We are slowly easing into the 2010-2011 school year. We've already started History and plan on adding Science next week. After that week, we'll have our first official day of full-time school.
I'm getting pretty excited, but also slightly nervous about the school year ahead of us. In October I'll have to move our schedule around a little bit to accommodate our growing family. I'm also going to have to figure out ways to keep Milla entertained during our school day. This freaks me out because I really like to keep on top of things. It makes me feel great when our kids are ahead and things are going according to schedule. For the first time, the task ahead of me seems extremely overwhelming. Yes, life should be quite interesting around here in the months to come. I've been doing alot of praying. I know that I can't handle this on my own.
On to the exciting part (for me, at least)...
For my birthday this year, Josh took the kids and me to stay in a hotel in Arlington. Each year, my birthday falls around the same time as the home school book fair. As a part of my birthday present, Josh took our family to stay at a nearby hotel and took care of the kids while I carefully studied, planned and plotted for the upcoming school year. Mary Alice went along with me to the book fair. This was the first year that she aided me in choosing her curriculum. Don't be afraid...I didn't allow my soon-to-be third grader to choose her curriculum on her own. I just asked her lots of questions, showed her different options and we discussed what we thought would be best for this year. We had lots of fun mother/daughter time. I just LOVE that girl! She is such a helper to me. I enjoy her so much more every day.
Here are my curriculum choices for this year, along with some descriptions of the reasons for the choices. I will have a third grader, a first grader, a toddler, and, Lord willing, a newborn in my house.
Mary Alice's Third Grade Curriculum:
MATH:
Singapore Math Levels 4A and 4B
We have used Singapore math for the last three years and have been very pleased with it. This is a strong math curriculum. It seems to click with Mary Alice, so I have decided to stick with it again this year. In a year or two, I think I'm going to look into other options for Math, possibly a tutor or DVD/Satellite teacher. One of my friends recently posted a quote on her blog that says that "People are one of two types of people. They are either number crunchers or word eaters." I am definitely not a number cruncher. Don't get me wrong, I can handle Math through middle school. I want to make sure though, that she has a teacher that is proficient in the subject matter, not just someone who can "handle" it. So...in the years to come I foresee us making a change.
LANGUAGE ARTS:
This year we are doing something a little different. I felt like Mary Alice was whizzing through her English book last year (Bob Jones English 3 and Spelling 3). I decided that this year, we were going to focus more on things like narration, creative thinking, vocabulary, and writing. I hope to go back to Bob Jones English and Spelling again next year. For this year, though, we are taking a different approach.
For writing:
Writing Strands 3
I chose this because I feel like it really gets kids to THINK. I want Mary Alice to use creativity and her higher level thinking to come up with answers to questions about the books that she reads. With Bob Jones, she was breezing through the book. I just felt like the "thinking" part was a little lacking. This curriculum has bookwork for a week. At the end of that week, she has a writing assignment that builds on what she learned about writing throughout the week. Then, during the following week, she is supposed to pick a chapter book (not an assigned book, but an age-appropriate book that interests her). I will guide her in narrating and reading comprehension for the book she chooses. Then the cycle begins again. I think one writing assignment every too weeks is adequate. I get pretty bored of doing the same things over and over again. I felt like we needed a little change to spice things up.
For vocabulary:
Wordly Wise 4
I love this vocabulary curriculum. I think it is something that she will enjoy too. Mary Alice loves to learn new words. I think this is going to be fun and highly educational. Very excited about this!
For grammar:
Intermediate Language Lessons
This book is much different from anything we've used before. It focuses on narration, dictation, poetry, grammar usage, spelling, and handwriting. Mary Alice helped me pick this out. This is much more labor intensive than our language curriculum last year. I really hope it will be a success. It is slightly old fashioned. That is one of the things that I love about it. :)
HISTORY:
Sonlight History 3
We have used Sonlight for history for the past three years. History is the kids' favorite subject! They beg for me to read to them each day. Last year, I combined Mary Alice and Major's science and history curriculum. It worked very well. This year, they will work on science and history together again. Combining their science and history has two major benefits. It both drastically reduces my workload and helps to keep me sane.
In first grade, Mary Alice studied Creation through the fall of the Roman Empire. Last year, they both learned about the time from the fall of the Roman Empire to present day world history. This year, we FINALLY get to start learning about American history. That is SO exciting to me! I love Sonlight's approach to history. They present a view that history is about so much more than our country. The kids have learned so much about other cultures/religions. I have been learning right along with them as they devour books about various civilizations other than our own. One downside to Sonlight's curriculum is that my kids aren't very educated in Texas history. I thought it funny when I described something to Mary Alice as "looking like the Alamo". She replied, "What's the Alamo?" Our history program hasn't done a very good job of instilling Texan pride. Oh well!
