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Gleaning Academy
Dec. 3, 2009
Changes in schooling
It has been a while since I have written. I have changed some of our ways of schooling - always good to do change! 
First I have decided on changing Hope's teaching around. Learning Language Arts Through Literature we are doing on Monday - her entire week of lessons. Hope has always retained better going over all the lesson orally. While I go over the lesson, if I find one part that she needs to write, she will have to circle the number and go back afterward to do. For the past month, this has worked WONDERFUL ! She still does her math everyday. Hope still can't stand the math though. From Tuesday through Friday, She gets to study what she wants to learn. She will read for hours on end, study history, science, art, etc. She has already read both Christian Kids Explore Biology and Earth and Science. She is now taking notes from DK Science Explorer book. Hope is 1/3 done with her school for the year! Wow time flies!
Ruth has not been doing as much school lately until this past week. No matter what I try to do, she has bucked me so much at times! I am going to keep working and with the Lord's help, she will get there. This week, she did tell me that she wants to catch up to her twin brother! Of course, I hear that so I said okay. I believe Ruth is very bright and does catch on her learning REAL fast. I know she will do fine when I administer the CAT test. Just getting there might sometimes is very frustrating when she does everything BUT schoolwork!
Isaac is flying through his math! He has 12 lessons left of Math 4 of his Teaching Textbooks! He has learned long division with remainders! At first it took me 50 times saying the same thing over and over to help get him to remember, but then yesterday he came rushing up to inform me that he did long division all by himself! He was jumping up and down so excited. After Friday, he is halfway through his Learning Language Arts Through Literature! He is over 1/3 of the way through his 3rd grade school year. The first 1/3 of school he did VA History. Now Isaac is going to work on science this next 1/3 of school. I figured if I slowly ease him in the extra subjects, when he gets to 5th, he will be ready to do history and science at the same time and pick up some other fun subjects too.
We have gone to "school uniforms," even though they don't use them all the time. I have notice that the discipline is cut down some when they do wear them. It seems like when they don't wear them, it is because they need to WASH their clothes! Yes, I do make them do their own clothes. They are old enough to wash them, their plates and to help clean up.
You all have a great, Blessed day! |
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Aug. 25, 2009
Starting our fourth week
Oh boy, has it been a cray 3 weeks!
The first week went pretty smoothly, with all the kids doing most of their work! Then it went after that differently for each of the kids. Hope, she would do some that is assigned to her and some that she wanted to do on her own. Hope still has to finish her orange book in Learning Language Arts Through Literature. She farted around some back in June doing her poetry unit, that we had to do that and Sign of the Beaver in the first 3 weeks of this school year. I can say we can officially start her purple book today. We did do the 2 lessons in the purple book with the poetry unit since she was doing the other one. Now to get her interested in Math again.
Ruth only will do one or two things a day, and then say she is doing it and just sit there and do nothing! It gets old after a while when I ask for her to get her yellow book (Learning Language Arts Through Literature) and then I ask about 5 more times. So Ruth is up before 5am this morning to do some of her work she is lagging up behind.
Now Isaac, who normally is highly distracted (but due to cutting out BHT from his diet) has become my son who can focus on his work and get it all done during the day and the week! He has done 2 weeks that did not have to go into another week with his school work! He is rocking! He is doing VA History. Isaac and I will sit there and read it together. He is looking forward to the civil war unit. He also have taken off in reading chapter books, little by little, he is getting thicker books from the library to read.
I know we will have up days and down days. We are still sorting some emotions out I believe from when they went to their biological father for a month in July. I think Ruth needs this time at 5am in the morning with me - one on one, but also then she is not trying to fight for my attention. Ruth is the middle child - even though she is the older twin, she is between Hope who is 2.5 year older than her and Isaac who is 8 minutes younger so the baby of the family.
God has put it on us to home educate the children. We will get through it with His help! God is good! |
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Aug. 3, 2009
Starting Our New School Year
We are starting today our new school year! The kids are really exited. Mommy is really excited, and Dad thinks it is great! Hope is learning Latin this year. I did Latin in high school and college, so I know I can teach her. She informed Isaac last night that she is learning Latin to improve her vocabulary. Hopefully her spelling too  !
Ruth and Isaac are going to do VA History for the first 9 weeks. Hope will listen to the readings too since she did not have it this past year. On weekends, we will travel around VA so they can live the history out and it be more of a memory for them. Hope is doing All American History volume 1 with Time Travelers (New World Explorers.) Hope loves history so much that she will read any history book I put in front of her. I even bought the Landmark's History at a curriculum sale for dirt cheap. Then I cut the edge off and had it wire-bound.
We will do together Christian Kids Explore Biology this year. Our first unit is Creation, and they have to make the earth and animals out of play-dough! We will make our own homemade play-dough for this! Then we let it dry and have it for a display!
They have Teaching Textbooks for math and Learning Language Arts Through Literature for Language Arts. Ruth and Isaac already starting week 6 in their LLATL - they will be reading The White Stallion. Hope is on a poetry unit - which by the end of the time, she will have a nice poetry book. I might teach her Calligraphy so her book is then with pretty writing (though she writes nice now.)
