....that HS too. I know I could do it without them, but I certainly wouldn't want to! They offer ideas and encouragment. Not having to go at anything alone, especially HS, is truly a blessing.
For instance. I heard about a representative for a certain curriculum publisher coming to a nearby town. I planned to go with or without anyone I knew. But a fellow HS mom met me there. It was nice to be able to look through the books together. Our kids got to play (quietly) while we did so.
I do wish my HS friends lived locally but I'll take what I can get. At least the times we do get together is even more precious. The friendships that have developed between other HS moms and also between all our kids is another one of those rare and beautiful treasures.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Our Summer plans
It didn't take me long to decide that we would school year around. I don't want to lose ground by taking the whole summer off and then having to spend time in review once we start back. I also like the routine that schooling provides. It keeps everyone from getting bored and acting out.
So what are we planning to do during the summer? We are currently on a one week well deserved break (haven't had one of those since the beginning of March!) so I've had time to think this over. I don't think we're going to do a full work load like we usually do. My biggest concern is Math since we switched programs a couple times during the year trying to find the right match. We are a little behind and need to get caught up. Besides, Math is one of those subjects that if you don't use it you'll lose it pretty quick. At least, it is in our case.
So, our summer program will look more like this:
For 3rd/4th grade
Math: Continue on with Time4Learning. T4L is still working out great for #1. Math is still not her fave subject but at least we don't have as many tears. I also want to incorporate some workbooks to give her math time that's not on the computer. I haven't decided on which workbooks.
Language Arts: Continue on with T4L and Winston Grammar.
Art: Start Artistic Pursuits
Handwriting: We were doing Abeka's cursive worksheets earlier in the year. As we tried to adjust to homeschooling, handwriting was one of those unnecessary subjects that we quit. With a lighter summer schedule, I think it would be a good time to start it back. However, I will not be using Abeka. I'm looking at D'Nealian handwriting or BJU Press Handwriting.
*UPDATE: We started BJU Handwriting today (6/7/11). Thoughts on it to come later.
Spanish: Grandma has actually been working with #1 on this!
Right now we are still using My Father's World ECC for Bible/Science/History/Geography. It's going well and we really like it. We'll be putting it aside for the summer though and start back in the Fall.
For Pre-k/K:
Not really going to be making any changes here. We already take things easy for #2. She's only 4!
Math: A combination of Shiller Math and Horizons Math
Early Phonics: Keep going with Get Ready for the Code series. We're about to start Book C of the series which is the last one!
Handwriting: We haven't been doing this as she just hasn't been ready. She's finally showing signs of readiness so I've been looking into what I'd like to start. Right now, I'm most interested in D'Nealian.
*UPDATE: Will be going with "Write Now" from BJU Press. I decided to wait until we start Kindy work in the late summer/early fall.
We'll see how this goes. I consider us to still be in the tedious learning stage of homeschool. Hopefully, summer school works for us. If not, I'll know better for next summer!
So what are we planning to do during the summer? We are currently on a one week well deserved break (haven't had one of those since the beginning of March!) so I've had time to think this over. I don't think we're going to do a full work load like we usually do. My biggest concern is Math since we switched programs a couple times during the year trying to find the right match. We are a little behind and need to get caught up. Besides, Math is one of those subjects that if you don't use it you'll lose it pretty quick. At least, it is in our case.
So, our summer program will look more like this:
For 3rd/4th grade
Math: Continue on with Time4Learning. T4L is still working out great for #1. Math is still not her fave subject but at least we don't have as many tears. I also want to incorporate some workbooks to give her math time that's not on the computer. I haven't decided on which workbooks.
Language Arts: Continue on with T4L and Winston Grammar.
Art: Start Artistic Pursuits
Handwriting: We were doing Abeka's cursive worksheets earlier in the year. As we tried to adjust to homeschooling, handwriting was one of those unnecessary subjects that we quit. With a lighter summer schedule, I think it would be a good time to start it back. However, I will not be using Abeka. I'm looking at D'Nealian handwriting or BJU Press Handwriting.
*UPDATE: We started BJU Handwriting today (6/7/11). Thoughts on it to come later.
Spanish: Grandma has actually been working with #1 on this!
Right now we are still using My Father's World ECC for Bible/Science/History/Geography. It's going well and we really like it. We'll be putting it aside for the summer though and start back in the Fall.
For Pre-k/K:
Not really going to be making any changes here. We already take things easy for #2. She's only 4!
Math: A combination of Shiller Math and Horizons Math
Early Phonics: Keep going with Get Ready for the Code series. We're about to start Book C of the series which is the last one!
