Sep. 5, 2009 - 2 weeks down
So, we've been underway for 2 weeks, and so far, so good!
I've given all the dc more independent work this year (especially with the Tapestry of Grace stuff--we did a lot more reading aloud and doing stuff together, but I've been gradually turning more and more over to them). They've done GREAT with our Friday discussion times this year so far. They've really risen to the challenge.
I didn't have everything planned for the first week, but got most of it added in by week 2, and the remainder is set to go for this week.
We are taking Monday off for second son's birthday party (he'll be 14 on Tues), and then most of Tuesday as well, since I give them their birthday's off. But they still have to do all the TOG reading for the week so we don't get behind on that.
It's been harder with the very active, very into everything 2 1/2 year old this year, but she's starting to get used to the new routine (and not having her big buddies available to play as much). She has been watching way too much tv, but hopefully now that we are starting to get in the groove, I can change that and be able to play more in the morning with her. (she is not very good at playing alone--I guess she's never really had to).
So, how about that? Two blog posts in just a couple of weeks! Maybe I'm getting better, lol.
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Aug. 20, 2009 - Back to school soon
So much for good intentions about blogging. Ah well, try, try again.
Today was the first day of trying to get into our morning school routine. We start on Monday (the 24th), so my goal was to get up and get the dc up, have breakfast, and be ready for school by 8.
We almost made it. I was out of the shower and ready to go by 8:10. They were NOT happy about being awakened early, though. LOL. Earlier bedtimes tonight, I think.
I am frantically trying to finish lesson planning. Some were easy--I use Edu-Track and I purchased the dowloadable lesson plans for those, or I was able to copy from a prior year. Others, like Introductory Logic, have been exceedingly hard. Some courses may have to get folded in as we go along.
We've switched to TT for 2 of the children--Pre-Calc and Pre-Algebra. The 9th grader will still be using Math U See for Geometry, only because I couldn't afford 3 TT levels at once.
I most need to get done the Tapestry of Grace plans, though. I've gone through all the book lists, checked my library for what they have, and ordered some of the rest I still need. But I need to order the others (at least those I will use in the first semester), and get the plans finalized and in Edu-Track.
We will be using IEW this year as well, and I need to somehow figure out exactly how we will be doing that.
Our homeschool this year consists of dc in 11th, 9th and 7th grade, along with the 2 1/2 year old. Thankfully more of my courses are student directed this year than last, so I will have more time to spend with the toddler. I am also making use of video tutors for the first time with Teaching Textbooks and Introductory Logic.
Feeling excitement about the new year, but also trepidation on how it will all go with a busy toddler, and a work from home business.
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Aug. 1, 2006 - Our First Day of School!
Went very well. Well, not without some gliches--dd didn't want to sit down and kept interrupting, but I expected some attention problems right at the start.
We worked for just over 2 hours, and had some good discussions. Mainly a review of where we'd been last year, and where we are going this year in history, and why we study history. Read a bit from our literature book. Then the dc filled in blank maps of the continents and oceans. They each had a bit of independent reading to do too.
I found some glitches in our new assignment sheets from Edu-Track, so worked on revising/adding to those this afternoon.
A friend came over to peruse some of my homeschool materials this afternoon--she and her dh will begin homeschooling their oldest 2 boys this year--YAY! another hs'er in the ranks. This is actually our Pastor's wife--so now we aren't the only homeschoolers in our church! Oh, and another young mom is starting her dd3 on the path to homeschooling because she's very advanced and begs for school. She's been asking me for advice on materials and methods as well.
I love influencing others to this wonderful way of life!
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Jul. 31, 2006 - Finally - my dc's Course of Study for the coming year
I've been working hard to get this finalized, and here it is! We will be starting school tomorrow, but only with the assignments that come from Tapestry. We will add in a couple of other subjects next week, and then be up to full speed the following week.
