (1 point)
After the Dancing Days (8 points)
Letters from Rifka (4 points)
Rilla of Ingleside (16 points)
Homesick (6 points)
Li Lun, Lad of Courage (3 points)
Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze (10 points)
I chose point values based on Renaissance Learning's Accelerated Reader program. We are not using their program, but I did find it a handy way to assign points to the books.
PROJECTS I went through TOG's guide and made a list of all the activities they suggested, broken down by week. From there, I assigned them anywhere from 1 to 7 points, depending on the difficulty of the project. Unfortunately, I can't share that list here because it is part of TOG's curriculum. For example, though, the drawing that Ruthie did our first week of the Model T was 3 points. I do plan on adding things that are not associated with our history study at some point. I know that I want the kids to do a science fair type project in the spring, and that will be a high number project.
After compiling all this information, I made a chart and printed it off for them. They are in charge of choosing their activities and making sure they have the correct number of points by the end of the first term. Of course, since this is new for them, I'm doing a lot of hand holding at this point. My hope is that by the end of the year, they will be working on this completely on their own.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Weekly Report - Weeks 1 & 2
I can't believe we are through our first 2 weeks of school. Goodness, it's already going by so fast.
Here are the weeks in review:
History - We covered the first two weeks of TOG Year 4. Subjects covered included:
Science - Robert hasn't started science yet, but Ruth has almost
finished the first chapter of her book. She has covered earthquakes and volcanoes. We've always been lax on science, so I'm 
determined to dive in this year. So far, Ruthie has already made an earthquake study structure (based on fettucinni noodles and marshmallows - which amused me) and a paper mache volcano. She found the paper mache very messy, but really enjoyed painting it.
Literature - We read Call of the Wild by Jack London. (Robert did not like this book at all. He does not like books that have any type of cruelty in them.)
Activity Point projects (I will blog more about this at a later date) - Ruth drew a picture of a Model T Ford based on directions I found here.
We also did math and grammar. All in all, it was a good beginning to the school year. I look forward to sharing more of our homeschooling adventures in the future.
Here are the weeks in review:
History - We covered the first two weeks of TOG Year 4. Subjects covered included:
Albert Einstein
Pres. Theodore Roosevelt
Henry Ford
Wright Brothers
Titanic
Pres. William Howard Taft
Jane Addams
Pres. Theodore Roosevelt
Henry Ford
Wright Brothers
Titanic
Pres. William Howard Taft
Jane Addams
Science - Robert hasn't started science yet, but Ruth has almost
finished the first chapter of her book. She has covered earthquakes and volcanoes. We've always been lax on science, so I'm 
determined to dive in this year. So far, Ruthie has already made an earthquake study structure (based on fettucinni noodles and marshmallows - which amused me) and a paper mache volcano. She found the paper mache very messy, but really enjoyed painting it.Literature - We read Call of the Wild by Jack London. (Robert did not like this book at all. He does not like books that have any type of cruelty in them.)
Activity Point projects (I will blog more about this at a later date) - Ruth drew a picture of a Model T Ford based on directions I found here.
We also did math and grammar. All in all, it was a good beginning to the school year. I look forward to sharing more of our homeschooling adventures in the future.
Saturday, August 08, 2009
Final Curriculum Plans
A few posts back (but several months ago), I talked about our curriculum plans for this year. Things have changed a bit, so I wanted to share what we decided on.
History - This is the biggest change. After deciding on Sonlight Core 6, a friend offered to lend me Tapestry of Grace Year 4 (Classic) for free. After thinking about it, I decided to take her up on that generous offer. I spent some time with it, but found that going from Redesign to Classic was not that easy for me. I love all the updates in the Redesign version! However, after looking over Year 4, I also found that I did not want to go back to my original plan of Sonlight. So, I discussed it with Griff and he agreed that I could get TOG Year 4 Redesign DE if it fits in my school budget. After checking out the list of books needed for Term 1 (first 9 weeks), I saw that I would only need to buy 2 books. I either own them or the library carries them. That makes TOG much more affordable than I would have originally thought, and I made the purchase.
I am keeping my friend's Year 4 Classic through the end of the year. That way, if I find that I cannot continue to purchase the DE edition, I can go back to that.
Grammar - We will finish Rod and Staff English 5 as I mentioned before. However, we will not continue into English 6 as I had originally planned. Instead, I am going to take the opportunity to lighten our load a bit and alternate grammar with writing. Which leads me to...
Writing - We're going to continue with IEW. I'll be alternating a chapter of grammar with a unit of IEW. I want to get through Unit VII this year, and this will work out very nicely.
Literature - This is part of TOG, so we will use that part of their program. I may still buy some Total Language Plus guides if they fit into the budget, just because I like them so much. We'll see...
Math - We did switch to Bob Jones. I put both of them in Grade 6 math and I teach them together.
Science - Robert is doing Apologia General Science. Ruth is doing BJU Science 6.
Bible/Devotional - We will be using the following books, alternating them through the week.
