The 2014/2015 School Year. The Oldest.

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Next year's stuff, waiting to go on the shelf when this year's stuff comes off!

 As we wrap up the 2013/14 school year, it's time for my favorite part!  Planning and buying and getting ready for next year!

We should all take a moment and ponder the irony of being SO. VERY. DONE. with one school year and anxious for the next one to start, all at the same time.  It's not just me - I've discovered that a whole bunch of homeschoolers are over one school year and excitedly planning the next one.

The oldest will be a junior.  My brain cannot wrap around that.  Her schedule is busy but I think we have a plan that will work well for both of us, without overloading either of us.  She will be participating in two co-ops next year, which will put her out of the house 1 1/2 days per week.  She will also be continuing both piano and voice lessons, and will still be working in the church kitchen.  Thankfully she is pretty much done with a lot of her requirements, so we're going to be able to make her schedule work for us without making either of us crazy! 

I still need to tweak the calendar some to figure out when to start, but for now our basic plan will look like this:
Monday - half a day of co-op, then geometry, writing, and Spanish.
Tuesday - co-op all day
Wednesday - geometry, writing, and Spanish.
Thursday - geography, geometry, writing, and Spanish.
Friday - geography, geometry, writing, and Spanish.

For science, she'll be doing Chemistry.  We're doing another Landry Academy Intensive so all of the labs will be covered.  She will be getting Chemistry at the Monday co-op as well, and if we need to add to that at home, we will. 

We will be splitting the geography curriculum (which also includes Bible and a study of world religions) over two years. 

She will be getting American literature at the Monday co-op, along with chemistry, a computer class, health, and citizenship. 

The Tuesday co-op, Artios Academies, will cover more history (actually it's the same history she did this year at home, but it was interesting and fun, so that's all good.)  She'll also get a lot of fine arts in the Tuesday co-op, and we're very excited about that.

The curriculum she will be using next year is as follows:
Heart of Dakota Geography (which includes SO. MUCH. MORE. than Geography!)
Teaching Textbooks Geometry
Institute for Excellence in Writing Essay Writing
Chemistry 101
Landry Academy Chemistry Intensive
Rosetta Stone Spanish

We are quite excited about next year! I put together her transcript so far and we are both pleased with all that she has accomplished so far.  I didn't quite realize how many credits she had until I started compiling it all.  She is a good student, and I think she is every bit as excited about next year as I am.

I always enjoy looking at the plans homeschoolers have for the next year, so here is ours for the oldest.  I have plans made for the middle one and the little one too.  I'll get those posted soon.

And then THIS happened.

Pin It I bragged on the middle one last week.  This week it's time for the oldest.

This girl has the strongest work ethic!  I'm not really sure how that happened!  She works hard, regularly, at lots of things. She spends half of her days on Wednesdays making meals at church.  She and her father deliver meals to a couple of homebound people every week.  She has developed relationships with these ladies and is blessed by them and is a blessing to them.

She plays piano and sings and works hard at both.  The girl seriously cannot walk by a piano without playing it.  She spends several hours a week working on various songs and styles of music.

My dad got her a gift of time in a recording studio ... so very awesome!  She mentioned to her friend that there was a song she wanted to do and couldn't find accompaniment.  Her friend said "I can do that!"  And then something magic happened.

They recorded that song.  They recorded a couple of others.  We scheduled them to sing one of the songs at church, and they did a fabulous job.


This was this past Sunday.

I love that homeschooling has allowed our schedules to be somewhat flexible, and gives these two opportunities to work together and push each other along as they grow the gifts the Lord has given them.  

(And yes, we already discussed the fact that next time someone other than me needs to do the recording, so maybe we won't miss the beginning!)

Homeschooling Elementary

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Is this not the best first day of school picture ever?

Really, he is fine with school starting.  He just doesn't enjoy having his picture taken!

A little bit better, little one!

So, in addition to my 10th grader and 7th grader, I have a second grader this year!  This one keeps things interesting.  Well, they all do, really.

We quickly found out that what worked for the girls doesn't work as well for him.  We made it about three weeks into the DVD program we were using before realizing that it was an exercise in futility because the entire time the DVD was on, I was having to try to get him to pay attention to it.  There was about an hour of DVD time, which we *crammed* into about two hours.  :-/  Thankfully homeschooling for a long time has taught me to be able to say "this is NOT working for us, let's let it go!"  So we did.  He is actually still using the same curriculum, just not with the DVD right now.  I really do want to go back and add the DVDs, at least for reading class in the future; we'll see how that goes.

He is using Bob Jones for reading and English.  English is a bit of a stretch for him right now, but really I'm okay with that.  Sometimes I still get stressed about it, then I try to remind myself that he'll be writing paragraphs again next year and the next year and for the next eight or so years after that, so it's fine if writing a paragraph in second grade is really too much for him.  Okay, I kind of have to remind myself of that daily.  He is reading well though, and actually does pretty well with grammar too.

For math, we are using CLE, but that ends this week and we're switching to Teaching Textbooks.  I have enjoyed CLE, and we may end up going back to it, but for now, my time is a priority and I think TT will be completely student driven for him, so we're going to give it a try.  He is pretty mathy, and seems to be excited about doing his math on the computer.  We'll see how it goes.

He is also using my beloved Heart of Dakota curriculum for science and history, and pretty much just enrichment of what we're already doing.  He is finishing up Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory.  I decided to make it work and to put him on the same path as his sisters, that we would do Beyond for first and second grade, Bigger for third and fourth, Preparing for fifth and sixth, Creation to Christ for seventh, Resurrection to Reformation for eighth, and then he will be on the same high school path as both sisters.  At least that is my plan as of now.  I try to be flexible ... to an extent.  I'm really not so much a flexible person, but by the same token, I don't want to have everything planned out forever. 

He also attends our co-op, and is learning about the fifty states there, along with science, literature, art, and music.

OH!  I have to show a picture of a mural his co-op art class did.  So fabulous!  They all worked together and this is the end result:

So, there is what each of my kids is doing for their schoolwork this year.  Sometime soon, I will have a post on what works for us as far as organization and planning goes! 