In addition to the history curriculum on the link, the kids will also read a series of about fifteen chapter books (Read Alouds). I really like that Sonlight is strong in geography and also that it requires lots of time spent reading aloud to your kids. I hope that isn't a struggle for us this year, as we seek to properly balance family stuff with school stuff. Ugh!
SCIENCE:
Apologia Science
I am SO excited about this curriculum! The kids will focus on studying flying things (birds,bats, and such). They each have this little Science journal that they will use to conduct experiments and observations. By the end of this year, they should be expert ornithologists!
SPANISH:
Mary Alice will continue on with her Rosetta Stone computer program.
And now, on to Major...
Major's First Grade Curriculum:
MATH:
Singapore Math 1
This is what we used for Mary Alice a couple of years ago. We used Singapore Kindergarten Math for Major last year and will be using Singapore Math 1 this year.
LANGUAGE ARTS:
Bob Jones Phonics and English 1
We used this with Mary Alice. I only had to buy the replacement consumable workbooks. Nice! I love this curriculum because it has so many fun ways of teaching phonics concepts. We have a slight little problem. Major is reading pretty well already, so going back to learn phonics rules seems a bit strange. I didn't feel right about skipping phonics instruction altogether, but decided that we would have to cover the rules this year. I also didn't think he was quite ready for second grade work and didn't want to burn him out on learning by pushing him too hard. Hopefully the fun stories and characters will make up for the super easy nature of this subject. I think we'll have fun with this.
SPELLING:
Bob Jones Spelling 1
We also used this with Mary Alice. It should be fairly easy as well. We already had this and only had to buy the consumable workbook.
HISTORY AND SCIENCE:
As I stated earlier, Major will be doing History and Science with Mary Alice. This is more fun for him and cuts down on my workload tremendously!
HANDWRITING:
A Reason For Handwriting
We have used this in years past. I love this curriculum because it has them write Scriptures each week. At the end of each week, they get to write out a full verse, color it, and are encouraged to give it to someone of their choice. We're not always great about doing this each week, but I like how it encourages them to think of the needs of others and to create something they can use to bless others.
OTHER STUFF:
FINE ARTS:
Mary Alice will be taking ballet, art, and drama at a fine arts school one day a week.
Major will be taking art. They cannot wait for these classes to begin.
Mary Alice will be taking her usual piano lessons once a week.
SEWING:
I have a sweet friend who is going to teach Mary Alice some sewing handwork skills. We are working on mapping out exactly how the lessons are going to go. I've always wished I had some of the "working with your hands" type skills. I really want Mary Alice to know how to do many of these things. I think it gives kids an advantage in life to possess real skills that they can know and use. If we're going to invest time and money in lessons, I would prefer that they would be skills that she can practice and enjoy throughout her life. I have a little girl who loves all things associated with homemaking. She is very excited about beginning embroidery or knitting lessons!
The Classical Composers Series
I found this wonderful set severely discounted online and had to purchase it. It has CDs that the kids can listen to and learn about these great composers. There are also study guides. I'm doubting that this year we will delve into those guides, though. :) This will mostly just be for fun.
BIBLE
I'm not quite sure what book we will be using for Bible this year. In the past, we've used Children Desiring God OT and NT curriculum, Egermeier's Bible Story Book and Vos' Children's Bible. We've also really enjoyed going through CDG's Fighter Verses over the past year and a half. We're right at the finish line for those. It is very exciting to us to see an end in sight. I think we're going to try something new this year for Scripture memorization. We'll see...
Well, that about wraps it up on our curriculum choices for this year. Even though I'm a little nervous about what will happen in October, I can't help but to feel the same surge of excitement I feel every year during this time.
I feel truly blessed to be able to be on this adventure with my sweet ones. I love that we have so much time together every day. I treasure every minute, well almost every minute. I know that time passes by so quickly. I want to do the best I can utilize the moments I have in preparing these little ones to face the world with spiritual strength and confidence. Whenever I feel tense about the chaos that surrounds me and uncertainty about the juggling of my responsibilities, I only have to look into their little faces and remember why I am doing this crazy thing called home schooling. I can rest in the confidence that, with God as my helper, I can do it! He will give me the strength that I need. I think I can...I think I can...I think I can...
Let the school year begin!
I'm getting pretty excited, but also slightly nervous about the school year ahead of us. In October I'll have to move our schedule around a little bit to accommodate our growing family. I'm also going to have to figure out ways to keep Milla entertained during our school day. This freaks me out because I really like to keep on top of things. It makes me feel great when our kids are ahead and things are going according to schedule. For the first time, the task ahead of me seems extremely overwhelming. Yes, life should be quite interesting around here in the months to come. I've been doing alot of praying. I know that I can't handle this on my own.
On to the exciting part (for me, at least)...