Bible study - How to Study Your Bible, for Kids - I took the adult version of this class years ago and really like this Bible study method. It will not take us the full year to get through this guide, so we will hopefully use the methods learned to study at least one book of the Bible.
Devotional - Boyhood and Beyond (for Robert) and A Girl of Beauty (for Ruthie)
Composer and Artist study - I want to study 20th century composers and artists, but I haven't quite worked out the specifics.
Art - A friend and I are going to do Meet the Masters together. We'll get together once a month or so and do art projects. (Actually, this may impact our artist study, too. I'll have to take a closer look at it before deciding about that.)
Music - The kids will continue with private lesson instruction. We are not doing homeschool orchestra this year, so I will be looking for other opportunities for them to perform. I am thinking of nursing homes and our church's preschool program.
Health - We've never done this formally before, but I think we need some guidance in this subject. I want to keep it simple, though, so I just got the grade-appropriate A Beka Health textbooks. The kids will read from them, and we'll discuss what they read. That's it. Easy-peasy (and not too time consuming).
We have finished our first week of school and I hope to post a weekly report soon, so stay tuned!
History - This is the biggest change. After deciding on Sonlight Core 6, a friend offered to lend me Tapestry of Grace Year 4 (Classic) for free. After thinking about it, I decided to take her up on that generous offer. I spent some time with it, but found that going from Redesign to Classic was not that easy for me. I love all the updates in the Redesign version! However, after looking over Year 4, I also found that I did not want to go back to my original plan of Sonlight. So, I discussed it with Griff and he agreed that I could get TOG Year 4 Redesign DE if it fits in my school budget. After checking out the list of books needed for Term 1 (first 9 weeks), I saw that I would only need to buy 2 books. I either own them or the library carries them. That makes TOG much more affordable than I would have originally thought, and I made the purchase.
I am keeping my friend's Year 4 Classic through the end of the year. That way, if I find that I cannot continue to purchase the DE edition, I can go back to that.
Grammar - We will finish Rod and Staff English 5 as I mentioned before. However, we will not continue into English 6 as I had originally planned. Instead, I am going to take the opportunity to lighten our load a bit and alternate grammar with writing. Which leads me to...
Writing - We're going to continue with IEW. I'll be alternating a chapter of grammar with a unit of IEW. I want to get through Unit VII this year, and this will work out very nicely.
Literature - This is part of TOG, so we will use that part of their program. I may still buy some Total Language Plus guides if they fit into the budget, just because I like them so much. We'll see...
Math - We did switch to Bob Jones. I put both of them in Grade 6 math and I teach them together.
Science - Robert is doing Apologia General Science. Ruth is doing BJU Science 6.
Bible/Devotional - We will be using the following books, alternating them through the week.
Bible study - How to Study Your Bible, for Kids - I took the adult version of this class years ago and really like this Bible study method. It will not take us the full year to get through this guide, so we will hopefully use the methods learned to study at least one book of the Bible.
Devotional - Boyhood and Beyond (for Robert) and A Girl of Beauty (for Ruthie)
Composer and Artist study - I want to study 20th century composers and artists, but I haven't quite worked out the specifics.
Art - A friend and I are going to do Meet the Masters together. We'll get together once a month or so and do art projects. (Actually, this may impact our artist study, too. I'll have to take a closer look at it before deciding about that.)
Music - The kids will continue with private lesson instruction. We are not doing homeschool orchestra this year, so I will be looking for other opportunities for them to perform. I am thinking of nursing homes and our church's preschool program.
Health - We've never done this formally before, but I think we need some guidance in this subject. I want to keep it simple, though, so I just got the grade-appropriate A Beka Health textbooks. The kids will read from them, and we'll discuss what they read. That's it. Easy-peasy (and not too time consuming).
We have finished our first week of school and I hope to post a weekly report soon, so stay tuned!
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
One More Thing... (end of year portfolios)
I had thought my next post would be about our first week of school, but I was thinking about our portfolios yesterday and decided I would share how we do them. So, I'm backtracking to the end of May when our school year ended. (See what happens when you don't blog for awhile?)
Living in Texas, we are not required to keep any sort of paperwork. However, I think most homeschooling parents want to keep a record of the year. The problem is deciding what to keep, what to toss, and how to put it together in a way that will stay together.
I originally wanted to make a really nice bound book, but knew that if I waited for the "perfect" method, it wouldn't get done. I also found a couple of 3-ring binders that were the right size and, since I already had them, free!
So, what's in our portfolios? It's really simple, people. Done is better than perfect, right? Right.
Like I said, it's simple. But, I'm happy to have it done. If you make portfolios at the end of the year, please leave a comment so I can see how you do yours.
Living in Texas, we are not required to keep any sort of paperwork. However, I think most homeschooling parents want to keep a record of the year. The problem is deciding what to keep, what to toss, and how to put it together in a way that will stay together.
I originally wanted to make a really nice bound book, but knew that if I waited for the "perfect" method, it wouldn't get done. I also found a couple of 3-ring binders that were the right size and, since I already had them, free!
