Apr. 3, 2007
"I Think I Can..."
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I have spent the better part of this morning looking up curriculum for next school year. I guess you know that you have spring fever and are ready for summer break when you are more focused on next year's studies than you are on this year's studies. It's just been one of those years....so much chaos - so little time. We're leaning toward Teaching Textbooks for our oldest son for math next year. He enjoys math and advances well in it so this should be something that will help break up the boredom of the workbooks. I haven't had him take the placement test for it yet, but looking at the table of contents, it looks like he'd be doing the 7th grade study. One of the many things that I love about homeschooling is that our children can advance at their own paces. Where they are, is right where they need to be and that's a good feeling. For our middle son, we are leaning toward Math U See. This is a brilliant child, but he gets bored with workbook pages. This program seems to be a good option for him. I really hate busy-work for the sake of busy-work, and it really doesn't appeal to my children's sense of wonder and excitement. It's not something that will bring them to a place of curiosity so that they will delve into these things naturally. They could sit at a desk all day long and do busy-work at our local public schoolhouse; that's not why we homeschool. I came across a curriculum that I'd never heard of before and am a bit intrigued by it. I guess, when the separate parts are used together as a whole unit, it could be considered language arts. It is called "Cozy English Courses". http://www.splashesfromtheriver.com/ It looks like something that my children would really take well to from what I can tell. I've read some reviews that seemed positive, but I don't know anyone, in real life, who uses this. For the upcoming 2007-2008 school year I've been seeking out something different for my boys for math and language arts. They have learned well with what we've used over the years, but these two subjects really just seem to be the bane of homeschooling for all of us. My knowledge of math ends with algebra so I'm beginning to get lost with what the children are studying these days. Then there's language arts. I actually enjoy grammar and I love writing, but truthfully, it can all get really dull really fast in the learning department. Especially to young boys who just don't care if they spell right or not, and who don't even consider legible handwriting to be an option. And we're back to that evil word again: busy-work. That's what it becomes because they don't naturally have a bent toward language arts. This curriculum seems as if it might be a step in a better direction for us. I don't know that they'll ever be jumping out of their seats to do language arts, but I can always hope to find something that resonates more with them. We're still using and loving The Mystery of History. I'd hoped to be a bit farther along in volume one before the fall, but - it is what it is. We'll finish up volume one and move on to volume two next year. We're also planning to continue using the elementary Apologia studies for science. This is one subject that boys enjoy in their sleep. Science and boys - you can't have one without the other. We've been doing the astronomy study this year. I'd like to use the botany study next year. My children plant things every year...with very little success, but they enjoy it. It would help if their mother knew the first thing about planting....as usual, I'll get as much, if not more, out of our studies than they will. Another one of those benefits of homeschooling. Until we exhaust our options with the "Millers" series of books, we'll continue to use those as a part of our Bible studies. My kids really enjoy peeking into the Miller's life and finding out what they are up to next. I like that they are aimed at teaching character lessons rather than Bible stories. We've been doing Bible verse memorization this year and it's been a great addition to our routine. I believe that Bible is always everyone's favorite subject. Yet another benefit of homeschooling - not a whole lot of Bible studies going on in our local neighborhood school. Now, the challenge is to stay the course with our current studies. I can't look too far forward, otherwise I'll have to check myself into the funny farm. Getting to summer break this year is going to have to be a one-day-at -a-time thing for me this year. God's been so good to bring us this far in this crazy-busy year, so I know that He'll be faithful to see us through. Like the"Little train that could" I'll keep plugging along telling myself "I think I can, I think I can". |