For my birthday this year, Josh took the kids and me to stay in a hotel in Arlington. Each year, my birthday falls around the same time as the home school book fair. As a part of my birthday present, Josh took our family to stay at a nearby hotel and took care of the kids while I carefully studied, planned and plotted for the upcoming school year. Mary Alice went along with me to the book fair. This was the first year that she aided me in choosing her curriculum. Don't be afraid...I didn't allow my soon-to-be third grader to choose her curriculum on her own. I just asked her lots of questions, showed her different options and we discussed what we thought would be best for this year. We had lots of fun mother/daughter time. I just LOVE that girl! She is such a helper to me. I enjoy her so much more every day.
Here are my curriculum choices for this year, along with some descriptions of the reasons for the choices. I will have a third grader, a first grader, a toddler, and, Lord willing, a newborn in my house.
Mary Alice's Third Grade Curriculum:
MATH:
Singapore Math Levels 4A and 4B
We have used Singapore math for the last three years and have been very pleased with it. This is a strong math curriculum. It seems to click with Mary Alice, so I have decided to stick with it again this year. In a year or two, I think I'm going to look into other options for Math, possibly a tutor or DVD/Satellite teacher. One of my friends recently posted a quote on her blog that says that "People are one of two types of people. They are either number crunchers or word eaters." I am definitely not a number cruncher. Don't get me wrong, I can handle Math through middle school. I want to make sure though, that she has a teacher that is proficient in the subject matter, not just someone who can "handle" it. So...in the years to come I foresee us making a change.
LANGUAGE ARTS:
This year we are doing something a little different. I felt like Mary Alice was whizzing through her English book last year (Bob Jones English 3 and Spelling 3). I decided that this year, we were going to focus more on things like narration, creative thinking, vocabulary, and writing. I hope to go back to Bob Jones English and Spelling again next year. For this year, though, we are taking a different approach.
For writing:
Writing Strands 3
I chose this because I feel like it really gets kids to THINK. I want Mary Alice to use creativity and her higher level thinking to come up with answers to questions about the books that she reads. With Bob Jones, she was breezing through the book. I just felt like the "thinking" part was a little lacking. This curriculum has bookwork for a week. At the end of that week, she has a writing assignment that builds on what she learned about writing throughout the week. Then, during the following week, she is supposed to pick a chapter book (not an assigned book, but an age-appropriate book that interests her). I will guide her in narrating and reading comprehension for the book she chooses. Then the cycle begins again. I think one writing assignment every too weeks is adequate. I get pretty bored of doing the same things over and over again. I felt like we needed a little change to spice things up.
For vocabulary:
Wordly Wise 4
I love this vocabulary curriculum. I think it is something that she will enjoy too. Mary Alice loves to learn new words. I think this is going to be fun and highly educational. Very excited about this!
For grammar:
Intermediate Language Lessons
This book is much different from anything we've used before. It focuses on narration, dictation, poetry, grammar usage, spelling, and handwriting. Mary Alice helped me pick this out. This is much more labor intensive than our language curriculum last year. I really hope it will be a success. It is slightly old fashioned. That is one of the things that I love about it. :)
HISTORY:
Sonlight History 3
We have used Sonlight for history for the past three years. History is the kids' favorite subject! They beg for me to read to them each day. Last year, I combined Mary Alice and Major's science and history curriculum. It worked very well. This year, they will work on science and history together again. Combining their science and history has two major benefits. It both drastically reduces my workload and helps to keep me sane.
In first grade, Mary Alice studied Creation through the fall of the Roman Empire. Last year, they both learned about the time from the fall of the Roman Empire to present day world history. This year, we FINALLY get to start learning about American history. That is SO exciting to me! I love Sonlight's approach to history. They present a view that history is about so much more than our country. The kids have learned so much about other cultures/religions. I have been learning right along with them as they devour books about various civilizations other than our own. One downside to Sonlight's curriculum is that my kids aren't very educated in Texas history. I thought it funny when I described something to Mary Alice as "looking like the Alamo". She replied, "What's the Alamo?" Our history program hasn't done a very good job of instilling Texan pride. Oh well!
In addition to the history curriculum on the link, the kids will also read a series of about fifteen chapter books (Read Alouds). I really like that Sonlight is strong in geography and also that it requires lots of time spent reading aloud to your kids. I hope that isn't a struggle for us this year, as we seek to properly balance family stuff with school stuff. Ugh!
SCIENCE:
Apologia Science
I am SO excited about this curriculum! The kids will focus on studying flying things (birds,bats, and such). They each have this little Science journal that they will use to conduct experiments and observations. By the end of this year, they should be expert ornithologists!
SPANISH:
Mary Alice will continue on with her Rosetta Stone computer program.
And now, on to Major...
Major's First Grade Curriculum:
MATH:
Singapore Math 1
This is what we used for Mary Alice a couple of years ago. We used Singapore Kindergarten Math for Major last year and will be using Singapore Math 1 this year.
