Back to School

First morning of school

Ah, yes it's that time again! Last week was our first week of the new school year. We made some changes this year and I have been excited to see how things would go. So far, great! One huge thing is my attempt to be more organized and prepared by using My Well Planned Day.It's a web-based planning software and so far I am in love! I was able to spend some time over the summer typing up lesson plans, which are stored on the website, that I can then assign weekly. Each child gets a daily check-off list detailing what they are to do for what subject. This is especially nice since we have different schedules for different days. We've cut history back to 3 times a week and added a new science curriculum for the other 2 days. 

Making paper

Another addition we've made was joining a local homeschool group, Cornerstone Keepers. Starting this Thursday, we'll be meeting every other Thursday afternoon to participate in enrichment activities. The kids will earn pins for each activity completed throughout the year. These are life skills that will help them later on or just be fun to experience. We've also joined up with a few other homeschooling families at church and will be having park days and field trips.

Our first week went very smoothly. We finished before lunch every single day! That's saying something since we don't start until 9am. My alarm goes off at 8am and I refuse to wake up any earlier. Yes, I'm spoiled. And yes, I do wear a t-shirt and pajama pants all day. Wouldn't everybody work in their PJs if they could? That's one of the little joys of homeschooling. We're free to do what we want, answering almost to nobody. (Thank you Florida for making your education standards so low!) We can wear what we want, do our work where we want (the living room floor has been the choice so far), and learn what we want. All the kids are fascinated right now with reptiles and amphibians. Specifically toads and snakes. The garage is filled with tanks and cages full of critters my kids have collected. All in the name of science!

Both boys caught a snake which are being kept in a tank in the garage

Later this week we'll be blowing eggs for a history project. I hope to get pictures up here of our creations so check back!

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

And So It Begins....

It's been a long time since I've blogged about our school adventures! The last two years have been crazy with different life issues so blogging took a back burner. We still schooled, but very non-traditionally with a lot of unschooling. This year will be different.

Yes, this year we'll be buckling down and keeping a tighter schedule. Yesterday was our first day and things went extremely well. We now have a 5th grader, 3rd grader, 1st grader and a very mobile 16 month old tottering around. We're starting our school day at 9am with a short Bible devotion. The next 5.5 hours are scheduled out in thirty minute increments for each subject, including lunch and a 15 minute snack break. After today though I'm thinking about trimming the times down. The kids work very fast and we've been able to cover the needed material with time left over. My goal has always been to finish by lunch time so maybe we'll get to that.


We're using a few new things for curriculum this year. Tim picked out LIFEPAC for science for both Jacob and Joshua. It's a little bit more "textbook" than I like, but it can be self-guided which is a big help since Jacob can mostly work on his own.


For grammar, I found Mastering the Mechanics for all three levels. I ordered them online so we're still waiting to get them in. I'm very excited about starting and keeping the same format with each child. 


Today we started reading The Story of the World: The Middle Ages: From the Fall of Rome to the Rise of the Renaissance. History is one of my favorites because of the classical approach we're using. If I could have learned this way, I think I would have enjoyed it so much more! I'm looking forward to finding some supplemental activities to bring history alive. 


Math and spelling are staying the same, progressing at our own speed. At Tim's request, we'll also be doing US Geography. And then there's the usual extra activities. The kids are excited that they each have 30 minutes of "educational" computer time on the schedule. We also got MOSI passes again this year with the IMAX so we can go see movies any time we want. 


All in all, we're all pretty excited about starting the new year. It's going to be a great one!

Working hard on handwriting

Individual reading time. Not sure how MY bed was chosen as the spot.

March Update

Time for an update on our schooling adventures! We've been pretty busy these past few weeks, making up for the time we lost last fall. The plan now is to finish a few subjects before Baby #4 makes her appearance and continue a few subjects into the summer.

Joshua is doing very well with reading. I keep reminding myself, it doesn't matter how many workbook pages he gets done, the goal of phonics is for him to read. His phonics curriculum is one thing we'll be continuing through the summer in order to finish. He hasn't yet developed a love for reading, probably due to the struggles that he has with it. But we keep trudging along and I know he'll get it.

Jacob is tackling the parts of speech in grammar. He can identify nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. He's having fun incorporating some of these new words into his creative writing. I always love to read the things he comes up with.

Leanna can read the phonics alphabet chart without any help now - which means she knows all the letter sounds and clue words. We've worked a tiny bit on blending letters, but she doesn't seem completely ready.

Math is going very well for both boys. We'll definitely finish up by June. Joshua is telling time to the minute and Jacob is having fun drawing shapes on coordinate planes. Leanna is practicing counting and adding.