So, what's in our portfolios? It's really simple, people. Done is better than perfect, right? Right.
- - Final grades as figured in Homeschool Tracker. I only take grades in a few subjects, so it's a pretty short list.
- - Scope and Sequence Report, also from HST. This is one thing I love about HST. I use the "topic" field when I make assignments. S&S uses that field to make a list of everything we've studied that year. One bonus is I easily get a list of all the books we've read during the year. Love that!
- - Quizzes and tests from CLE Reading, Math, and R&S Grammar. I threw out all the daily worksheets because I just want a snapshot of what they learned
- - Science worksheets. We didn't do test in science last year, so I included the worksheets. If we had, I would probably have just included the tests and experiments.
- - History notebook pages. We kind of fell of the notebook pages wagon once we started TOG (my fault, not TOG's), but I included the ones we did.
- - Maps. Any mapping assignments we did during the year
- - Other various writing assignments. Our writing usually centers around history and is made into notebook pages. We did have a few assignments that are not, though, so I included them as well. (not shown in slideshow)
Like I said, it's simple. But, I'm happy to have it done. If you make portfolios at the end of the year, please leave a comment so I can see how you do yours.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Planning for Next Year
I've been thinking about next year's curriculum quite a bit over the past couple of weeks. I thought I'd write it all down so I can remember my thought processes. I also try to find as many things used as I can, so I give myself plenty of time to do that.
Note: Robert will be in 7th grade next year. Ruthie will be in 6th.
History - As much as I have loved using Tapestry of Grace for the end of our school year, I've decided that I just can't justify the cost. Our money is just not going as far as it used to. (I'm pretty sure this is a common problem everywhere.) I'm going to have to cut expenses somewhere and TOG just does not fit into the budget. So, I'm now looking at Sonlight Core 6. I love the book choices of Sonlight and we already own most of the books for this particular core. My only hesitation is the speed at which Sonlight moves. We'd be covering the Ancients all the way through the Reformation in one year. Wow! I would probably slow it down, spending at least 1.5 years covering this core.
Grammar - We started Rod and Staff English 5 a few months ago and we'll continue with that. We only do grammar a few days a week, so we probably won't finish it until February. We'll then start R&S English 6. I have tried other things for grammar, but I just love how R&S is set up. I also know it's very rigorous, so I'm comfortable using it below grade level.
Math - This is a tough one. I have really liked CLE, but my kids' grades on tests and quizzes this year have been very low. I feel that they really need more one-on-one instruction. And, while I am very good at math, I'm not so good at explaining it. So, I am probably going to switch to Bob Jones. I like their teacher manuals a lot and it's what I need. Since Robert is behind in math, I'll be able to put both of them in Grade 6 math and teach them together (which will also save money). The following year, Robert should be able to move into pre-algebra. Ruth can either do Grade 7 or pre-algebra, depending on how strong I feel she is in the concepts.
Science - Robert will be moving into more serious science. I have enjoyed using Bob Jones science this year, and he really likes the look of Life Science. However, it's very teacher-intensive. So, if we can afford to do the DVD (or their new online) classes, we will go that direction. Otherwise, he'll do Apologia General Science. I honestly think he would enjoy either one, so I'm comfortable with those choices. Ruth may do BJU Science 6. I'm not sure about that.
Literature - Well, Sonlight has plenty of reading, so that's covered. I'm going to try to involve the kids in some casual discussions of the books using Sparknotes, and possibly some Total Language Plus guides. I'm also looking at how logic-stage literature is covered in The Well-Trained Mind.
Writing - We're going to continue with IEW. I'm going to use the IEW Ancient History-Based writing lessons. We'll also do written narrations and notebooking.
Bible - We're going to do something wild and crazy here and just read the Bible for our curriculum next year. :) I might try to find a one year Bible for them to use, but I'm not sure. Since we're studying the ancients, it makes sense to start with the Old Testament, so that is what we'll do.
Composer and Artist study - We'll continue with the Ambleside Online rotation.
Art - A friend and I are going to do Meet the Masters together. We'll get together once a month or so and do art projects. (Actually, this may impact our artist study, too. I'll have to take a closer look at it before deciding about that.)
Music - The kids will continue with private lesson instruction and homeschool orchestra.
I think that's it. I'm happy with how it's shaping up. I think it's going to be a good year.
Note: Robert will be in 7th grade next year. Ruthie will be in 6th.
History - As much as I have loved using Tapestry of Grace for the end of our school year, I've decided that I just can't justify the cost. Our money is just not going as far as it used to. (I'm pretty sure this is a common problem everywhere.) I'm going to have to cut expenses somewhere and TOG just does not fit into the budget. So, I'm now looking at Sonlight Core 6. I love the book choices of Sonlight and we already own most of the books for this particular core. My only hesitation is the speed at which Sonlight moves. We'd be covering the Ancients all the way through the Reformation in one year. Wow! I would probably slow it down, spending at least 1.5 years covering this core.