Homeschooling Middle School

Pin It I posted what the oldest does for school a couple of weeks ago.  I also have a middle schooler, and one in elementary, and thought I'd share what they're doing, both for my future reference, and for the fun of it!

Wow!  The middle one is in seventh grade!  Not quite sure how that happened so fast!

Schooling this one is definitely different from schooling her older sister.  The curriculum is mostly the same, but the methods are not!  She is much more hands on than her sister, and enjoys doing the projects and the more fun aspects.

She is also using Heart of Dakota.  She is just starting Resurrection to Reformation.  We do a weird one and a half year plan with her for these, mainly for my ease to make her high school match her sister's.  It's a four day a week curriculum, and we do three days usually.  She will finish this at the end of her 8th grade year.  This is covering her history and science.  We love HOD SO much!

She also uses Teaching Textbooks, Math 7.  She enjoys this and is doing well with it.

She also uses IEW for writing.  She is doing level B.  I have to say - I expected this to be more of a challenge to her than it is.  I kind of anticipated this taking two years but it looks like she will finish it in one.  I'm not really sure what that means for her writing for next year.  We may hit harder on grammar, or come up with a creative writing course or something.  (I'm definitely open for suggestions here!)

She is doing the Ultimate Grammar series as well, to hold on to the skills she already in grammar. 

Most of her real science comes from co-op, and she will be also doing literature and writing at co-op, as well as history and an overview of Spanish. 

I have a post coming about the little one, and then about how we organize it all on good days.  Maybe one day I'll post about how we organize it all on bad days.  ;)  I'll just mention that there may be chocolate and copious amounts of coffee involved.

Homeschooling in High School

Pin It The oldest is in tenth grade now.

(because what says First Day of School better than Starbucks and PJ's?)

Wow.  When we first started out and she was in PreK, I didn't really think we would still be homeschooling.  We started because she was ready for school, and yet public schooling for preK wasn't an option for us.  She had done Mother's Day Out programs, and we had recently moved, so I wasn't too familiar with the various preK options.  Plus, I had a continually sick toddler at the time, and taking the oldest to school and picking her up was more overwhelming than homeschool!  And now, however many years later, here we are.

I was so worried when high school began!  I'm a pretty scheduled, every blank filled in kind of person, with a bit of overachieving stuck in there.  Give me a transcript to fill out and suggestions of what is required to fill out that transcript and my inner drill sergeant comes out and OH MY HEAVENS we are GOING to get those boxes FILLED.

So the biggest challenge for me so far is relaxing a little.  She is never going to be a scientist, so I don't have to make her crazy and myself sick by ordering 35 little critters for her to dissect on the kitchen table.  We are doing a biology curriculum, but our real time and effort is spent on things that are actually useful to her.

We are still using our beloved Heart of Dakota curriculum.  This year she is doing Missions to Modern Marvels, and we are both enjoying it.  Right now we are on the cusp of the Great Depression.

We are still using Teaching Textbooks, currently in Algebra 2.  One of us is enjoying this.  One of us is not.  I'll just leave y'all to figure out which is which.

We are still using Institute for Excellence in Writing.  She writes pretty well, so this has been kind of fun for her.  She's doing the B Continuation.  I'm not sure where to go next year for her.

We are doing Biology 101, supplemented with the Landry Academy Intensive and co-op.  (I'll try to remember to write a review of the biology lab intensive!  We did this with a group a few months ago and thought it was fabulous!)

She is doing British Literature at co-op, and has already done a lengthy Shakespeare study.

She is getting government at co-op, and we're doing an economics supplement at home.

And of course music.  She is still taking piano and voice, and has spent sufficient time for a performing arts credit.  Also home ec, because she is a dedicated kitchen worker every Wednesday at church.  That girl is QUITE capable in a kitchen!

Because we haven't done a lot of testing, she is also taking an SAT class to help prepare for that.  I'm happy to farm that out!  We also take a PE class.

Sounds like a lot, doesn't it?  It really IS a lot.  It works for us though.  Her days aren't too long.  I think she will be well prepared for life and am content with her schooling.  I actually enjoy it most days.  I enjoy her!  When the days are long and it feels like one kid or another is needing me every single second and I want to go hide in the closet with chocolate, I can remember that I have 2 1/2 years left schooling this one.  Bittersweet.  That usually helps me make it through the day.  That and the aforementioned chocolate in the closet!

Thankful Thursday

Pin It Let me just start out saying I'm not feeling so very thankful right now.

It's 10:00.  Here is a glimpse of our morning so far.  I had told the girls they could sleep in a little. 
My definition of sleeping in:  8:30.
Their definition of sleeping in:  11:00.

Mistake #1:  Not being specific as to the definition of sleeping in.

The little one is always the first of the three to wake up.  He was being sweet; we snuggled a bit, and everything was rocking along.  I decided it was time for the girls to wake up.

Mistake #2:  I sent the little one in to wake the girls up.  Oh sweet heavens, WHAT WAS I THINKING??

Now we have the middle one shrieking at the little one.  The little one is laughing maniacally.  The oldest is hollering for both of them to please shut up.

Awesome.  Just what I was going for; everyone mad within two minutes of waking up.

From there, we have one crying with teeth hurting, two fighting over waffles, one doing his best to require a visit to the ER by vaulting over his desk, and a mama who is wondering if she could fit under the desk and just hide out there for several hours. 

Things that have not worked to get our day on a better path:
~ Group hug.  Nope. 
~ Nicely saying "Love your sister" and "love your brother."
~ YELLING "LOVE YOUR SISTER!!" and "LOVE YOUR BROTHER!!"
~ Bribery.  (Hey, you gotta try what you gotta try.)
~ Chocolate.
~ Separation.  (Well, this has kind of worked.  Nobody is any happier, but at least they're not yelling at each other.)

Now I'm just trying to laugh about it.  And that does seem to be helping a little. 

I AM thankful that both girls accidentally skipped a math lesson earlier and didn't realize it for a couple of days.  I figure if they skipped a lesson and were able to move on, then they can just skip that lesson for good.  This means that being too busy to get to math yesterday didn't make us behind.  Very thankful for that.

I am also thankful that the little one already knows the blend he is supposed to be learning today, so his lesson is easy.

