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.

Homeschool Convention

I'm on a homeschool high as Tim and I spent last week at the FPEA (Florida Parent-Educators Association) Annual Homeschool Convention. We had a great time attending vendor workshops and perusing the vendor hall full of different curriculum and resources. I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to keep our children at home and have control over what they're learning. Even with the difficult days, I wouldn't trade spending this time with them for anything.

We're taking a different approach next year and I believe it will help in making our difficult days fewer and farther between. Less texbook/workbook stuff and more hands-on and literature based learning. I'm excited that we have settled on a few of our curriculum choices. For Joshua we will be sticking with Abeka for phonics, language arts and cursive writing. His books came this week and he actually seemed excited while looking through them. For both boys we'll be trying a new math curriculum called Math on the Level. Like it's name, you teach math on the child's level rather than grade level. This will allow Jacob to move as fast as he wants with less repetitive workbook pages to slow him down. I think it will also be a good fit for Joshua if he needs to move at a slower pace. And the great thing is that it's set-up for preK through pre-algebra so I'll be able to start some of the activites with Leanna! Jacob will be starting Spelling Power for spelling, a book that goes from 3rd grade level all the way through high school. I also got him Barron's Painless Grammar (for only $5.88 at Sam's Club!) that covers 3rd-4th grade grammar. We'll be combining that with at least two unit studies from Total Language Plus. I ordered the unit study books for Pippi Longstocking and The Sign of the Beaver and am anxiously awaiting their arrival. Using literature as the teaching tool, the study will combine vocabulary, grammar, creative writing, etc. to cover all his language arts. The only things we haven't quite settled on are history and science. We both feel that this is the time to start something more formal, but I do not want to do a textbook approach. We're looking at a few options from Simply Charlotte Mason that look promising. The best part is that with the literature studies and whatever we choose for history and science, I'll be able to incorporate activities for all 3 children. Jacob will also be taking PE once a week at the YMCA with our homeschool group.

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.

Jacob

Part of Classical learning is narration, listening to something being read and then narrating back what you heard. We're incorporating that into our homeschooling style. In addition, I am having Jacob read and then draw about what he's read. These are two pictures he did after reading a few pages out of one of his nature books. This was done independently during rest time - which means I was laying down. LOL

new stuff

I'm really excited about things lately. We're getting close to the end of our school year. Jacob has mostly phonics and writing review through the end of the year. So we'll be able to use some time to get into some other stuff. In math, he's working on multiplication and division.

Joshua has really come a long way with his reading. He's working on 1st grade level phonics. I'm really proud of the effort he's been putting into it lately. I think he understands the concepts of adding and subtracting, but still needs practice. Partly because he's lazy and doesn't want to think about counting up or down.

Leanna can count objects to five all on her own! She's also working on phonics, learning all the letter sounds. She can almost sing the ABC song all the way through without help.

We just started reading The Chronicles of Narnia. We're going to make kind of a unit study of it and stick some science and social studies in with the literature. The kids are all enjoying the story and Jacob is learning some great new words. We also watched some youtube clips about WWII and got to hear an air raid siren. The kids all designed a map of their own imaginary country. We're also planning on making Turkish delight.

The best part is that Jacob is able to read it on his own, with little to no trouble. He has great reading skills and we're very proud of the level he's at.

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!

Joshua's flowers

Today Joshua colored and cut out flower blooms to glue onto a page with plants. He did a great job! His cutting skills have improved a lot since the beginning of this year. He is so proud of his work!

Abraham Lincoln

One of Jacob's assignments in February (2008) was to write a story about Abraham Lincoln. He did a great job and I'm so proud of him!