Grammar - We started Rod and Staff English 5 a few months ago and we'll continue with that. We only do grammar a few days a week, so we probably won't finish it until February. We'll then start R&S English 6. I have tried other things for grammar, but I just love how R&S is set up. I also know it's very rigorous, so I'm comfortable using it below grade level.
Math - This is a tough one. I have really liked CLE, but my kids' grades on tests and quizzes this year have been very low. I feel that they really need more one-on-one instruction. And, while I am very good at math, I'm not so good at explaining it. So, I am probably going to switch to Bob Jones. I like their teacher manuals a lot and it's what I need. Since Robert is behind in math, I'll be able to put both of them in Grade 6 math and teach them together (which will also save money). The following year, Robert should be able to move into pre-algebra. Ruth can either do Grade 7 or pre-algebra, depending on how strong I feel she is in the concepts.
Science - Robert will be moving into more serious science. I have enjoyed using Bob Jones science this year, and he really likes the look of Life Science. However, it's very teacher-intensive. So, if we can afford to do the DVD (or their new online) classes, we will go that direction. Otherwise, he'll do Apologia General Science. I honestly think he would enjoy either one, so I'm comfortable with those choices. Ruth may do BJU Science 6. I'm not sure about that.
Literature - Well, Sonlight has plenty of reading, so that's covered. I'm going to try to involve the kids in some casual discussions of the books using Sparknotes, and possibly some Total Language Plus guides. I'm also looking at how logic-stage literature is covered in The Well-Trained Mind.
Writing - We're going to continue with IEW. I'm going to use the IEW Ancient History-Based writing lessons. We'll also do written narrations and notebooking.
Bible - We're going to do something wild and crazy here and just read the Bible for our curriculum next year. :) I might try to find a one year Bible for them to use, but I'm not sure. Since we're studying the ancients, it makes sense to start with the Old Testament, so that is what we'll do.
Composer and Artist study - We'll continue with the Ambleside Online rotation.
Art - A friend and I are going to do Meet the Masters together. We'll get together once a month or so and do art projects. (Actually, this may impact our artist study, too. I'll have to take a closer look at it before deciding about that.)
Music - The kids will continue with private lesson instruction and homeschool orchestra.
I think that's it. I'm happy with how it's shaping up. I think it's going to be a good year.
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
How We're Using Total Language Plus
We are a little over halfway through our first (okay, sort of first) Total Language Plus study. I say "sort of" because we actually did try one a couple of years ago and I just couldn't get a handle on how it worked. We've figured it out now, though, and I thought if I spelled out exactly how we do it now, it might help someone else.
I bought one copy of The Cricket in Times Square study. TLP allows you to copy it for use with another child in the family. However, I'm not sure how much I came out ahead doing this. I think next time I'll just by two copies.
I don't like book binding on workbooks, so I had the binding cut off and made a notebook out of it using my comb binding machine. I put dividers between each unit to make it easier to find the correct page as we're working.
Since my children are so close in age, we are able to do our study together. This is basically how we go through each lesson.
TLP has been a big hit here. I know we will do at least one more study this year, but I haven't decided which one. Grammar is pretty light in the lower levels of TLP, so you might want to supplement that with something else. I would not do it at the same time, but fit something in when you're not doing a TLP study. We will probably take a break before our next study and do something like Junior Analytical Grammar.
I hope this helps someone. Let me know if you have any questions.
I bought one copy of The Cricket in Times Square study. TLP allows you to copy it for use with another child in the family. However, I'm not sure how much I came out ahead doing this. I think next time I'll just by two copies.
I don't like book binding on workbooks, so I had the binding cut off and made a notebook out of it using my comb binding machine. I put dividers between each unit to make it easier to find the correct page as we're working.
Since my children are so close in age, we are able to do our study together. This is basically how we go through each lesson.
- First we do the dictation exercise, if there is one.
- If the kids worked on comprehension questions on the previous day, we go over the answers.
- Each unit centers around a specified number of chapters (2 to 3 in the case of TCITS). We read from the book, taking turns reading aloud. The Cricket in Times Square has short chapters, so we can cover one chapter each day. There's plenty time to stretch out the chapters if you need to, though.
- After reading, I assign the work for the day. Comprehension questions are by chapter, so I assign those if we read from the book that day. Vocabulary, spelling, and grammar are broken up into A, B, C, D, and E assignments. We do one letter each day (i.e. vocab A, spelling A, and grammar A). We will typically run out of comprehension questions before we are through the other assignments. If that is the case, we will either have a shorter lesson time or I will look through the suggested projects for something fun to do.
- Writing assignments are included in TLP, but we use IEW, so I don't usually use them. If one of the assignments strikes our fancy, or I can see how to adjust it to a IEW assignment, I will do so. We also use the writing prompts for discussion purposes. (There is no actually writing instruction included in TLP, just a bunch of prompts.)
- I always include an extra day at the end of a TLP unit. This allows us to catch up if we have fallen behind on anything, or do some of the projects listed in the guide.
