You would think that since we speak this language that it would be a breeze to teach.

Ya right... Not!

Come to think of it, I never really like english class all that much either. I actually had to take it in summer school in the 9th grade. At least the kids do better than I did. Pretty scary thought being I make my living writing.

Anyway...

Our English curriculum isn't really all that earth-shattering. Pretty basic with a reliance on Literature.

With Kimberly we are using the Learning Lanuage Arts Through Literature curriculum and we really like it. I like it because it is set up for mostly independant work. She is in the eighth grade book now and we will probably be sticking with it through the high school years. The book studies are very good and the lessons are very informative.

One of the things I do have to do extra work with her is in her writing. She is not very good at report writing. Or any other except for stories. Her last three years in school, including two in a private christian school, were void of writing. So, we are starting at the beginning and going from there.

Matthew, again, is ahead of his age. We tried using First Language Lessons for the Well Trained Mind, but found it to be extremely slow. Matthew was very bored, and even though there isn't much writing, didn't want to do it.

So, again we went off to the used books store where I found an English textbook, I think fourth grade. We have been using it for a few months and while it's a stretch for him, he has only slowed down a little.

Reading is, again, classic literature and I have stopped trying to find books "on his level". Mostly because I don't know that his level is. We use the Ambleside Online suggestions right now, but I have to do a lot of looking around to find one that won't bore him. He does like the Parables of Faith stories though.

Kaitlynn is mostly practicing phonics. And I'm taking it at her pace. I've learned that when it's time for kids to read, they will with very little difficulty. Instead of trying to force Kaitlynn to recite her blends perfectly we go over them a couple of times and put them away. We do this for a few days until she wants to do them and then it takes no time for her to start doing it on her own.

A Beka K curriculum is our choice for her right now and it's working out great. We sit and read to her, some books she chooses (I've read The Little Mermaid 8 million times!) but most we pick out for her reading time.

We did try to use the Before Five in a Row, but since our library is so small we just couldn't find most of the books. The ones we could get we used, but I think she is making great progress with what we're doing now so I probably won't go back to it later. Again, AO is a  big help choosing books for her.

Well that's it. Nothing mind blowing but workable. I'm pretty satisfied with it right now. The only concern I have is what to do with Matthew after we finish this english book. Put him in 12th grade composition?