I am thankful that it's Thursday, which is typically a pretty easy day around here, both in schoolwork and in life in general.

I am TRYING to be thankful for the tons of rain we've had.  I am sure I said last summer in the midst of months of no rain that I would never complain about the rain again.  Really, it's not the rain that's driving me crazy now.  It's the days and days of gray skies.  No end to the gray skies.  BUT, we've had enough rain that the doors no longer stick, and that is definitely a good thing! 

Okay, maybe we can get this day back to happy!

Planning ... for the oldest!

Pin It High school?  That little (okay, in actuality not so little) baby that I was afraid I was going to break right after she was born (seriously - I was alone with her in the hospital after she was born, just before we came home.  My job was to get her dressed.  It took about an hour because I was so afraid that she would break.  Turns out she's a lot sturdier than I imagined!)  That child is going to be in high school?  Oh sweet mercy.

Her schooling plans for next year are mostly pretty easy.

We love Teaching Textbooks, so we will continue with that into Algebra 1.  That oughta be loads of fun.  (Why has nobody created a sarcasm font?)  *I* loved algebra.  I suspect her, not so much.

We just started using Easy Grammar Ultimate Series this year, and it's a good fit, so we'll continue with that as well.

She is finishing IEW B this year, so we will continue with that, although I'm really not sure what level she will be going into.  I believe I need to consult an outside opinion on that.  She enjoys writing and does it well, so this has been a good fit for her also.

Then Heart of Dakota for history and science.  This will be her third year of using HOD, and she will be going into the Revival to Revolution guide.  This will cover American history and physical science.

I think one of the best things about all of this is that other than the Easy Grammar, it's non-consumable.  I am trying to keep that in mind when I look at the cost of it.  It's not $XXX.  It's $XXX DIVIDED BY THREE because I can use it for all three!  :D

I am trying now to write a tentative four year plan WITH A CHECKLIST! (!!) to make sure all of the blocks are filled in.  I believe it's a little unnatural, how excited I am about that.  (My life is a series of checklists.  From fourth grade "Do you like Melanie?  Please check the box for yes or no." To current "Does this option include chemistry?"  To my grocery list, which is way too detailed.  It works for me.)

It's funny how much I have enjoyed her Heart of Dakota curriculum.  I started out having her do the history portion independently, but then she would talk about things she was reading and I realized that I had NO IDEA what she was talking about, so I started doing the history portion with her.  I cannot believe how much I am enjoying it.  (And I am wondering how on earth I made A's in school, as little as I currently know about history!  Apparently I became quite adept at cramming for a test and then leaving it all there.  Or maybe it's been 25 years since I was in high school.  Yeah.  Let's blame it on that.)

So ... there are the plans for the oldest, as of now, for 9th grade. 

(Oh, and as an aside ... our homeschooling has never been a WE'RE! GOING! TO! DO! THIS! FOREVER!! type thing.  She wants to remain at home, and I am happy with that.  If she wanted to consider public school we would certainly evaluate that.  She doesn't, so we haven't.)

Let the Planning Begin!

Pin It Do you watch Iron Chef America?  I feel like The Chairman.  Instead of the battle it's the planning, but I feel like it needs a big kick-off like that.

(Read this in The Chairman's voice.)
LET THE PLANNING BEGIN!

(Allez cuisine homeschool!)

Wow.  I cannot believe it is time to start planning for the 2012/2013 school year already.  If you know me, you know that this is probably my favorite part.  I feel like a big ole' nerd just saying that.  Give me paper and lists and OH MY HEAVENS a checklist and I'm a happy girl.

This year is going to be even more fun and challenging to plan because I have a high-schooler.  Did you catch that?  I HAVE A HIGH SCHOOLER.  (Or I will, in the 2012/2013 school year.)  In the span of an hour, I go from very excited about this to completely terrified, and from "we can TOTALLY DO THIS" to "oh my heavens, have I made it too easy/hard/complicated/done too much/done too little/left her completely unprepared, what in the world was I thinking trying to homeschool my children?!?"  (Add that to my post-hysterectomy psychosis mood swings, and you've got a total bundle of joy right here.  You're jealous of my family, I know you are.)

As of now, I have plans for the little one and the middle one pretty much nailed down, other than math for the little one.

The middle one will be doing Heart of Dakota Creation to Christ.  Been around for a while?  You might be thinking that you've read that she has already done this.  She has.  She did it for fourth grade, combined with her sister.  She did okay with it at the time, but I think it is so fabulous that we will enjoy repeating it.  I really want her to grab every morsel out of it, and she and I are both excited about her doing it again.  This time we will add the extensions for her, and as of now, the plan is for her to do this one and Resurrection to Reformation over three years.  (It's going to take some math and juggling to figure out how to make that happen, but I'm up for the challenge!)

She will also be continuing with Bob Jones Reading 6 and English 6, and Teaching Textbooks 6.  This will cover her needs for 6th grade.  LOVING that I already have all of the Creation to Christ stuff and Teaching Textbooks stuff.  I just need to get the student notebook from Heart of Dakota and the BJU worktexts and she's good.  WOOHOO!

The little one will be moving into Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory, also from Heart of Dakota, which we will be spreading out over two years.  He will also be doing the Bob Jones first grade Reading/Phonics/Composition/Handwriting class.  We loved this class when the middle one did it, so I'm looking forward to doing it with him.

I am not sure yet what to do with him for math.  Right now we are using Singapore math, and while it's okay, it doesn't feel like "it" for him.  I feel like I'm marking time until third grade, when we can switch to Teaching Textbooks.  (Second grade, Teaching Textbooks?  Please?)

Okay, I'm mid-post and I have to run.  Plans for the oldest coming up soon.

Week in Review - Weeks 4, 5, 6, 7 ... the little one

Pin It And finally a post for the little one!

He is doing so well with school!  He has figured out his routine pretty well and knows what is expected of him, and most of the time does it.  He's generally a pretty compliant child who is eager to please, so that makes things a little easier.

He finished his math program.  The math program I expected to last all year.  (Do I have a mathy child?  Could it be?  Please say yes.)  After some searching and scrambling, we decided to go to Singapore Math 1B.  Hopefully it will be here the first part of the week and we can run with it.