TLP has been a big hit here. I know we will do at least one more study this year, but I haven't decided which one. Grammar is pretty light in the lower levels of TLP, so you might want to supplement that with something else. I would not do it at the same time, but fit something in when you're not doing a TLP study. We will probably take a break before our next study and do something like Junior Analytical Grammar.
I hope this helps someone. Let me know if you have any questions.
Monday, November 17, 2008
It's All About Me
Yes, it really is. I set the tone for the day. I determine, to a great extent, whether it's going to be a good day or not. My attitude is more important than the kids' attitudes.
I woke up very early this morning and I decided to take advantage of it, rather than wasting time on the computer until the very-last-minute. (yes, I admit it. I do that.) So, this is how our day has gone.
6:30 I showered & dressed
7:00 made waffles for breakfast
7:30 gathered and organizeed all the kids' school books and put them on the table
8:00 called kids down for breakfast (wonders of wonders, they're actually dressed!)
8:30 started school (on time, even!) -
We are all sitting at the table with our assignment sheets, check-lists, and books. School goes smoothly. Robert asks several times if he can take a break, but I point out the assigned break time and say, "not yet". His attitude is great. He even says, "This is one of my happy days. I love it when I have a happy day." So do we all, sweetie. (And, hmm..., I wonder why the day is going so smoothly.) We get Bible, history, poetry, math, and Total Language Plus done. Robert even gets his Latin assignment from last week finished. He also does his president fact sheet and his timeline entry.
I sat at the table with them for the most part. I graded papers as they finished (bonus: nothing to grade tonight!). I did check my Motivated Moms chore chart and did a few things, but I stayed within a few steps of them the whole time. I was very focused on them and what they were doing.
10:20 We took a break. Ideally I would like to spend this time outside, but I had some things inside I needed to do. The kids played upstairs. I put together 3 orders from our online scrapbook store. (Yes, we have one. I rarely talk about it here.) I also started our lunch (pizza biscuit pockets - something new I'm trying)
11:00 break is over - time for writing! We are on Unit IV of IEW and I explained again how to do the outline. Robert is writing about the War of 1812. Ruthie chose to write about national flowers of North Korea. (??? - not what I would have chosen, but the point is learning to write at this point, not so much content)
They finished their outlines early, so Robert goes ahead and finishes his Story of Inventions reading and Ruthie does her typing lesson.
We are done for the day! And what time is it? 11:30 am. Yes, indeedy. It truly is all about me. Now, if I can just keep remembering that.
I woke up very early this morning and I decided to take advantage of it, rather than wasting time on the computer until the very-last-minute. (yes, I admit it. I do that.) So, this is how our day has gone.
6:30 I showered & dressed
7:00 made waffles for breakfast
7:30 gathered and organizeed all the kids' school books and put them on the table
8:00 called kids down for breakfast (wonders of wonders, they're actually dressed!)
8:30 started school (on time, even!) -
We are all sitting at the table with our assignment sheets, check-lists, and books. School goes smoothly. Robert asks several times if he can take a break, but I point out the assigned break time and say, "not yet". His attitude is great. He even says, "This is one of my happy days. I love it when I have a happy day." So do we all, sweetie. (And, hmm..., I wonder why the day is going so smoothly.) We get Bible, history, poetry, math, and Total Language Plus done. Robert even gets his Latin assignment from last week finished. He also does his president fact sheet and his timeline entry.
I sat at the table with them for the most part. I graded papers as they finished (bonus: nothing to grade tonight!). I did check my Motivated Moms chore chart and did a few things, but I stayed within a few steps of them the whole time. I was very focused on them and what they were doing.
10:20 We took a break. Ideally I would like to spend this time outside, but I had some things inside I needed to do. The kids played upstairs. I put together 3 orders from our online scrapbook store. (Yes, we have one. I rarely talk about it here.) I also started our lunch (pizza biscuit pockets - something new I'm trying)
11:00 break is over - time for writing! We are on Unit IV of IEW and I explained again how to do the outline. Robert is writing about the War of 1812. Ruthie chose to write about national flowers of North Korea. (??? - not what I would have chosen, but the point is learning to write at this point, not so much content)
They finished their outlines early, so Robert goes ahead and finishes his Story of Inventions reading and Ruthie does her typing lesson.
We are done for the day! And what time is it? 11:30 am. Yes, indeedy. It truly is all about me. Now, if I can just keep remembering that.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Recently...
Goodness, I haven't blogged in forever. Life has just gotten in the way.
I've been tweaking our homeschool day again and I think I have finally gotten it the way I want it.
I've made some changes to Robert's history program. AO 5 has been a bit much for him this year, so I've cut out a few things. I've also found that I really prefer that each week have a specific topic to center things around, so I'm using an adapation of the Truthquest American History II schedule I found at Ambleside Classical (look in her sidebar).
One thing that is encouraging is that Robert is very enthusiastic about his history studies this year. I think a big part of that is the AO books. They are wonderful!
