Oct. 4, 2007
Homeschool Week 5 ... or 7 ...
... depending on how you look at it. We started this school year 7 weeks ago but had to take a couple weeks off due to various reasons. I did keep up with Taz's math and language arts those 2 weeks, though, because he insists that it is not fair that he should ever have to do schoolwork when public school kids are out. (Never mind that he always has days off when the neighbors are away at school!) So I am keeping him on the public school schedule this year. We'll see how he likes that. I just don't know if I can keep that up after the baby's born.
Anyway, we are finally starting to get intro the swing of things with Tapestry of Grace. Last week we studied Charlemagne and his empire and successors, so my mom emailed me a copy of the family tree with Charlemagne on it. We have been fascinated to read through the pages with all these famous names on them, all these "King of the Franks" and "Mayor of the Palace" all over the place. We've been learning all about a lot of these same people with Tapestry of Grace so it's really neat to see how we are descended from them!
This week we are studying vikings, especially Erik the Red and Leif Erikson, 2 more of our famous ancestors! My kids are so excited that Leif Erikson Day is coming up next week - they want costumes! (They have been talking about this "holiday" for well over a year now - and I always thought they had just made it up!)
Taz mostly just has to listen to me read him a few books each week, plus an art or activity if I remember to buy the supplies AND feel like doing it. I also go over a little geography with him, but that's about it, besides his language arts and math. And, he is still going to speech therapy twice a week. Just a couple more sounds to go! Hopefully he will be speaking well enough to get out of the program when he has his evaluation in December. I don't want to have to walk him to the school first thing in the morning, twice a week, when I've got a newborn next spring.
Tank is doing very well with all of his schoolwork; he is getting to the point where he can do almost everything independently. I still have to give him lots of guidance as far as WHAT to do, but hopefully by the time "Lil' 6" is born, he can just look at the guidebook and figure it out himself. At least for the first few weeks.
Bill, on the other hand, continues to express his disdain for having to actually DO something besides just reading. But if he doesn't DO something, and he doesn't want to have serious discussions about what he's read, then how do I know he's learned what he needs to learn, and what do I put in his portfolio? Honestly, I can't wait until he graduates! I know he can't wait either, because he wants to get out in the world and DO something! But being 15, he is limited. And that's all I'm going to say about that.
Moving on ... I need to do something differently with Sweetcheeks. Taz - as much as he says he hates math now (he used to LOVE math) - can just look at his book and listen to the instructions, and he "gets" it. This approach does not work with Sweetcheeks. She is definitely a hands-on kind of learner, as I have just learned this week. We do have some math manipulatives, but since I didn't buy the teacher's guide (didn't need it with Taz) I don't always remember to use them and don't always know what to use when. So I'm going to have to figure that out or try to find the teacher's guide on Homeschool Buy or someplace else. I think I also might need to change her phonics. Actually, what I'd really like to do is buy My Father's World Kindergarten for her. I'm sure she would enjoy it and the deluxe package includes everything she needs ... plus a ready-made schedule for me. That always helps! |
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Oct. 4, 2007 - Untitled Comment