He is using Bob Jones Kindergarten Beginnings and now sings along with Hopscotch on the DVDs.  He is doing amazingly well with his sight words and getting there with his word families and blends.  Some days he can get them right away and then other days he looks at us like we're speaking a foreign language.  Which, I guess if you're just learning, is pretty accurate.  :)

We are still really enjoying Heart of Dakota Little Hearts for His Glory.  His favorite part of the day is when it's time to read about Reddy Fox.  Even though we finished the Reddy Fox book and are now on to Peter Rabbit, he still calls it Reddy Fox.  I love snuggling up with him and reading to him. 

In history, he has gone from Creation to Sampson so far.  It is absolutely amazing to me how many of these stories he already knows - from either Mrs. Russell's class, Sunday school, AWANA, or Veggie Tales.  LOL  When I start to read a story and he finishes it for me and I ask him how he learned that story, I never know what the answer is going to be.

In science, we're talking about plants, and if I were a good mom, I would have had him plant something.  ;)  Maybe I'll get to that soon.

We are doing a mix of the Bible study recommended in the HOD guide and his AWANA verses for Bible, and he is doing very well with that.  He gets SO EXCITED when he has a verse memorized and can't wait to go share it with his teachers.  GO my little one!

I have to say though - his favorite part of all of his schoolwork is snack time.  About once or twice a week, it's Snack Day with Hopscotch.  They are cute and clever snacks that he makes himself.  This means there is usually peanut butter all over his desk.  Here's one snack day treat:

Can you tell it's a mouth?  Apple slices with peanut butter and marshmallows for teeth.

Usually the sisters get in on the snack day action:

These are traffic lights.  (Did I already post this picture?  I went to find the mouth picture and this one was next to it.  The bed was still in the family room though, so this may have been from one of the other weeks I blogged!)

And I think that's it for our weekly (or monthly!) review!  We have several field trips coming up in the next couple of weeks.  We are very happy to get out of the house a little!  

Week in Review - Weeks 4, 5, 6, 7 ... the Middle One

Pin It Because I'm combining four weeks on my Week In Review post, I decided to separate it by child so I'm not ending up with humongous long blog posts.  :)

The middle one! 
Can I just say that I really like fifth grade?  It seems like some kind of groove kicks in at about that time, and school just kind of rocks along.  I love it!

She is moving right along with Bob Jones Reading 5 and English 5, and with Teaching Textbooks math 5.  I have to brag on her a little - we talked about neatness when doing math problems, and from that moment on, her notebook where she works out math problems has been perfectly neat and easy to follow.  She has also done a lot better on her big multiplication problems.  Wonder if these things could be related ... ;)

She really enjoyed the unit in Reading about puppets and made several rather interesting puppets that her brother destroyed before I pictured.  :(  I need to get her to make another one, especially the one with the grocery bags!  It was darling!

She is writing a business letter in English, and her letter is going to be written to Dairy Queen requesting that they add a nutella blizzard to their menu.  Awesome!

In her Heart of Dakota, I have to say that we are LOVING the book Tirzah!

It is offering a perspective about the Israelites fleeing Egypt that I hadn't thought of before.  I love it when authors really draw the readers into a story.  We are both anxious to see what happens next!

Also, she is really enjoying Usborne Internet Linked Ancient World, and looks forward to pulling it out and telling me all about it.

In history, she in in the middle of the desert.  ha!  She has fled Pharoah and Egypt but not made it to the Promised Land yet.

When I take pics of the oldest's notebook, I will take pics of the middle one's history notebook.  Both girls have projects from various Draw and Write through History guides, and let me tell you - these are TREASURES!  The middle one did frogs this week (from one of the plagues in Egypt).  Fabulous!

In Science, she has gone from the Arctic Tundra to the Cactus Desert.  She is enjoying the One Small Square books and the science she is learning.

For Bible, she is mainly doing her AWANA guide.  There is Bible entwined with both her history and science, and we are pleased with that. 

Okay, I think that's it for the middle one these past few weeks.  I'll write up a post for the little one in a bit.  :)

Week in Review - Weeks 4, 5, 6, 7 ... the Oldest

Pin It Seriously?  I haven't done a weekly wrap-up since week 3?  Oh my.

(I realized this is likely to be a long post if I put all three kids in it, so I'll do each kid in a separate post.  LOL ... nothing like no blog posts for a month, and then ten in a day, right?)

We are continuing to love, love, love Heart of Dakota for all three kids.  (Oldest is doing Resurrection to Reformation, Middle is doing Preparing Hearts for His Glory, Little is doing Little Hearts for His Glory.)  We have figured out a basic schedule so each child has me with them when they need me, and the other two are staying (mostly) out of each other's hair when I'm busy.  I think this has been the hardest part of the year.  We seem to have finally settled into a schedule routine that is working though.  That schedule I posted a couple of months ago?  ha.  Nice idea, but most of it has gone by the wayside.  I will try to update it and post that soon.

The Oldest:
She is getting close to finishing Texas History, and we are all happy about that.  I knew she wasn't going to love doing it in the format I had chosen, but she is also getting it at co-op, and with the time constraints of schooling three, and my personal ... ahem ... notsomuch enjoyment of history, we're making the best of what we have.  Since the middle one is also getting it at co-op, I plan to add this book to our read-aloud list:

In Math, I am happy to report that she has about 20 lessons left to finish 7th grade Teaching Textbooks math.  Maybe a few less than that.  She will be done right around Thanksgiving.  We will go directly into 8th grade at that point.  I'll probably just let her take the quizzes for the first couple of review chapters and see if we can get her on track for finishing by May.  That may or may not happen, but it's okay.  She is doing well in math and working hard, so I'm pleased.

We are both enjoying IEW for writing, and she is moving right along with it.  Nothing to really add about that. 

Everything else she does is from Heart of Dakota.  (She will be starting English/Grammar when she finishes Texas History since both are one semester classes.)

We finished Mystery of the Silver Coins as a read aloud.

This was an enjoyable read!  We're actually wanting other books in the series because it left us with a bit of a cliffhanger.