I've also changed Ruth's Sonlight schedule to more closely follow Higher Up and Further In's Year 5 schedule. Lindafay has British history scheduled with this. I have replaced it with Robert's spine reading. This way, they will be at the same point in history next year, when I plan on combining them again. Ruthie's main focus is still the Eastern Hemisphere study, but she is learning the American History that Robert is, too.
We have changed from CLE Reading to a Total Language Plus study of The Cricket in Times Square. A childhood friend of mine is a rep for them and she was able to answer all my questions. It's going very well. I like the time we spend together working on it. Also, it includes vocabulary, spelling, and dictation, so those are finally getting done.
Our Art Project Friday has not happened for a couple of weeks. It seems that something always comes up. One Friday a friend called up unexpectedly to ask us to go to lunch with them. Then we had eye appointments. Our conflict today is a rescheduled cello lesson. I'm going to have to get control of this, but I can't quite figure it out.
In other news...
I had to share Robert's Halloween costume. He was Mario and it turned out great! (Can you guess why he's in that pose?) Ruthie doesn't like 
Halloween (she scares easily), so she chose to skip dressing up and trick-or-treating this year. She stayed home and passed out candy, instead.
Ruthie got braces this week. She has adjusted to them well. She chose blue rubber bands, but wants to change the colors for different seasons/holidays. Braces were not this fun when I had them.
You can click on any picture to make it larger. Please excuse the red-eye. I had to choose between fixing the red-eye and getting this post done. Posting won.
This school year is going by so quickly. Is anybody else shocked that Thanksgiving is only 2 weeks away. How did that happen?
I've been tweaking our homeschool day again and I think I have finally gotten it the way I want it.
I've made some changes to Robert's history program. AO 5 has been a bit much for him this year, so I've cut out a few things. I've also found that I really prefer that each week have a specific topic to center things around, so I'm using an adapation of the Truthquest American History II schedule I found at Ambleside Classical (look in her sidebar).
One thing that is encouraging is that Robert is very enthusiastic about his history studies this year. I think a big part of that is the AO books. They are wonderful!
I've also changed Ruth's Sonlight schedule to more closely follow Higher Up and Further In's Year 5 schedule. Lindafay has British history scheduled with this. I have replaced it with Robert's spine reading. This way, they will be at the same point in history next year, when I plan on combining them again. Ruthie's main focus is still the Eastern Hemisphere study, but she is learning the American History that Robert is, too.
We have changed from CLE Reading to a Total Language Plus study of The Cricket in Times Square. A childhood friend of mine is a rep for them and she was able to answer all my questions. It's going very well. I like the time we spend together working on it. Also, it includes vocabulary, spelling, and dictation, so those are finally getting done.Our Art Project Friday has not happened for a couple of weeks. It seems that something always comes up. One Friday a friend called up unexpectedly to ask us to go to lunch with them. Then we had eye appointments. Our conflict today is a rescheduled cello lesson. I'm going to have to get control of this, but I can't quite figure it out.
In other news...
I had to share Robert's Halloween costume. He was Mario and it turned out great! (Can you guess why he's in that pose?) Ruthie doesn't like 
Halloween (she scares easily), so she chose to skip dressing up and trick-or-treating this year. She stayed home and passed out candy, instead.
Ruthie got braces this week. She has adjusted to them well. She chose blue rubber bands, but wants to change the colors for different seasons/holidays. Braces were not this fun when I had them.You can click on any picture to make it larger. Please excuse the red-eye. I had to choose between fixing the red-eye and getting this post done. Posting won.
This school year is going by so quickly. Is anybody else shocked that Thanksgiving is only 2 weeks away. How did that happen?
Friday, October 17, 2008
Put Title Here
I could not think of a single good title, but wanted to give an update, so there you go.
We've had a bit of a hard time getting back in the swing of things since the hurricane. We took a week off (I was feeling whiny about having no power) and I think we're paying for it.
One thing I did was move us to a definite time schedule. As in, 8:30, 9:00, etc. You get the idea. It's had mixed results. Ruthie loves it. It keeps her moving and she has consistently gotten her schoolwork done. Robert fought it, but actually has gotten more work done. The big drawback with him is if we start school late for some reason. He cannot be convinced that we can just move everything back. We'll work on that.
Even with the new schedule, though, we've been lagging this week. One thing the new schedule showed me is that there is no way we can be done before 2:30 pm. That is not what I want for our school days. So, I'm making more changes.
The biggest change is to our Friday schedule. I dropped math. That was difficult to do because we haven't caught up to grade level since we switched to CLE. I also took science out of the daily schedule and put it in a block of time on Friday. I'll see if that works better. Overall, our Friday is now more of a project day (science, notebooking, art, etc.).
I also took out our read aloud time in the morning. We've been reading Inkheart. It's a good book, but it's not school related. It also means I haven't been doing Ruthie's Sonlight read-aloud like I should. So, it's been moved to a different time of day. Book Basket and instrument practice have also been moved off the schedule. I still expect them to do it, but as long as it's done sometime during the day, I'm okay with that.
