Our Homeschool!
Third Grade
Friday, May 9, 2008
Can't believe my little Jesse is a THIRD GRADER next year! He's a joy to home school! Here is what I have planned for him in '08-'09:
Math - Saxon Math 3
I know, I know, some of you read "Saxon" and just cringe but Jesse has used Saxon all along and is doing very well with it. I use this with the older kids too and can see how the curriculum really builds upon itself year after year.
Language Arts - Alpha and Omega Lifepacs for Grade 3
This is the only one I'm not sure about - I used it for Jordan and he did fine and since I still have the teacher's manual I think we are going to use it for Jesse. I think he'll like the satisfaction of completing the workbooks every month and getting a new one. Plus, it's all inclusive so that easy for me. If something jumps out at me at the convention this year, I may change my mind.
Handwriting - He's excited about learning cursive this year, which is integrated in the Lifepacs too!
History - Mystery of History Volume 2
I LOVE this curriculum and am looking forward to studying the Early Church and Middle Ages with the boys next year. Crusades, Castles, Kings & Queens - all from a biblical viewpoint. I will be reading the lessons to Jordan and Jesse and they will do age appropriate activities as time permits. We will continue with our timeline too.
Science - Apologia Young Explorers - Botany
This was a no brainer. Apologia is a perfect fit for our family and I really adore all Jeannie Fulbright's books which utilize a Charlotte Mason approach. This will be our 4th book from the series and this time we are doing a mini co-op with a total of 4 children. Instead of making our usual notebooks to go along with the curriculum we are using a lap book type project from Love to Learn. I'll be posting more about this in the fall.
Reading - Bob Jones Reader for Grade 3
I was able to pick up the Grade 2 Readers from Bob Jones at a used curriculum sale for dirt cheap and Jesse liked the stories very much. It's often the first subject he does on school days. I purchased the Grade 3 readers from a garage sale for only a dollar! I like that I don't have to worry about the content of the stories. He just reads one chapter per day. I was thinking about getting the workbooks that go along but his reading comprehension scores are great so I'm going to skip the "busywork".
Extracurricular activities will look something like this:
Phys. Ed - Soccor in the fall with local homeschoolers. Archery in the winter with local homeschoolers. Open Gym time at co-op.
Music - Co-op music classes or possibly continue with Piano lessons
Art - Jesse enjoys arts and crafts so I'll try to get him in some co-op Art classes (but they fill up so quickly!!). I am also planning to purchase an art book through Rainbow Resource.
Chess - He was in the chess club at co-op this past year and I would like to continue it - but not sure if it's going to fit in our schedule (or our budget). I found a computer game called "Learn to play Chess with Fritz & Chester" that he uses to develop his skill and I'm going to purchase a LEGO chess game for the computer that I know he'll enjoy.
Mothers Day contest
Saturday, May 3, 2008
School in 'R home is hosting a giveaway for all moms! Just leave her a comment about why you feel you are blessed as a mother OR tell a little something about your kids. She's giving away a mom's devotional, a pretty journal and a CD called "Cooking with Kids". Fun stuff!
My blessings:
Biology 101
Monday, April 28, 2008
Kayla is a 9th grader this year --- my first HIGH SCHOOLER! Phew! God has been faithful to bring us through another year of school - and this one had some twists and turns! He keeps on showing me how great he is and how small I am!
We are using Apologia for Science and Kayla took Biology this year. It has been a great course and she has done very well. I was nervous about "teaching" a Biology course but it has been great. A couple of chapters were challenging because of all the unfamiliar terms but she made it through! At one point, she took some photos of an experiment and e-mailed them to Dr. Wile with a question - and he responded! How cool is that? To have the author of the curriculum e-mail you? He answered her questions and encouraged her in her studies.
CAUTION ~~~~~~ Dissection photo's ahead ~~~~~
Another part of Biology are those often dreaded dissections! Early in the year I arranged with 2 other homeschool moms to have our dissections labs together. We are finished now and it couldn't have turned out better - it was such a blessing. We met at our house and the girls dissected 5 different specimens - on five separate days. Each dissection took about 2 hours but that included watching the dissection on DVD first. ( I highly recommend watching them before hand if possible - the DVD we used came from ABEKA. ) Two girls did the actual cutting (for lack of better word) and Kayla read the instructions, did a few drawings and took notes for everyone. She also took tons of photos....
Here's the perch -
The frog - they got a kick out of it's tongue ...
One of the specimens was a female and loaded with black eggs - the eggs just literally fill up the body cavity and it was quite gross. (I'm sparing you all the photo's). The other specimen was a male and when it was open our friend noticed it had a very large stomach and proceeded to cut it open and examine the contents. Ick, Ick - we're guestimating about 8 different insects (some whole and some partial) were inside. Yucko. (we have pictures of that too and you can view those at Kayla's blog)
They even dissected a starfish and all agreed it was the most disgusting for it's texture and very peculiar insides.
I'm not posting a picture of the worms but what was interesting about the worm is that he has earth/dirt inside it's body.
Lastly, they dissected a couple of crayfish (or what y'all might call 'crawdads'!) which were like mini lobsters and we thought the gills were pretty cool as they are attached to it's legs.
I never did dissections in school so this was quite an experience for all of us but I'm so glad we did it and if we can do it -- so can you!!
Congratulations Kayla!
Friday, April 25, 2008
Last weekend, our daughter Kayla was in an Art Show for our regions home schoolers. It was held for 7th - 12 grade and there were about 30 students who participated with about 60 pieces of various artwork entered.
Kayla won a second place ribbon for her charcoal drawing! There were about 15 ribbons given out in total. One of the judges is employed by a local college and has offered to hold the competition at the college next year. I think that will be really neat. He was so excited about our home school students that he put together an Art Career Day for us at the college next month!
I'll be 53 - how about you?
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
We are soaking up all the sunny Spring weather here in New York - its truly been wonderful! All our trees are budding this week and the new, young growth is so pretty and vibrant green. Jordan has been bringing me daffodils daily that he picks from the back yard. Our little cherry tree's are full of white blossoms and there are plant shoots popping up everywhere in the flower beds! The only down side of Spring is we all want to be outside instead of home schooling! (Can you relate?!)
Despite the sunshine, we have managed to get some school done ... I wish we were further along but there is only so much I can do! We are in the "home stretch" of our school year now - just the last 20 - 30 lessons in each book and we'll be done. Ahhh.... there IS a light at the end of the tunnel.
A few weeks ago I heard a home school mom speak at our co-op meeting. She has already graduated 2 children and has another graduate this year, that leaves 4 at home. She figured she will be 60 years old when the last one graduates! This prompted me to figure out my age at the end of schooling my family and it's 53! (Josh doesn't start for another 2 years) What am I going to do with myself at that point? Just think of all the time I'll have on my hands!! LOL. I'm sure I'll miss it though. I already dread having Kayla leave for college and it's still 3 years away!
So... how old will YOU be when your finished home schooling? And what do you see yourself doing?