In History, she has gone through Attila the Hun, to Theordoric, to Clovis, to St. Patrick, to Benedict and Gregory the Great, then to Boniface, Justinian, Mohammed, Charles Martel and the Moors, to Charlemagne, and Julius Caesar was just introduced.  As she's reading and learning about these people, she is doing geography that goes along with it.  She has read From Bondage to Freedom: A Tale of the Times of Mohammed, and has started Black Horses for the King.

She is still quite enjoying the Shakespeare study, finishing up A Midsummer Night's Dream, doing Winter's Tale, and then starting Much Ado About Nothing.  (She is reading overviews of these plays, not the actual plays.) 

In science, she is still doing Astronomy.  This is going to bridge into physical science pretty quickly, and I think she is quite happy about that.  :)

She is also studying through the book of Philippians this year, and the book Beautiful Girlhood. 

I think that's it for her overview.  I will get motivated to take some pictures of some of the things she has done soon.

I will write up posts for the middle one and little one shortly.  :)

Week In Review - Weeks 2 and 3

Pin It So now we are three weeks in and have some of the kinks worked out!

I am giggling.  As I planned school for the oldest, there was one part of her curriculum that I felt iffy about.  I had decided we'd give it a try for a couple of weeks, then re-evaluate to see if we needed to skip that portion.

Would anyone care to guess what she told me her favorite part of her curriculum is?  LOL  Never fails, right?  Glad I ordered it.  Who would have guessed I would have a child who loves ... SHAKESPEARE of all things.  I think she only has a Shakespeare overview once or twice a week, but she really loves it.

In week 2, she studied The Tempest.
In week 3, she studied Midsummer Night's Dream.  (She is only halfway through this.)

This just fascinates me.  Those of you who I talked to through the years about my child who could read well but hated to read?  Never mind.  LOL  Sometime in the last couple of years, she decided that she really enjoyed reading.  Apparently even Shakespeare.  I loved reading, but I can't think of a single time I EVER said "hey!  I'd like to read some more Shakespeare!"  LOL

She has gone from Rome to Alexandria to Constantinople as she is studying history and geography.  Her curriculum has her do a bit of research on these cities every week and then write a postcard to a friend telling them about the city.  This is fabulous to me and I am really enjoying what she is learning and writing about.

She makes a timeline every week, starting where her curriculum from last year left off.  So far she has gone through Polycarp, to Constantine, to Theodosius, to Alaric the Visigoth.  I have no idea who most of those people are.  Maybe I should do some of her history with her!  She's in about 400 AD now.

She is enjoying some art as well.  This was her first time to use chalk, and we really liked the way this came out.

In science ... well, in all honesty, science is our weak area.  She's starting off in astronomy, and is learning about atmosphere, craters, and has been focused on Mercury.  I imagine most of the science learning she will do will come from co-op.  I am trying to make more of an effort with her in science.  We'll see how that goes!

The middle one has found her groove and is doing well with school.  She is writing her first paper in English, and I am finding it hysterical.  Bob Jones English has one grammar chapter and then one writing chapter.  This writing chapter was a compare and contrast essay.  I suggested cats and dogs, oranges and apples, tennis shoes and sandals, etc.  She chose to compare and contrast herself and her friend.  Um.  Okay.  She has really done well on her paper though, and I can't wait until she is finished with it so I can make a copy to give to her friend's mom.

In history, she is studying creation.  She is really enjoying Draw and Write Through History and has drawn some dinosaurs, early people, Noah's Ark, and her latest, cave drawing style wooly mammoths.

This topic is carried over into her science class, where she is studying the Ice Age.  I'm doing some of this along with her and we are finding it very interesting!  We are particularly enjoying this book:

We read it together and honestly are both finding it fascinating.  These are topics I have never thought about too deeply, so it's been fun learning it along with her.

She is also doing a timeline, and since her curriculum starts with creation, her timeline currently includes creation, Noah's Ark, and the tower of Babel.

She enjoyed painting using watercolors.  She was supposed to make a rainbow, and she did.  I like the smiling sun.

The little one is getting used to school too.  His kindergarten class is still reviewing things he already knows, which he enjoys telling me frequently.  ("Mama!  Ms. Russell already teached me this!")  He has learned a few sight words and is sounding out some new words, and he is having fun doing it.

He is enjoying his Heart of Dakota curriculum as well, and especially looks forward to reading about Reddy Fox every day.

The best part of his week, and the girls agree, is the snack time he gets every week.  The first week, he decorated cupcakes with his letter.  Let me tell you, it's tough to make a B out of sprinkles on the top of a cupcake!  The second week, he made a firetruck out of graham crackers, frosting, pretzels and gumdrops.  Week three was a traffic light out of graham crackers, frosting, and m&m's.  It's amazing how the girls' ears perk up from all over the house when the DVD says "Snack Time!"

It was firetruck day; see his fire hat?

Sister wants in on the firetruck action!

Now both sisters are making traffic lights.

(btw ... I am DELIGHTED to report that there is no longer a mattress set in the family room!  DELIGHTED.  House is back in order!)

This past week was rather hectic getting everything done with a bunch of extra activities thrown in, but somehow we managed.  I still can't say enough good things about the Heart of Dakota curricula we are using.  It has been such a blessing to us!

Co-op starts tomorrow, so next week's review will include co-op, day 1.

Weekly Wrap Up -- Week 1

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Woohoo, week #1 is done!  It's been an interesting week ...

The oldest:
Her Heart of Dakota curriculum is PERFECT for her.  I was worried that it was going to take her way too long to complete a day because there is a lot of reading and journaling.  It is actually just perfect!  She started off learning about the times right after Christ, and about some martyrs.  She's also reading Beautiful Girlhood and started a Shakespeare overview.  In science, she is starting with astronomy.

We decided to change from Bob Jones English to Easy Grammar.  We don't actually have the Easy Grammar curriculum in yet, but I am looking forward to it for several reasons.  One - DVD time is a hot commodity around here, and Easy Grammar doesn't require a DVD player.  Two - I think it will take considerably less time, even doing it for a whole year rather than a one semester course (which BJU is.)  Three - we're already using IEW for writing, and she already has an excellent grammar foundation (thank you BJU!) so some skill maintaining is really all that is required at this point.