In an effort to make sure they do things like reading and practice, and in an effort to work on attitudes around here, I'm creating a "nobility record" for the kids. I got the idea from Trivium Academy. If you haven't seen it yet, go check it out. It's a marvelous idea.
In other news, Ruthie and I went camping with her Girl Scout troop this past weekend. As the camp-trained person, I was in charge of the whole event. I do not like being in charge of things, so it was very stressful for me. We had a great time, though, and are already planning another trip for April.
Robert had a friend over for a late birthday celebration. They were originally going to see the new Star Wars animated movie, but it was no longer in theaters by the time the power came back on. So, Griff took them to play laser tag instead. We also took them out to lunch and had cake and ice cream at home. It was very low-key, but Robert enjoyed it. I'm thankful that both of my kids prefer smaller parties.
If I get it together, I'll post some pictures later. I make no promises, though.
We've had a bit of a hard time getting back in the swing of things since the hurricane. We took a week off (I was feeling whiny about having no power) and I think we're paying for it.
One thing I did was move us to a definite time schedule. As in, 8:30, 9:00, etc. You get the idea. It's had mixed results. Ruthie loves it. It keeps her moving and she has consistently gotten her schoolwork done. Robert fought it, but actually has gotten more work done. The big drawback with him is if we start school late for some reason. He cannot be convinced that we can just move everything back. We'll work on that.
Even with the new schedule, though, we've been lagging this week. One thing the new schedule showed me is that there is no way we can be done before 2:30 pm. That is not what I want for our school days. So, I'm making more changes.
The biggest change is to our Friday schedule. I dropped math. That was difficult to do because we haven't caught up to grade level since we switched to CLE. I also took science out of the daily schedule and put it in a block of time on Friday. I'll see if that works better. Overall, our Friday is now more of a project day (science, notebooking, art, etc.).
I also took out our read aloud time in the morning. We've been reading Inkheart. It's a good book, but it's not school related. It also means I haven't been doing Ruthie's Sonlight read-aloud like I should. So, it's been moved to a different time of day. Book Basket and instrument practice have also been moved off the schedule. I still expect them to do it, but as long as it's done sometime during the day, I'm okay with that.
In an effort to make sure they do things like reading and practice, and in an effort to work on attitudes around here, I'm creating a "nobility record" for the kids. I got the idea from Trivium Academy. If you haven't seen it yet, go check it out. It's a marvelous idea.
In other news, Ruthie and I went camping with her Girl Scout troop this past weekend. As the camp-trained person, I was in charge of the whole event. I do not like being in charge of things, so it was very stressful for me. We had a great time, though, and are already planning another trip for April.
Robert had a friend over for a late birthday celebration. They were originally going to see the new Star Wars animated movie, but it was no longer in theaters by the time the power came back on. So, Griff took them to play laser tag instead. We also took them out to lunch and had cake and ice cream at home. It was very low-key, but Robert enjoyed it. I'm thankful that both of my kids prefer smaller parties.
If I get it together, I'll post some pictures later. I make no promises, though.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Success!!
We have been very loosey-goosey in our homeschooling days lately. We have not had any type of real schedule and have not been accomplishing much. I decided things had to change.
I instituted a much more rigid schedule last Monday. Basically, they have a list of assignments, with time limits set. Whatever they do not finish, becomes homework.
Ruthie loved it. She got everything done without a bit of homework all week. Robert fought me every. step. of. the. way. It was awful. It was miserable. What a terrible week. He did not finish math on time a single day. Most days he didn't finish grammar on time, either. One day he didn't even finish Bible! I knew we needed to stick with it, but it was rough.
Fast forward to today. He finished everything. All of it. Not a bit of homework. Hallelujah! He is so proud of himself, and I'm proud of him too. Woo-hoo!
I instituted a much more rigid schedule last Monday. Basically, they have a list of assignments, with time limits set. Whatever they do not finish, becomes homework.
Ruthie loved it. She got everything done without a bit of homework all week. Robert fought me every. step. of. the. way. It was awful. It was miserable. What a terrible week. He did not finish math on time a single day. Most days he didn't finish grammar on time, either. One day he didn't even finish Bible! I knew we needed to stick with it, but it was rough.
Fast forward to today. He finished everything. All of it. Not a bit of homework. Hallelujah! He is so proud of himself, and I'm proud of him too. Woo-hoo!
Friday, November 30, 2007
Weekly Report - November 12-30
I haven't done a weekly report for a few weeks, so I'm covering everything we've done during that time. Last week was very light because of Thanksgiving.
CLE Language Arts arrived and we have started. We just finished the first quiz and it's going pretty well.
Lots and lots of books about the middle ages were read. We have studied castles and knights the last couple of weeks and the kids are really enjoying it. They've been disinterested in the middle ages up to this point.