Science and history continue to be the favorite subjects. We are into animals now in science and are learning the characteristics of each classification. The kids are adding things to their Creation notebooks all the time. This week we learned about fish and next week we're onto birds. We'll finish up with a trip to the zoo to see all the different animals we learned about!

We're almost done with Tirzah for history. The kids are enjoying the story and so am I. Our next project is to make an shaduf (pronounced shay-doof), which the Egyptians used to get water from the Nile River to their crops. I also have a few other things planned, I just need to find the energy!

Jacob is also studying Florida history and putting together a State scrapbook. I'm hoping to end the study with a trip to the http://www.tampabayhistorycenter.org/index.html which has several exhibits on Florida history as well as history of our specific area.

All in all, we've had a great time the last few weeks. We've gotten a lot accomplished and the kids are really enjoying learning. There have been a few rough days, but many more days that remind me why I love homeschooling.

Fish Collages for their Creation notebook

Back to work!

Yesterday we started back to school after our Christmas break. I must say that I haven't encountered any of the attitude problems that typically prevail after any kind of break we have. There has been a little resistance here and there, but none of the stubbornness that is usual. Maybe my eldest child is maturing? One can hope.

We started back full swing in hopes of getting back into a regular school routine. The last few months have been difficult with me being sick and now that I'm feeling better, we need to make up for lost time. We're doubling up on history lessons for a few weeks in an attempt to finish up the first unit of our curriculum. I am anxious to get through it because the second unit begins our study on Ancient Egypt and I have so many fun, hands-on activities planned. I'm looking forward to it and I think the kids will really have fun.

Science is going well. We just started Day Three of creation and are learning about rocks and the rock cycle. We're going to grow rock candy and possibly some salt crystals. After that, we get to start studying about plants, sprouting a bean seed, growing a bean plant in a box showing how it will grow towards the light, and the typical "memorize the parts of a plant" stuff. It's so fun doing this with all the kids and seeing each of them gain something from it at their own level. The best part is seeing them excited about learning. They were thrilled tonight when I returned from the library with a bunch of books of the different types of rocks we talked about.

I discovered a fun new way to practice math facts. With Jacob, I use 3 dice. Each roll, he adds two dice and then multiplies the sum by the third die. He loves this game and it's great practice for his times tables. Joshua uses two dice and adds them together to practice his addition facts. Both boys are somewhat lacking in their math facts so I'm excited to have found something that they love doing.

Joshua and Leanna will both be starting new handwriting curriculum Handwriting Without Tears tomorrow. I'm hoping it lives up to its name. Leanna was excitedly looking through her new workbook today while Joshua was just glad we didn't have to start it today. But I think it will be a wonderful addition to our schedule and give them both the writing foundation that they need. I struggle with Joshua's writing ability and I'm hoping this will be the answer.

This week, Jacob started dictation. We started with a short poem by Robert Louis Stevenson. I was very impressed with how well he did and he was quick to point out that he only misspelled one word on "my very first time ever!"

Dictation is the method Charlotte Mason used to teach spelling and reinforce grammar and composition skills to her students. For a dictation exercise, give the child a copy of a selected passage and instruct the child to study the passage until he is sure of the spelling of all the words and knows of all the capitalization and punctuation. When the child is ready, dictate the passage one line or sentence at a time, saying each line or sentence only once and pausing while the child writes it. Be on the alert to catch any misspelling and correct it immediately. Start with short passages for younger children and progress to paragraphs and pages for older children. Charlotte started using dictation exercises with children around the third or fourth grades.

Jacob is in the next to last unit of his Pippi Longstocking grammer study. We're going to finish up reading the book this week and all three kids have asked about watching the movie. I'm excited about their enthusiasm. Jacob has done extremely well with the grammar study despite the fact that it may be above his grade level. I'm proud of the work that he's done on it. I do admit, I'll be glad when we're through. At that point, we're going to take things slower in grammar and focus on really solidifying parts of speech and sentence structure. In place of the study, he'll be working on a Florida scrapbook. So yes, I'm excited to get started with something new.

Overall, I'm very pleased with how well things are going. I will try and get some pictures put up of what we're working on very soon.

Creative writing, turkeys, and more

Instead of copy work today, Jacob wrote a story about Joshua's hamster, Hammie. He wrote two pages and illustrated them both. I'm always very proud of the creative writing that he does. He has a great imagination and it really comes out in his writing. He also usually enjoys creative writing much more than just copying something.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, Leanna made a pine cone turkey! Great practice for her fine motor skills and a craft project always makes her happy.