God is so good! He loves us very much. We are blessed to be able to learn at home. I know that I have learned more than I can remember in public schools when I went. And the kiddos get to have a friendship with eachother that they would not have if they went to public or private school. |
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Jul. 15, 2009
Our School Library
Jul. 15, 2009
Planning
My kids have been gone for 18 days to their biological father. During that time, I have redone the library - organize and put another bookcase in, been redoing their rooms (painting will come later!) and planning the next school year. I went to Chick-Fil-A for planning sessions over 2 days. I knew there I would be able to plan and read and not be distracted with everything at the house that needs to be done.
God is so good. I have missed my children, and it hit hard on Monday (day 16). The one thing I am realizing is that the kids are going to come home to refreshed spirits. Like most, I was burnt out some from school, worried if I taught enough, if they will pass the CAT test, and if I am still doing the right thing. At times, I feel like they might do better with an experienced teacher, will definately get all subjects everyday, and meet more kids. But during this time of relax, God renewed my strength, showed me what to do this year, and gave me a peace.
I realized they would not get Bible in a public school class, they would not have one-on-one learning, and we would barely see eachother. My children would not have a close friendship with eachother either, and I think that is important. |
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Jun. 6, 2009
RailFest
Today we did a break from school all week and our testing. Even though it is Saturday, you can learn on Saturday. We went to RailFest in Manassas. We did a train excursion - which was first time Hope, Ruth and Isaac all rode a REAL train. They learned about how many different scales of trains there was - and that even Legos could be made into trains.
Last weekend Isaac did carpentry some - help with doing the kitchen floor with Grandpa and Dad. Then on Tuesday, he helped Mom mow the yard - even did a portion all by himself (with Mom walking behind him though!) By end of summer, I bet Isaac will be mowing all by himself!
Ruth has taken off on her reading in the last month. She gets only chapter books now to read. She likes to sit and read until she is done with her book. Also, with her testing - she is doing better than Isaac so far!
Hope of course would read all day long if she could. One great thing about not having cable - kids want to read more! Hope is starting Latin and loves it so far. we have started a new History avenue with her and she loves learning about different explorers!
That is all for now! The month of July, the kids will be in CA with their other grandparents and their biological father, so I won't write then. I though that month will be painting their rooms, and getting all their school lined up for the next school year!
Have a blessed day!!! |
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May. 9, 2009
Golfing
| We went Putt Putt golfing today! What a lot of fun! Hope improved her score by 14 on the second time around. Just want to say Happy Mother's Day. It is so great to spend it as a family! |
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May. 8, 2009
What a week!
 We We have been doing school, but a little hard on some days. So this week we decided that the twins needed to wake up early. Bruce leaves for work at 4:30 am, so he woke them up for me then. By 8:30, they had done ALL school work and had egg breakfast ! Amazing! So we think we will try it this next week! Now for Hope, we don't wake her up as early! But this might help with her getting school done after they have then they are not bugging eachother!
This picture is WAY bigger than I thought - might have to figure this one out to make smaller! We had done Flat Stanley for our friend Kathryn back home! It was fun. This picture was where Flat Stanley got to go with Bruce to a field trip and drove the bus too! We had lots of pictures of Flat Stanley with all our activities!
This was our last week of AWANA and CBS(Community Bible Study) for the school year. Wow, does time fly!
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May. 1, 2009
Geography Club
Today we had co-op - an hour and half of PE! Then we had Geography club this afternoon. Boy, Hope did awesome - she knew 47 of her states - which she has done geography club 2 other times (first Friday of the month!) This was last one for the year - will start up again in September. Today they reviewed continents, and different places in the continents. Miss Rhonda made it so fun that my kids have remembered a lot of what they have learned!
Hope, Ruth and Isaac have to wash their own plates for breakfast and lunch. Sometimes I will find an extra plate not washed - only 2 in the drainer. But all 3 "washed" their plate. Today on the way home we stopped and bought new plate and bowls. Hope picked a beige plate with blue swirls on them. Ruth pick a blue transparent plate. Isaac picked a black plate. They all have matching bowls with their plate. So now when I see whose plate/bowl is in the sink still, I will know who did not do dishes! |
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May. 1, 2009
Taking the plunge into another new thing
This is all new for me.
I have three kids that I homeschool. Hope is my oldest at 10 (and a half). Ruth and Isaac just turned 8 a little over a month ago. I just got re-married about 6 months ago. I am now blessed with a husband who supports me and helps me with Hope, Ruth and Isaac.
I have done a mix of textbook learning, reading a lot, unit studies (which we don't always complete), and just trying to get some learning in everyday. I think I like more hands-on learning than anything else. Hope, Ruth and Isaac seem to learn better by hands-on. Though Ruth does love workbooks the most. As Hope would rather read everything in fiction and non fiction books, or just talk about what she is learning orally. Isaac is a mix of both workbooks and talking/reading it through.
Today we have our co-op which is great time of PE, geography, and fellowshipping while we have lunch together with our friends. This co-op has been such a blessing since it is smaller and with just moving here 4 months ago, has been a great way to connect with other believers! I am hearing one of the kiddos up so I will close for now. Have a wonderful, blessed day. I hope to get on later to add some things to this! |
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This is our school library that is only half - organized and with our easy chair for comfort in reading.