Ruth is also reading the Chronicles of Narnia. She read The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe previously, but the others shown have been within the past couple of weeks. Robert has finally finished Lad: A Dog. I asked him if he finally liked it at the end, but he said that he's liked it since the beginning. So why did it take him a full month to finish the book?!
We read about William the Conqueror this week. I wanted to share Robert's notebook page. He is learning chess now, and since it had its beginning in the middle ages, his picture is a chess "battle scene". (We are working on the writing portion. Robert gives very good oral narrations, but struggles with written .)
We're working on the poem The Arrow and the Song by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. I really like this poem, and the kids recognized the first couple of lines from a Foxtrot cartoon. Now, how's that for cultural relevance? LOL (please excuse how crooked this is - I just could not get it to scan straight)
SCIENCE
It's taken awhile, but we've finally finished up our sea turtles chapter. I thought we'd never get those last things finished! Kids made sea turtles and sea snakes for the ocean box. I promise the next pictures will show them actually in the box!
I am putting aside our regular Bible curriculum for a study of Christmas. We are doing a Jesse tree for the first time. In an effort to keep it simple (to make sure it gets done!) and inexpensive, we are using the scriptures and ornaments found here. I also found an excellent overview of Jesse trees here.
Coming up:
We will return to our study of Latin and do better with our composer and picture study. :)
GRAMMAR
CLE Language Arts arrived and we have started. We just finished the first quiz and it's going pretty well.
READING
Lots and lots of books about the middle ages were read. We have studied castles and knights the last couple of weeks and the kids are really enjoying it. They've been disinterested in the middle ages up to this point.
Ruth is also reading the Chronicles of Narnia. She read The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe previously, but the others shown have been within the past couple of weeks. Robert has finally finished Lad: A Dog. I asked him if he finally liked it at the end, but he said that he's liked it since the beginning. So why did it take him a full month to finish the book?!
HISTORY
We read about William the Conqueror this week. I wanted to share Robert's notebook page. He is learning chess now, and since it had its beginning in the middle ages, his picture is a chess "battle scene". (We are working on the writing portion. Robert gives very good oral narrations, but struggles with written .)
MEMORY
We're working on the poem The Arrow and the Song by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. I really like this poem, and the kids recognized the first couple of lines from a Foxtrot cartoon. Now, how's that for cultural relevance? LOL (please excuse how crooked this is - I just could not get it to scan straight)
SCIENCEIt's taken awhile, but we've finally finished up our sea turtles chapter. I thought we'd never get those last things finished! Kids made sea turtles and sea snakes for the ocean box. I promise the next pictures will show them actually in the box!
BIBLE
I am putting aside our regular Bible curriculum for a study of Christmas. We are doing a Jesse tree for the first time. In an effort to keep it simple (to make sure it gets done!) and inexpensive, we are using the scriptures and ornaments found here. I also found an excellent overview of Jesse trees here.
Coming up:
We will return to our study of Latin and do better with our composer and picture study. :)
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Tracking Assignments
Keeping track of daily assignments has always been a struggle. I've tried several different methods - handwritten, daily assignment sheets, weekly assignment sheets, pre-printed, blank sheets with handwritten assignments. None of them work, mainly because we can't keep track of the sheets of paper and my children forget to check what has yet to be done.
So, I went back to something I used last year.
I have all our subjects listed, with columns for each child, written with wet-erase markers. Assignments are written by me daily with dry-erase markers. It is easy and impossible to misplace. :) (Please note that every single assignment from this chart is done. That hasn't happened since then, but I wanted to make sure you saw this it does happen here occasionally.)
I have also started using the Simply Charlotte Mason web-site organizer. I used to think the $10/month was too much, but after seeing it recommended by Christy at A Common Shepherdess, I decided to sign up for the 30-day trial. I figured if I used it for those 30 days, it would be worth the money (seeing as I've never stuck with any organization method that long - I am so ADD at times). I did and it is! I love it. It's easy to see daily assignments and check them off throughout the day. If I forget something, I can go back later and do it. Easy-peasy.
Another advantage to this method is that I get a break from the paper monster that threatens to take over my home. :)
So, I went back to something I used last year.
I have all our subjects listed, with columns for each child, written with wet-erase markers. Assignments are written by me daily with dry-erase markers. It is easy and impossible to misplace. :) (Please note that every single assignment from this chart is done. That hasn't happened since then, but I wanted to make sure you saw this it does happen here occasionally.)
I have also started using the Simply Charlotte Mason web-site organizer. I used to think the $10/month was too much, but after seeing it recommended by Christy at A Common Shepherdess, I decided to sign up for the 30-day trial. I figured if I used it for those 30 days, it would be worth the money (seeing as I've never stuck with any organization method that long - I am so ADD at times). I did and it is! I love it. It's easy to see daily assignments and check them off throughout the day. If I forget something, I can go back later and do it. Easy-peasy.
Another advantage to this method is that I get a break from the paper monster that threatens to take over my home. :)
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Motivation
The threat of having to clean a toilet is very effective in getting a certain boy to do his math.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)