We also got quite a bit of other things accomplished today. Quid agis? Jacob knows that means how are you? in Latin. Today I think he would answer with Sum bene, which means I am good. We also read about Abraham, Lot and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah; Miles Standish and the Pilgrims and Indians; and both boys practiced their new math concepts. Joshua is doing well with phonics and today he worked on writing a lowercase g. He confuses it with e which makes his work very difficult to read. We did an experiment with water to show how some things float and some sink.

We're on the way out the door to MOSI for even more science! Our days are jam-packed with learning, even if it's not a formal school setting.

Soocer Champs

Jacob and Leanna just finished up a great soccer season. It was lots of fun and they both did wonderful.

not much happening here

Unfortunately, I don't have much to blog about because we haven't been getting much done! I have been very sick with pregnancy related issues and school has taken somewhat of a back burner. I'd like to think that it's a month or so of an unschooling phase because even without formal teaching, my kids never stop learning.

Our garden is growing well which is exciting for all of us. The pea plants have pods, the zuchinni are blooming, and the beans are coming along slowly. I'm looking forward to our first "fruits".

Leanna is enjoying her weekly ballet class and just had her first performance. I wasn't sure she was going to make it since mommy was working and daddy wasn't too excited about taking all 3 kids to a Halloween festival by himself. But he was a trooper and after much begging on their part, agreed to it. She did wonderful and the pictures are just priceless! She's really quite a natural.

PE is going very well for Jacob. Last week they swam and he passed the swim test. He had to swim the full length of the pool, which looked Olympic sized??, and then tread water for 30 seconds. I was so proud!

Ballet

First week

Monday was our first day of school! Joshua and Leanna were very excited to get started. Jacob needed a lot of persuasion. But we managed to get the day finished.

We're starting each day with history which so far has just been reading from the Bible. It's been a nice way to transition into our school day and seems to be working to get the kids ready to start.

Science is another favorite. So far, we've read through the Creation story in Genesis and started our Creation notebooks. I have a lot of fun stuff planned for the year and we're all excited about finally starting.

Joshua is starting cursive and doing very well. He's also ahead in Phonics because of last year so we're just doing some review to start.

Leanna has impressed me with her writing and how much she remembers of her letter sounds. She's doing 2-3 pages from her books a day and at this rate, I'm going to run out of stuff for her by the end of the month!

Jacob isn't impressed with Latin, but we've only done one day. He's doing well with spelling. He tested at a 4.8 grade level on his survey test. He's also enjoying the grammar book he's starting.

We're reading Pippi Longstocking as a family and although the kids say they don't like it, they all seem to listen and enjoy it. Yesterday we walked backwards just like Pippi does! Jacob is doing a unit study about the book that has vocab, comprehension, spelling, and grammar. The first day of it was rough, but yesterday went better.

Our new math curriculum is going very well. We're starting slow to get an idea of where the boys are at and the best place to start. Today we did a few practice problems and played Rummy-kub and that was math! They enjoyed that.

We're participating in quite a few extra activities this year. Jacob is doing weekly PE at the local YMCA. Last Thursday was the first class and didn't go very well. I"m hoping for a better attitude tomorrow. Tomorrow is also the start of our monthly reading group with the homeschool group. Yesterday was the first of monthly MOSI (Museum of Science and Industry) classes. Tonight is the beginning of Awana for everyone at church. And next week Leanna starts ballet! We're very busy this year!!

science and history

I finally ordered a curriculum for science and history/geography. It's by Simply Charlotte Mason and I am so excited about it! The science is 106 Days of Creation Studies. It goes through each day of creation expanding on what was created that day. It's obviously very Biblical based and mainly consists of Bible reading, reading other books, and hands-on activities and field trips. No textbooks!


History/Geography will be a similar approach. Using the Bible and other selected books, we'll be studying Genesis through Deuteronomy and Ancient Egypt. No textbooks, just Bible reading, other books and hands-on activities.


The best part of both of these is that because it is real life stuff, the kids won't think of it as school or boring. It will be fun stuff that will encourage their love of reading as well as journaling, drawing, and other activities. And all three children will be participating.

Indian longhouse Diorama

Jacob wanted to build a real longhouse with popsicle sticks, so of course we did. It was a lot of fun, the kids enjoyed putting the whole diorama together.