Math is rocking along, as is Texas History.  (Oh yeah - we were going to hold that off until next semester, but while we were holding for English/grammar, decided there was no time like the present, and let's just go ahead and get Texas History done.)

Writing is rocking along as well.  We got a great start with this last year and then decided to just start over rather than picking up where we left off, so this is all review to her right now.

I think this is really going to be a great year for her! 

The Middle:
We discovered very quickly that we needed to revise the Heart of Dakota plans for the middle one.  (Remember that the girls both did Creation to Christ last year.  It was a struggle for the middle one, so we dropped her down a level for this year.)  We were originally planning to stretch Preparing Hearts for His Glory over two years.  I did not realize that there is quite a skill jump between the Preparing level and the Creation to Christ level.  She breezed through day 1 and I realized that we needed to not do it half speed, plus we needed to add the extension package.

(NOTE TO SELF.  When you plan lessons six weeks in advance, DO THEM IN PENCIL.)

I think she really is going to love this curriculum this year, and I am excited about it for her. I think once we have the kinks worked out with the schedule and figuring out exactly what she needs to do every day, she is going to love it.

She is doing well with her Bob Jones English and reading, and with her Teaching Textbooks math.

The little one:
Woohoo for no changes necessary!

His Heart of Dakota curriculum has been fun this week.  He's a squirmy little boy, so it's great that the readings are short.  We do school with him about 15 minutes at a time in several intervals throughout the day, and this week it has worked well.  He is very clearly still adjusting to school and figuring out what is expected from him.

His phonics/reading BJU class is going well.  Again, it's taking some adjustment to get him to focus well.  (Funny - he can sit and watch Phineas and Ferb and not move, but I put in the kindergarten dvd and he turns into a squirmy worm!)  He's figuring out how it all works though, and I'm proud of him.

We're still a bit at a loss for math.  I bought him a Singapore math book then realized that he was a little past where it started.  We're going to finish it up in the next couple of weeks and then go to ... something.  Maybe just the next Singapore book.  I really don't know yet.

All in all, it's been a very good first week.  Yay for getting back into a routine!  The kids have complained about getting up earlier, but in all honesty, I think everyone is happier when we have a schedule and normal daily plan.  (Or maybe it's just that *I* am happier when we have a routine ... and when mama is happy ... you know the rest.)

I will be linking up with Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers today.  :)  Hop on over and see how other first weeks went!

First day report

Pin It Flexibility.  A skill I'm working on.  A skill I currently do not possess.

I believe I'm going to need to change a class for the oldest.  I know, this is not really a crisis, but I've had everything laid out - either physically laid out or laid out in my mind - for months now.  Realizing on day 1 that a change will very likely be necessary has me a little stressed.  It will be fine though.  It's a class at which she excels, so it will be fine to change everything up at the last minute.  Right?  RIGHT??

Other than that, day one went smoothly.  The middle one had the easiest day.  She finished early and enjoyed everything she did.  WOOT!  The oldest one had a long day.  I guess that's to be expected.  (At least the change mentioned above will cut a bit of work out of her day.  I think.) 

The little one cracked me up.  A fair portion of his curriculum consists of me reading to him.  He was flipping all over here and there.  I asked him what he did last year when Mrs. Russell read to him and he said he sat on his mat like he was supposed to.  Um.  Not sure if I should go get the boy a mat or what.  hehe ;) 

First day of school pics:

MY BABY!!  How could he be in kindergarten already?

My sweet 5th grader.  I hope today was a preview of a great year for her!

The oldest, saying "I cannot believe my mom is making me take a pic with this dorky sign."

One more thing ... it's not only public school moms who cry on their baby's first day of kindergarten.  :-}  I just can't figure out how that happened so quickly.  It really does not seem possible. 

And so it begins ...

Pin It The 2011/2012 school year that is! The home construction is finished just in the nick of time. There is still work to be done, but at least all of the furniture is (mostly) where it belongs. We have discovered that I have very expensive taste so the decoration of both bedrooms will likely take a while. I'm okay with that. Mostly. We are cash only and intend to stay that way, and let me tell you, that is sometimes TOUGH with two who enjoy instant gratification! Pics of the redo will come eventually, but I want to wait until it's done. Right now both rooms look like big ole' messes with really pretty walls, trim, and doors.

Oh wait. This post was supposed to be about school, wasn't it?

I am so glad to be getting started. I think every one of us will be happier with a normal routine and schedule. Or at least I will. And if *I'm* happier, everyone else will be too. :-P

I know I posted our curriculum choices already, and I really want to commit to a weekly wrap-up, both for my benefit for future reference, and to connect with others doing the same things. I don't think I've posted our schedule for the year though. I'm sure there will be some tweaking required because I don't know exactly how long our Heart of Dakota curriculum(s) will take. I know how long it took last year, but I'm not sure I can use that as a basis for this year because that was two kids together and a third one not in the mix. I had to have a plan to start with though, and here it is.

8:30 -- oldest does English with DVD
9:15 -- oldest moves to computer to do math
middle starts Reading on DVD
little one starts Heart of Dakota with mama
10:00 -- oldest starts Heart of Dakota independently
middle one goes to English on DVD, then to Heart of Dakota reading
little one does math with mama, then playtime
11:00 -- oldest works on writing (Institute for Excellence in Writing) with mama and does dictation for spelling
middle one moves to the computer to do math
little one moves to the DVD player to do his phonics

12:00 -- hopefully all of the above stuff is done and we have lunch

1:00 -- everybody goes to Heart of Dakota. The little one might be done now, I really don't know yet. We might do our read alouds all together at this time, or just see what works. Looking at this, it looks like the two younger ones will need me at this time if the little one isn't already finished, so we'll see how this works. The middle one will be doing her history and/or science projects at this time, and when those are finished, so is she.

2:00 -- everybody should be finished by this time except the oldest, who hopefully will just have some independent reading left.

So, this is clearly very much a work in progress. That's okay, we have a plan to start with and can adjust as we need to.

