We have started "back to school" after our December break.  We are still trying to get back into our school routines.  It hasn't been easy, but I know things will get smoothed out eventually.  I just have to be patient with the process.  :-D

I have made some changes to our curriculum for this Term.  I will be updating my sidebar listing as soon as I can, but in the meantime here's a little chart I put together to show the changes I've made, along with some of my thoughts on each change.  Obviously, the boxes in column three that are blank mean that I have not made any changes in that subject area (yet!).  I also bolded the specific items I've changed, just to make it easier to see them at-a-glance.

I hope you enjoy taking this little peek into our Term 2 plans.  I've been checking all my friends' blogs to see if anyone else is making changes to her homeschool plans for this term.  It's always refreshing to me to start a new term by looking back at the previous term and using that hindsight to make changes that will help us have an even better homeschool this term.          

	Our Curriculum in Term 1	Changes Made (so far) in Term 2
Devotional	God's Story and Me, NKJV Bible
Hymn	Alas! and Did My Savior Bleed
Recitation	Ten Commandments in Verse
Phonics	Reading Made Easy, Explode the Code	Decided to use Reading Reflex and Explode the Code with dd5.  After taking two dd's through RME, I'm ready for something different.  I had narrowed my choices down to Reading Reflex, The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading, and Learning Language Arts Through Literature Blue (the old version).  LLATL got knocked out of the running because it isn't as easy to "just pick up and do."  OPG is easy to pick up and do, but the book is so huge!  It is overwhelming!  It's also hard to jump around in it and I've found that I need to be able to jump around in a phonics program so I can just fill in the gaps my dc have rather than make them go over stuff they already know.  RR is both easy to pick up and do and easy to jump around in.  Yesterday I was able to use RR to take dd5 from just knowing the letter sounds (she learned them from the Leap Frog Letter Factory DVD) to being able to sound out and read stories with 3-letter, short-a words (like "Fat cat sat on mat.").  I was also able to use RR to fill in some gaps with dd8.  I didn't cut out any of the manipulatives either.  I just picked up the book, sat in my favorite chair with dd5 on one leg and dd8 on the other, and pointed to the words I wanted them to sound out.  I know that is not the way the authors' intended for RR to be used, but it works for us.  I like the OPTION of being able to do the games and activities on those days when I'm up to all that, but there are many days where all I can do is open up a phonics book and point to the words I want the dc to sound out.  I didn't think I could do that with RR, but it turns out that I can so that clinched the decision for me.
Handwriting	Reason for Handwriting (dd10), Italic (dd8)	Switched dd8 back to Handwriting Without Tears.  I don't know why I keep on trying to use Italic handwriting, but maybe this time I have learned my lesson and will stick with HWT for the rest of my dc.  Part of the reason why I keep trying Italic is that dd10 learned Italic first and her printing is very nice.  However, when it came time to learn cursive she did NOT like the Italic cursive.  She wanted to learn traditional cursive so I used HWT Cursive with her and then A Reason for Handwriting for practicing her cursive skills.  She loves RFH so my plan for the younger dc is to use HWT all the way through the Cursive book and then switch them to RFH for additional cursive practice.  The HWT teaching methodology just makes so much sense and has been a lot easier for me to implement than the Italic methodology.  (I didn't actually "teach"  Italic to dd10; she learned it through tracing over the Italic letters in the Simply Phonics and Simply English books but that tracing method didn't work with dd8 who needs more explicit one-on-one guidance from me.)
Math	Saxon 65 (dd10)	Switched dd10 back to Singapore and Math-U-See.  Again, I hope this is one area where I've learned my lesson and will just stick with what has been working.  There was no need for me to switch dd10 to Saxon other than my own insecurities about "grade level."  She was working "below grade level" in the Singapore and MUS books and it made me feel better to be able to switch her into a 6th grade math book (Saxon 65).  She was doing well with the Saxon, but she was losing her enthusiasm for math and that enthusiasm is more important to me than arbitrary "grade level" designations so I decided to let her choose which math program she wanted to use.  She actually chose Singapore, not MUS or Saxon.  But I decided to keep my MUS materials and use them as a supplement to Singapore.  I love the MUS blocks and I like some of Mr. Demme's methods so I will use the TM's to pull ideas from whenever dd hits a stumbling block in her Singapore books.  By the way, dd has been slowly regaining her enthusiasm for math since we switched back to Singapore.  I don't blame her.  Those Singapore workbooks are FUN!  I even want to do one on my own (and probably will when we get into the NEM levels).
Spelling / Grammar	Higher Lessons in Grammar, dictation (dd10)	Decided to use Rod and Staff English and dictation with dd10.  I am using the R&S English in a non-traditional way.  I already owned the R&S English 2 student book and the old version of the R&S English 3 student book.  Since the R&S 3 is an old version, it follows a different scope and sequence than the new R&S 2.  Not to worry though.  I just picked out the sections from both books that I want dd10 to read and arranged them in a reading order that makes sense to me.  She will be flipping back and forth between both books until she has completed my reading plan.  I am not having her read every unit.  I'm just filling in her gaps.  She already knew some grammar from when we did part of First Language Lessons and some Mad Libs, so I'm just having her read certain sections that cover "new" (to her) material.  I'm not having her do many of the written exercises either.  After she reads a section and reaches a "review" exercise, I do have her do a few (very few) of the written exercises.  If she aces them, then she gets to move on to reading the next scheduled section.  If she doesn't do well, then I have her do more of the written work until I feel that she has achieved a sufficient mastery of the concept to be able to move on.
Logic	Building Thinking Skills Book 2 (dd10)
History / Literature / Poetry	Ambleside Online Year 2	Decided to bump dd10 up to doing Year 4 independently; dd8 will still be doing Year 2 with me.  This has been a difficult transition because dd10 has already read some of the Year 4 books but I didn't really want to reinvent the wheel where AO is concerned.  I want to benefit from all the hard work that the Advisory has put into coming up with the AO curriculum.  I'm tired of doing so much planning and tweaking.  I know I will still need to keep adapting the materials for my younger dc, but dd10 is so RIPE for doing an AO Year on her own.  I could have placed her in Year 5, but I had more of the Year 4 books already so that is where she got placed.  LOL!  Anyway, she still listens in on the Year 2 readings with the younger dc, but now I feel better knowing that I'm not short-changing her.  The girl was getting desperate for reading material because every time she would pull a book off the shelf and ask if she could read it I would have to say, "No, honey, that is an AO book for later on and I don't want you to read those books ahead of schedule."  Now, she can branch off and have her own AO schedule and not be held back to the level of the younger dc.
Science	Exploring Creation with Astronomy
Bible History	Greenleaf Guide to the Old Testament, NKJV Bible

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