The Longhouse

This week we're learning about the Iroquois Indians. Little Bear, from The Indian in the Cupboard, is Iroquois so we're tying it in. The kids learned that this tribe didn't live in tepees, but instead lived in what is called a longhouse. We made our own paper longhouse, each child got to color a section of it. Jacob wants to make a bigger one out of popsicle sticks complete with the fencing that would have been around the village of longhouses.

end of the year

Well, it's that time! We have officially ended our school year. Jacob made all A's this year and completed his coursework for 2nd grade. Joshua did very well with kindergarten and is excited about graduation.

While our formal studies have ended, we will continue to do some informal things throughout the summer. Just don't tell the kids it's school, they think it's fun stuff! We're working on finishing up The Indian in the Cupboard then we'll be starting a The Tale Of Despereaux unit study.

We're also taking a trip to MI in June and will use that as a teaching opportunity. Flat Stanley (more to come on him LOL) will be traveling with us and will start our Flat Stanley geography project.

Leanna wrote her name!

Leanna's been working on writing, mostly just tracing letters and playing at it. I'm not concerned with anything other than letting her "do schoolwork" since she begs and getting her familiar with things. She's been "writing her name" as she thinks, but it's usually one or two right letters mixed with a jumble of others. Today she wrote her name on her paper all by herself! It was during reading time so the kids were all quiet and I'm pretty sure nobody helped her spell it. I'm so excited!

another update

We're getting closer to the end of our school year! We should be officially done by the end of May, but are going to continue some things throughout the summer. We have all been enjoying the read-aloud unit study so I am planning on keeping that going.

We finished The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The kids really enjoyed the book and I'm so proud that Jacob was able to read a good portion of it himself. Joshua is already asking to read the next one. I picked up an animated version on video from the library and am planning on making it a fun family night to wrap things up.

We just started The Indian in the Cupboard as our next book. The kids weren't too excited, in fact Jacob hid the book from me so I wouldn't start reading. But once I got them interested in coloring a picture of an Indian, I was able to start reading. I think they will enjoy it the more we get into it and hopefully they will end up captivated and wanting to know what happens. I've never read the book so it's a new story for me. I'm excited about adding some history about Indians into it and plan on having each of the children notebook about what they've learned. I bought a unit study for Jacob and he'll be doing quite a bit with comprehension, vocabulary, as well as creative writing and other activities.

The younger two are doing well with their basic stuff. Joshua is really getting a handle on math. Leanna can say about half the letter sounds by herself now.

Jacob is wrapping on the formal part of his school year. Phonics and writing are done, we're just finishing up some testing. We have a few more concepts for math, but it will be easy for him to get those done and finish.

Tim and I are excited about attending the FPEA Homeschool Convention in 2 weeks. We're looking forward to looking at some different curriculum opportunities as well as attending workshops by vendors and speakers.

The kids have been having their own self-guided art class lately. They get into the craft supplies and I just let them go at it and their imaginations run wild. This morning they made puppets with foam stickers and popsicle sticks. Then they each did a puppet show for me. They also got their animals to watch.

update!

So I'm not good at keeping a blog updated. But I suppose actually getting school work done is more important than writing about it. LOL

We are almost halfway through our school year. Jacob is already looking forward to summer break. The year is going well though and I'm pleased with our overall progress.

Jacob is finally getting into some harder math stuff. He picks it up really easy though so he's easy to teach. He hates to practice writing, but still needs it. He's written his own letters, addressed envelopes and mailed them all by himself. Lots of fun for him! He'll be starting a journal soon and that should be interesting. He's made it through phonics so now we're just focusing on language rules, reading faster, and spelling. Nothing too formal for science or history, just learning as we go. He's participating in the Museum of Science and Industry's Homeschool Science Fair this year. We're working on the project and he'll present it next Thursday, Feb 12th, at the Fair.

Joshua is doing well with math. He is adding and subtracting mostly without help. He still writes some of the numbers backwards and is iffy on counting. He's learned his short and long vowel sounds and is doing well with reading. Mostly short words and phonics blends from the phonics handbook, but also some very short books. Handwriting is his downfall, mostly due to lack of motivation. I'm taking it real show with him, one letter a day. I imagine he'll go through a few more ABC workbooks before the end of the year. Bouncing on the trampoline has definitely helped him get out some of his energy and be able to concentrate better.

Leanna is doing her own little preschool thing. He is getting very good at cutting and pasting, although she holds the scissors backwards. She likes to trace letters, but most of the time doesn't care for trying to write them herself. She still hasn't got counting down so the extent of her math skills is counting to 5. LOL She definitely has a creative side and tends to be perfectionist. And she loves working which is half the battle.

a new year

Yesterday was the first day of our new school year. Everyone was pretty excited to get started. We now have a 2nd grader, kindergartner and a preschooler!