What do we do at our house for school?  Good question - it's always changing.  We are eclectic homeschoolers, using whatever materials and methods work best for the "season".  I used to get frustrated with myself, wondering why I couldn't just stick with one thing and be done with it.  It takes A LOT more effort to think, plan and change courses.  But then I started to see that my children were the same as me.  We get bored doing the same things day in and day out.  God has given us active minds, and not just "anything" can fill those minds and keep us content.  Some may call that ADD , but I choose to call it a gift from God!  You see, we are ready to take on new challenges, willing to try something new and never afraid to say something didn't work.  And we've never failed to learn new things, either academically or about ourselves, in the successes AND failures.

So, what does our homeschool look like right now?  I would call my philosophy a mixture between Classical education and Charlotte Mason education.  We spend most days sticking to a fairly regular schedule, using the materials below.  But, we're always ready and willing to ditch the schedule for a field trip!!

Mahayla's day usually consists of Bible, math, language arts, independent reading, piano and history and/or science.

Like I said before, we get bored easily SO we spice up the week by using various curriculums.  NO, I don't try to finish everything in every curriculum. I just try to make sure we have covered and mastered what's necessary.  My philosophy is:  Why practice the same thing over and over if the skill has already been mastered?

Bible - Child's Story Bible (VOS), NIV Bible - we'll often color a timeline picture from The Big Bible Timeline to hang on the wall, or I'll print a coloring page to go in the Bible notebook, or I'll find a "review" activity from the internet to add to the notebook.

Math - Saxon 5/4 (only the mental math and about 1/2 of the daily problems), lessons from NC Math (link posted to the right), logic and problem solving activities from sources like Mind Benders and fun math activities that go along with units we're studying.

Language Arts - We do at least one activity a day, sometimes more.  I've come up with my own grammar packets this year.  She has to read a book and then do various grammar/writing/comprehension/spelling activities to go along with the book.  We've also used  Literature Pockets, computer games, writing stories and poetry that go along with a unit, and grammar practice pages that come from various workbooks I find at dollar stores. 

History - We're currently taking a break from Mystery of History I.  Why?  Well, I'm trying to decide if it's really enough world history.  There's plenty of Bible history (which is good), but I don't feel like it's tying the Bible into other world history like I had hoped.  Since we're in the middle of a large human body unit, I have a little time to make a decision.

Science - We follow the four-year-cycle of The Well Trained Mind for science (and history).  This year is a biology year.  We just finished Exploring Creation With Botany and LOVED it!!  Now, we're working on a human body unit that should last through Christmas.  My main spines for this unit are Considering God's Creation and and hand's on acivity book put out by Scholastic.  (I forget the name right now.)  After Christmas, we'll finish the year with Exploring Creation With Zoology II (Mahayla's choice.)

Mahayla also does LOTS of extras - crochet, knitting, sewing, baking, art, crafts, and she loves to be outside helping Dad on the farm.

We love notebooking!  We love books on tape!  (The Trixie Belden series right now)  We love reading and going to the library!  And we love our co-op that meets once a week!  Oh yeah, we love our Keepers At Home group, too!

Caleb's typical days.....that will have to wait for another post.