Jul. 31, 2006 - Back to business!
Well, it has been a long time!
First thing's first! I recently received Dominic's test scores
from the Standford Acheivment Test he took in April, and my brilliant
boy scored in the upper 70th percentile of 5th graders in the
country! Most subjects, his performance was rated at that of a
7th to 9th grader, except in reading comprehension, in which he scored
at a 3rd grade level. Dominic! I had a feeling that would
happen. He is a very fluent and advanced reader, and on all
comprehension exercizes he did really well, but I just knew he would
gloss over the selections on the test because he was worried about time
allowed to finish. But...no matter. I know and he knows
what an excellent reader he is, and that's good enough for me.
I decided to take the traditional 3 months off for summer
vacation. This coming school year, I am going to try a different
schedule approach, mainly due to the coming addition to our
family! Miller baby #4 is due mid February, so some creative
scheduling is in order.
We'll begin earlier, probably in late
August instead of late September this year (IF I can get together all
the materials I need to order in time), take less time off in December,
and extend the learning year into July. This way, I can take a
substantial amount of time off after the baby comes. I am certain
that one or two specific people will, before too long, start quizzing
me about "just how do you think you're going to homeschool your two
older boys with a toddler and a newborn to take care of?"
Not
that I don't have moments of transient panic about being a mom to 4
kids. I have them for sure. Not just about homeschooling,
but just in general. HOW will I possibly do grocery shopping with
4 kids? HOW will I ever get a shower in the morning with 4
kids? HOW........but then I have to stop myself and think about
some families I know with more than 4 kids. It happens. They make
it work somehow, and I can, too. I think of the ways I adapted
when my second baby came along, then my third, and that's just
IT!!! You have to adapt, reform schedules and routines and your
ways of doing things.
So as far as homeschooling goes, I'm
quite sure I'll run into some roadblocks and rough days, but I hear
tell even the experts and veterans do, too. I am so very inspired
by families I see who homeschool many children successfully (Stephanie,
you know who you are). I plan to take advantage of the long
periods of sleep that a newborn goes through, and later on, the
predictable and mostly reliable two nap a day scenario to get the bulk
of our lessons done in. My husband also has blocks of time off
which will be quite helpful.
So....I have more or less decided
what programs to use for curriculum this year. I just could not
find what I wanted in an all inclusive prepackaged curriculum, so it's
a hodgepodge of things...actually, I am still fence sitting on the
language arts program, but I've got the rest pretty much worked out.
For math, both boys will do the Alpha Omega Lifepacs (Zachary is
not strong in math so he'll begin with the second grade pack instead of
the third grade and we'll see how it goes)
Science will be Bob Jones 3 and 6
Bible study will be Christian Liberty Press Bible Series 3 and
For History/Government, Zach will do CLP's One Nation Under God, and
Dominic will do the Bob Jones History Program Heritage Studies.
For geography we will use the Modern Curriculum Press' Maps, Charts,
and Graphs books for grades 2 and 6.
All subjects (except math) will be supplemented by a variety of living books and activities.
We are still deciding what elective type courses to add this
year. The boys are not very enthusiastic about learning a foreign
launguage yet so I'm not going to push it, though I thought it would be
fun to learn German. Maybe later. I'd really like to do
more art this year and get them both interested in a musical instrument
and an intensive involvment project like gardening or building
something large. To round it all out, we'll talk about and choose
a project to do all year. One idea we had so far was the
Operation Christmas Child boxes. We sent out three last
Christmas, but this year (for Christmas of 2007)we would like to
collect shoe boxes and things to go in them all year long, and hope to
be able to send out at least 50 boxes come November 2007). It
would involve the boys putting aside some money as we went along, too,
since each box requires $5 in postage.
So, yes I'm nervous about the coming year. But I am hopeful, too,
that I can put aside the mistakes and failures of our first year
and learn from them. I can't really say the year was a failure in
all, just certain things we tried to do fell flat at times. But
not being a "freshman" homeschooler anymore feels pretty darned good,
and I am confident now that it is a lifestyle we can sustain barring
any life emergencies. Onward!
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Post A Comment!
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Aug. 4, 2006 - Untitled Comment |
| Posted by Snuffsgirl |
Hello! It is good to see you blogging again, I would pop in here and at homestead to see what was new. I'm glad things are progressing nicely with your pregnancy, what a great blessing.
Don't worry about tomorrow, just today. Here is a great article. It might really bring you some encouragement! I read it long ago, and it popped into my mind when I was reading your post.
It's called, The Baby is the Lesson
http://www.ldfr.com/about_us/baby.lasso
Take Care, Happy Blogging! |
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Aug. 5, 2006 - Untitled Comment |
| Posted by ccpeterson |
Congratulations on your pregnancy!
It sounds like a good schedule you have arranged for this school year. It will all work out! : )
Charity |
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About Me
Hi there! I am Shannon, wife and helpmeet to Charles, and proud Mama to Dominic, 10..Zachary, 7..and little Charlie, who is a precious 1 year old! Share in our days and homeschooling adventures as we live, laugh, and grow together, embraced in the tender arms of our Lord Jesus. You may find other stuff here, too!
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