I went through and looked at the school room posts all around the blogosphere. To be honest, I was so envious of all the gorgeous dedicated school spaces I saw! We don't have a dedicated school space. We have the family room, the kitchen, a bedroom, and the living room. I remodeled my house (AGAIN) in my mind to carve out a space. It was gorgeous. It had a DVD player, a school computer, maps on the wall, a humongous bookshelf, and comfy chairs. It was so fabulous.

Then I remembered my children. Have you met them? Miss "please leave me alone because I prefer complete silence while I learn." Miss "I am so easily distracted I need a room with nothing moving around." And of course Mr. "I am a loud noise covered in dirt and my favorite thing in the world is annoying the snot out of the middle one."

Our school space is perfect for our needs.

They all move around from one room to the next, they all have their space, and distractions are at a minimum. As much as I would love the school room I daydreamed about, it would likely be an exercise in frustration for all of us.

Giggle ... I realize I have barely blogged all summer long and then made it up all in one blog post!

YAY for the first day of school!

Homeschool Mother's Journal 8/5

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I've seen this link up here and there and haven't ever participated before.  But now, I'm sitting here avoiding the laundry and sink full of dishes, and proud that I accomplished something homeschool related, so I want to shout it out!  LOL

In my life this week…
There has been much chaos. LOL Redoing a bedroom, a spastic refrigerator, and nothing in its usual place. This is not good for for my mind, which operates so much better when there is not clutter! 

In our homeschool this week…
We are getting there! I came back from the conference, as always, all inspired but with the realization that some of the inspiration was a little idealistic. It's good to be aware of that now! I have gotten our schedule put together and the first six weeks planned out. I'm DELIGHTED with this! 

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…
This is a very practical tip, but it has helped me. Take your worktexts that have tear out pages to an office supply store. For about $3 per book, they can spiral bind them and VOILA no more loose pages covering every flat surface in the house. At the end of the year, you've got a nice completed book to file away. 

I am inspired by…

Remember I just got home from a homeschool conference. Right now I am inspired by Sally Clarkson. I bought a few of her workshops on CD at the conference. She just encourages me so much! 

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…
The main place we are going these days is Lowe's. I think I have used an entire tank of gas going to Lowe's and back. It will be awesome (and oh yes, there will be pictures) when it's done! 

My favorite thing this week was…
Last night. I looked at my planner and saw plans written through all of September. Makes me so happy!  And I'm also going to have to throw in that the meal I had last night for my birthday might have been my other favorite thing.  YUMMY~!!

What’s working/not working for us…
I am loving Heart of Dakota curriculum and it worked so well for us last year. 

Questions/thoughts I have…
How on earth am I going to take the curriculum that I loved so much last year for two children and split it into three children doing their own? We'll see ...

And the mail just got here and it's time to pick up my daughter and I suppose I shouldn't avoid the laundry any longer because I think it's giving me the evil eye, so I'll close for now!

"Not" Back to School Blog Hop: Curriculum Week

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I thought maybe I'd ease into blogging again by joining this blog hop.  We loved all of our curriculum choices last year, so we're continuing on with them this year.

The oldest:  8th grade
She will be doing Bob Jones Writing and Grammar 8 this year.  She is actually just going to be doing the grammar portion of it this year.
She will be completing IEW, which we started last year, for writing.
She will be doing Teaching Textbooks for math.
She will be doing the Resurrection to Reformation study from Heart of Dakota for history, science, and Bible, with a lot of extras thrown in (like poetry, art, and spelling).  She did Creation to Christ last year, and OH, how we loved it!  I am very excited to see what this year is going to hold!
She will be doing Switched on Schoolhouse Texas History in the spring as well.

The middle one:  5th grade
(Let me just take a moment to GASP.  Eighth and fifth grade?  Wow.)
Her plan is pretty easy this year, and I am anticipating a good year for her.
She will again be using Bob Jones for English 5 and Reading 5.  She is well familiar with these, having used them since first grade.  We are former homesat customers, and have DVD's for classes from K4 - 8th grade. 
She will again be using Teaching Textbooks for math.
She will be doing Preparing Hearts for His Glory from Heart of Dakota this year.  She actually did Creation to Christ with her sister last year, and I know it's weird to go down a level, but she is not ready to go up a level, and I would actually like her to repeat the Creation to Christ curriculum when she is in 7th grade, so I think it's going to work well to have her do Preparing spread over two years.  This will cover her history, science, poetry, art, Bible, and spelling.

And, the little one:  Kindergarten  (also unbelievable.)
His plan is very simple this year.  He is ready to learn and asks me two things just about every day.  1. Can one of his friends come over, and 2. Is it time to do some school.  I'm anticipating a fun year with him!
He will be also doing a Heart of Dakota curriculum.  His is Little Hearts for His Glory.  (Yes, I am a bit nervous about running three HOD programs at the same time.)
He will be doing Bob Jones K5 Beginnings for phonics, reading, and handwriting.
He will be doing a Singapore Math workbook.  I'm really not sure where we will land for math.  I'm really not sure exactly where he is now, so this is the one area that might change quickly.  We may end up starting Math U See Alpha pretty quickly, or sticking with this workbook, or really I don't even know.

Okay, so that's it for our curriculum choices.  It looks so overwhelming to see it all written out here!  (No, it REALLY looks overwhelming now that it's all sitting on our bookshelf!)  I am very excited to see what this year holds for us though.  :)

I will be linking up with Heart of the Matter today and plan to join in with all of their August blog hops as we get ready for NOT back to school!

**NOTE -- I would love a "buddy" who is going through the same HOD curriculum that we are, so please be sure to leave me a message if you are!  Especially the RtoR.  I'm a big fan of comparing notes and sharing ideas along the way!

Plan B, Anyone?

Pin It Homeschooling 2011/2012.

Adding to my list of things I've learned:  As they get older, it gets more expensive.  LOTS more expensive.  That's just a tip that has really nothing to do with this blog post.

Another tip:  it's a lot easier to combine a 4th grader and a 7th grader than it is to combine a 5th grader and an 8th grader.  At least that's how it's appearing.