LANGUAGE ARTS:
Bob Jones Phonics and English 1
We used this with Mary Alice. I only had to buy the replacement consumable workbooks. Nice! I love this curriculum because it has so many fun ways of teaching phonics concepts. We have a slight little problem. Major is reading pretty well already, so going back to learn phonics rules seems a bit strange. I didn't feel right about skipping phonics instruction altogether, but decided that we would have to cover the rules this year. I also didn't think he was quite ready for second grade work and didn't want to burn him out on learning by pushing him too hard. Hopefully the fun stories and characters will make up for the super easy nature of this subject. I think we'll have fun with this.
SPELLING:
Bob Jones Spelling 1
We also used this with Mary Alice. It should be fairly easy as well. We already had this and only had to buy the consumable workbook.
HISTORY AND SCIENCE:
As I stated earlier, Major will be doing History and Science with Mary Alice. This is more fun for him and cuts down on my workload tremendously!
HANDWRITING:
A Reason For Handwriting
We have used this in years past. I love this curriculum because it has them write Scriptures each week. At the end of each week, they get to write out a full verse, color it, and are encouraged to give it to someone of their choice. We're not always great about doing this each week, but I like how it encourages them to think of the needs of others and to create something they can use to bless others.
OTHER STUFF:
FINE ARTS:
Mary Alice will be taking ballet, art, and drama at a fine arts school one day a week.
Major will be taking art. They cannot wait for these classes to begin.
Mary Alice will be taking her usual piano lessons once a week.
SEWING:
I have a sweet friend who is going to teach Mary Alice some sewing handwork skills. We are working on mapping out exactly how the lessons are going to go. I've always wished I had some of the "working with your hands" type skills. I really want Mary Alice to know how to do many of these things. I think it gives kids an advantage in life to possess real skills that they can know and use. If we're going to invest time and money in lessons, I would prefer that they would be skills that she can practice and enjoy throughout her life. I have a little girl who loves all things associated with homemaking. She is very excited about beginning embroidery or knitting lessons!
The Classical Composers Series
I found this wonderful set severely discounted online and had to purchase it. It has CDs that the kids can listen to and learn about these great composers. There are also study guides. I'm doubting that this year we will delve into those guides, though. :) This will mostly just be for fun.
BIBLE
I'm not quite sure what book we will be using for Bible this year. In the past, we've used Children Desiring God OT and NT curriculum, Egermeier's Bible Story Book and Vos' Children's Bible. We've also really enjoyed going through CDG's Fighter Verses over the past year and a half. We're right at the finish line for those. It is very exciting to us to see an end in sight. I think we're going to try something new this year for Scripture memorization. We'll see...
Well, that about wraps it up on our curriculum choices for this year. Even though I'm a little nervous about what will happen in October, I can't help but to feel the same surge of excitement I feel every year during this time.
I feel truly blessed to be able to be on this adventure with my sweet ones. I love that we have so much time together every day. I treasure every minute, well almost every minute. I know that time passes by so quickly. I want to do the best I can utilize the moments I have in preparing these little ones to face the world with spiritual strength and confidence. Whenever I feel tense about the chaos that surrounds me and uncertainty about the juggling of my responsibilities, I only have to look into their little faces and remember why I am doing this crazy thing called home schooling. I can rest in the confidence that, with God as my helper, I can do it! He will give me the strength that I need. I think I can...I think I can...I think I can...
Let the school year begin!
6 comments:
I'm so proud of you! You are raising such sweet children who love the Lord and you are so much better at this than I was. I am excited for you this year--I remember the feeling of getting new books every year. How fun!!
Mom
Thanks for sharing- I always like to hear what others are doing!
hey there, I know you don't know me, and I'm not sure exactly how I ran across your blog. I grew up down the street from Josh when we were kids, although we didn't really know each other. (different grades) I love reading your blog! I too am a homeschool mommy and loved your post on your new post about your new school year. We are about to start ours too. We love Sonlight. I'm pretty nervous about our year to come. I will be schooling 2 kids for the first time and I will have a one year underfoot. Thank You for your encouraging words and the reminder, that I don't have to do this on my own! Prayers to you and your new little one coming!
You are so prepared! We will be praying for all of you as you enter into this schoolyear! Love you!
I LOVE hearing all about your year! And, I am so thankful to have your wisdom as I begin this "crazy thing called homeschooling" too! :) I'm so excited and I appreciate your encouragement so much, friend!
We are praying for your family, and especially your sweet, precious baby Smith. :) Happy School Year to you all!
Thanks for the encouragement and laying out your curriculum. I am planning for the 2011-2012 school year and am a little overwhelmed and unsure of curriculum. I like hearing what you're doing and getting ideas. Hope you guys are well!
Michelle (Stacy) Stevens
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