DD8 4th grade 2006-2007
Language Arts:
Spelling: Spelling Power
Grammar: Shurley grammar Level 3
Writing: Tapestry Assignments using Write Away handbook
Institute for Excellence in Writing
Reading/Literature: Living Books from Tapestry
Critical Thinking: Building Thinking Skills Book 1 - finish
Math: Math U See Intermediate (finish)
History/Geography: Tapestry of Grace Yr 2
Fall of Rome American Revolution
Map work with history studies
Which Way USA state books
Science: Considering Gods Creation
Farm work
Interest Led studies
Art: Art History, hands-on projects with Tapestry
Crafts, Artpak 2 (finish)
Cooking: Help in the kitchen
Music: Gift of Music; composers
Recorders
Maybe piano lessons
DS11 - 6th grade 2006-2007
Language Arts:
Spelling: Spelling Power
Grammar: Shurley grammar Level 6
Writing: Tapestry Assignments using Write On Track handbook
Institute for Excellence in Writing
Reading/Literature: Living Books from Tapestry
Upper Grammar Lit. study guides (maybe)
Latin: Matin Latin II
Math: Saxon 76
History/Geography: Tapestry of Grace Yr 2
Fall of Rome American Revolution
Map work with history studies
Science: Apologia General Science
Art: Art History, hands-on projects with Tapestry
1-2-3 Draw
Learn to Draw Now
Music: Gift of Music; composers
Recorders
Typing: Type-it
Computer: Computer Basics
DS13 8th Grade 2006-2007
Language Arts:
Spelling: Spelling Power
Grammar: Parsing and diagramming sentences from Latin work
Writing: Tapestry Assignments using Write Source 2000 handbook
Institute for Excellence in Writing
Reading/Literature: Living Books from Tapestry
Critical Thinking: Critical Thinking Book I and II
Latin : Wheelocks Latin
Math: Math U See Algebra
History/Geography: Tapestry of Grace Yr 2
Fall of Rome American Revolution
Map work with history studies
Science: Apologia Biology
Art: Art History, hands-on projects with Tapestry
Music: Gift of Music; composers
Recorders
Typing: Type-it
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Jul. 20, 2006 - It's that time of year
Time to start doing some nitty-gritty planning for the upcoming school year. I will begin on Monday laying out the first few weeks of lesson plans for each dc. I got a new planning program (Edu-Track) this year, and I'm anxious to see how it helps. Up till now, I've done everything by hand, and it's very time-consuming. With one approaching high school, the promise of easy transcripts was a key selling point, as was the automatic logging of hours, and grade computation.
My plan is to start school on July 30, at least our Tapestry of Grace subjects. Usually, we wait until later in Aug. But with the baby due in Dec, if we start early, I can get the first 2 units of Tapestry done by the end of Nov, allowing me to take all of Dec off if needed for recuperation from birth. We will then add math, grammar, science, etc in the week or 2 following. I like starting slowly and ramping up to a full schedule over a couple of weeks. Not such a shock to the system that way (mine or theirs).
Most of the other subjects are done by the dc rather independently, so they can start them later, and continue into Dec since any input needed by me is minimal. With this schedule, we can still finish up by the end of May next year.
I started a painting project this week (the dc's bathroom), that I will finish tomorrow morning. Then I have 1 more dc's schoolwork from last year to finish going through, sorting and filing away. That's on the list for tomorrow afternoon.
I'll post our curriculum plan for each dc next week.
Hope all of you are getting excited for a new year of learning!
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Jul. 18, 2006 - Adventures in Unschooling
Let it be said upfront, that we are not unschoolers. I have nothing against unschoolers, in fact I admire them greatly. But my dh prefers a somewhat more traditional approach, and I do better with more of a schedule/routine as well. We typically follow a traditional approach to math, language arts, Latin and the like. Yet use a living books/literature/classical approach to history using Tapestry of Grace (which is really so much more than just history).
But, we received our new microscope yesterday, and it's been like Christmas! DS13 will be using Apologia Biology this year, so we invested in a GOOD quality microscope. We've had for years a cheaper 'toy' version that is so-so, and therefore rarely got used.
Well, after setting it up and looking at a few of the prepared slides with the Biology kit, the dc decided to collect their own "specimens". One neat thing that came with the cheap scope was some great side pieces for collection purposes. So, out they went to scout the farm for things they wanted to see close up.
Some things they learned:
-Pond water has critters in it
-Pool water doesn't (thank goodness!)
-Crickets have hairy legs
-whole insects don't work very well, but parts of them do
-dryer lint looks grayish blue when it's in a bunch, but you can see the individual fibers and colors up close.
-Mom's gray hairs are coarser than dd8's brown ones
-salt and sugar are crystals, but pepper isn't
They repeated the activity this morning. So, all told, they've probably spent 4-5 hours on science in the past 2 days, without any prompting from me at all.
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Jul. 2, 2006 - Back from the homeschool conference
I attended a conference/curriculum fair in the city we used to live in (where my mom still lives) this past week. Not only did I get the benefit of the conference, I got to visit with my Mom, as did the dc. They always enjoy this week with Mema--she takes them lots of fun places, and they get to swim in her pool.
I didn't attend a lot of the speaker sessions--seemed to be a lot of repeat of things I'd heard in previous years, but the ones I did go to were good. I was able to buy most of the materials I need for next year (always a great savings on shipping--although the gas to get there really negates that, if it weren't for the side benefit of seeing Mom and lots of old friends).
But most of all, it is a time of refocus for me--of gearing up for the new year and getting excited about what is to come.
We have a traditional summer break around here (I need it and look forward to it as much as the dc do!). Once school is out, it is so nice to just put it all away and not even THINK about it for a bit. But, there comes a time (usually before I am ready) to pull stuff out, finish up last year's filing, and start planning for the coming year.
The conference seems to be that mark for me. Since we'll be starting earlier than usual this year (to allow time off for baby in Dec), I have the month of July to wrap up last year, set up my new computer program for next year (I bought Edu-Track to help with the recordkeeping), and plan the first few weeks of Tapestry. The plan is to do a little each day to avoid the last minute all out push at the end of the month.
We're planning to start the first week of August. Tomorrow I get busy!