The combining thing was good while it lasted, but after trying to figure out how to make it work for next year, I have basically given up.  The girls will use two separate curricula next year.  We love Heart of Dakota and will still be using it - actually using it for all three kids.  I was planning to still combine the oldest and middle one and just kind of drag the middle one along with the expectation that it was okay if she was dragged along because she would be repeating it when she was in junior high.

That is/was a great plan, but when I think about adding in the little one next year and what that's going to require of me, do I really want the battle of dragging a child through a curriculum that is too old for her?  Really?  Exactly who will benefit from that?  None of the options I came up with really worked  - like, having the student notebook half filled out would bother me (yeah, I know ... it is what it is) although it would be better for her to do less writing, etc.

Then again though, I wanted her to do (redo) the Creation to Christ curriculum in 7th grade, and she'll be in 5th next year.  So, a year off if we went down a level (which I suspect will be perfect for her).

FINALLY ... in hashing it out with a friend, I came to a solution.  She will drop down a level, but we're going to half-pace it to spread it over two years.  She'll still be doing Bob Jones reading, English, and something I haven't decided yet for spelling, so she'll still get a full day's worth of schoolwork and, I think, a complete school year.  There is a lot of reading in the Heart of Dakota (Preparing) curriculum, and she loves to read, so that will work well too.   

WHEW for solutions.  Now if I can find a math plan for the little one and a spelling plan for the middle one, I'll have it all figured out.  At least until I change it again.  ;)

  

2011/2012 Plans Made!

Pin It Woot! The big ole' "this is what worked for us and this is what didn't" and "this is what I loved about this year and this is what I hated" has been hashed out in my mind and we have a plan for our schooling next year!

Starting with the oldest ... wow, 8th grade!
It is official, we're going to go ahead and move her up a grade in church. I left her with her current group when we moved her from 2nd to 3rd grade at school several years ago because I didn't want her to miss out on a year of AWANA and I didn't want to move her in Sunday school in the middle of the year. I figured we'd move her, or not, when she got to youth, and I've kind of been agonizing a little over that decision. The group of girls in her current class are fabulous. They're pretty close knit and I love every one of them. Ultimately though, I think she needs to be with the group she will graduate with. At least that's what I think for now. It's subject to change ... LOL

For school next year, we will continue using Heart of Dakota for her mainly. She'll be using the Resurrection to Reformation curriculum, with the extensions, which is a continuation of what she's doing now. She will continue with Bob Jones English, but I think we're mainly going to focus on grammar with that. We've started Institute for Excellence in Writing, and I think she and I like that better for writing, so we're going to continue with that. Add in Teaching Textbooks pre-Algebra, and she'll be good for next year.

Then the middle one ...
She will be in fifth grade next year. FIFTH GRADE. I can't believe that! We are for sure going to be using Bob Jones Reading 5, and Bob Jones English 5 with her, along with Teaching Textbooks 5 in math. She will be joining in with her sister again for Heart of Dakota, Resurrection to Reformation. This is a bit of a stretch for her, as was this year, but I think she still got enough out of it to make it worth it. We will adapt it to fit her needs; she won't do the extensions and we'll ease up some of the other work for her as well. My long range plan is for her to repeat both Creation to Christ (which we did this year) and Resurrection to Reformation when she is in 7th and 8th grade. This is mainly for my benefit because it's so much easier to combine the two girls, and really, this is my last year to be able to do that.

Then the little one ... yikes. It's going to be interesting having him at home for school next year! He will be doing kindergarten, which I'm thinking at least educationally, should be somewhat easy because he has gotten such a great head start from preschool this year. He will be doing Bob Jones K5 Beginnings for phonics and handwriting. We're going to jump on the Heart of Dakota train with him too, using Little Hearts for His Glory. I was planning to just use the BJU Beginnings and add some math, but then I got my hands on the HOD curriculum and think he will really love it. We may stretch it over two years; I'm not entirely sure yet. Since all three kids will have some DVD driven classes, DVD time will be at a premium around here, and we'll just have to see how the scheduling works out.

The one thing I have not yet decided regarding the little one is math yet. I'm leaning towards using the math that was recommended in the HOD guide. I love Math U See for little ones, but I don't love the Primer. He has a pretty strong grasp on numbers, so I might just jump in with Alpha and take it slowly. I really am just not sure yet.

So ... everything (except math for the little one) is nailed down, and a lot of the stuff I already have, so I'm calling this a good head start on school for next year. This is actually the easy part though; I've known for a while what I was going to do with the girls because of how much we have enjoyed school this year. The hard part will be working out a schedule ... and of course, implementing it.

It feels good to have plans in place, anyway! :)

Weekly Wrap-Up

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I see I'm back to the every couple of weeks weekly wrap-up.  Awesome.  Oh well, it is what it is!

First of all, the little one's preschool class is raising money for a project in Haiti.  One of the girls in his class got the idea to do this; how awesome!! 


That is the little one's class in the video.  :)
They did a bake sale to kick off their fundraising:

Then we had a geography fair at our homeschool co-op.

We, of course, did Japan.  Again.  I think next time we are going to have to branch out.  ;)  It was very neat though - the girls focused their report on the earthquake and tsunami.  The little one, because of what he has learned about Haiti knew what that was and was interested to learn more about it.

After co-op, we took off!  We decided to spend a couple of days in Galveston and call it our family vacation.  We're planning a big vacation next year and want to try to save up money for that, so it's a mini vacation this year.

What's gonna work? Teamwork!

Woot, dolphin!  I can call this science, right?

Watching a B-25 take off!  (And WOOT, I believe this is called HISTORY!)

Then we came home and went to a concert.  Learned something here.  The oldest?  She loves concerts.  I'm sure that is no surprise to those of you who know her.  The middle one enjoyed it as well.  The little one pretty much hated it.  I think the noise, lights, and still recovering from a head injury worked together to just make him miserable.  He cried that his head hurt, then went to sleep during the first song and slept through the entire thing.  Here are a few pictures:

First, Natalie Grant:

Then, Brandon Heath:

Then, Mercy Me! I'm supposed to point out that the oldest took this pic.  :)

So, all in all, it was a fabulous week!  Back to the old grind next week though; final push to finish out the school year!  Eight weeks left!

I will be linking up with Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers today.