Handwriting: We haven't been doing this as she just hasn't been ready. She's finally showing signs of readiness so I've been looking into what I'd like to start. Right now, I'm most interested in D'Nealian.
*UPDATE: Will be going with "Write Now" from BJU Press. I decided to wait until we start Kindy work in the late summer/early fall.
We'll see how this goes. I consider us to still be in the tedious learning stage of homeschool. Hopefully, summer school works for us. If not, I'll know better for next summer!
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Time4Learning.com
I had heard about Time4Learning through other homeschoolers. I was never really interested for several reasons. 1) I wanted to be more hands on and do the teaching. 2)It's a secular program and I prefer Christian based curriculum. 3)Didn't want to pay the monthly fee of $19.95.
So, why am I now using T4L? Main reason: I got stressed out about being behind because of a busy month (see March Madness post). I am also realizing that, while I have some really GREAT programs/curriculum now, everything is very hands on and requires heavy teacher involvement. Which is what I wanted. I didn't realize what I was doing to myself though. I'm teaching TWO kids, have a toddler running around, and living a real life. What can I say? I'm still in my first year and learning alot about the hows of HS.
Math is my biggest challenge. Number 1 hates math so I hate dealing with her hating it. Catch my drift? Everything else pretty much rolls smoothly but not math. So to take some of the pressure off of myself, I decided to try T4L's math. The program offers Math, Language Arts, Language Arts extensions, Science, and Social Studies. It can be used as the core curriculum or as a supplement. I was thinking to use it as a supplement.
After using it for a week now I will be using the Math as our core. LA will be a supplement (even though it's thorough enough to be a core). Number 1 doesn't love the Science. It's a lot of reading. That's fine with me since it's secular based anyway. We haven't checked out Social Studies yet.
I'm just so relieved to have some pressure off me. And I'm willing to pay a monthly fee for some breathing room! :-)
So, why am I now using T4L? Main reason: I got stressed out about being behind because of a busy month (see March Madness post). I am also realizing that, while I have some really GREAT programs/curriculum now, everything is very hands on and requires heavy teacher involvement. Which is what I wanted. I didn't realize what I was doing to myself though. I'm teaching TWO kids, have a toddler running around, and living a real life. What can I say? I'm still in my first year and learning alot about the hows of HS.
Math is my biggest challenge. Number 1 hates math so I hate dealing with her hating it. Catch my drift? Everything else pretty much rolls smoothly but not math. So to take some of the pressure off of myself, I decided to try T4L's math. The program offers Math, Language Arts, Language Arts extensions, Science, and Social Studies. It can be used as the core curriculum or as a supplement. I was thinking to use it as a supplement.
After using it for a week now I will be using the Math as our core. LA will be a supplement (even though it's thorough enough to be a core). Number 1 doesn't love the Science. It's a lot of reading. That's fine with me since it's secular based anyway. We haven't checked out Social Studies yet.
I'm just so relieved to have some pressure off me. And I'm willing to pay a monthly fee for some breathing room! :-)
March Madness!!
Truly, March has been crazy for us! We are normally a very laid back family. We're not the type to always be on the road. Normally. This month has been the opposite. I hate that feeling of being behind. I keep having to remind myself that we are year around schoolers for this very reason. We can break any time we want. Still, I pushed hard this week to get caught up.
The biggest help to me this week has been to try out Time4Learning. I normally research things to death before trying. I had heard of T4L before but wasn't that interested. I wanted to be more hands on. Neither did I want to pay the $19.95/month fee. But at the height of feeling stressed out about being behind, I decided to try it out. Without tons of research. After all, there's a 14 day trial period so I wouldn't be out anything if we hated it.
We don't hate it! We actually love it. Well, I love it. Number 1 likes it. Tolerates it. As she does most of her school work. ;-) I love it because it takes some pressure off of me. We're mostly using the Math and Language Arts section of it.
The Math section is my BFF. I've found that I don't love teaching math. I don't know if it's the program, the child I'm teaching (she gripes so much about math!), or if I'm just not good at it. I understand math pretty well (though I'm much more of a English girl) but may not be so good at teaching it. Whatever the reason, I'm thankful for T4L's math. It's so nice to be able to send #1 to the computer while I work hands on with #2.
Anyway, March madness has been mad but it helped me find a better way of doing things. So I guess it wound up being a good thing after all.
The biggest help to me this week has been to try out Time4Learning. I normally research things to death before trying. I had heard of T4L before but wasn't that interested. I wanted to be more hands on. Neither did I want to pay the $19.95/month fee. But at the height of feeling stressed out about being behind, I decided to try it out. Without tons of research. After all, there's a 14 day trial period so I wouldn't be out anything if we hated it.
We don't hate it! We actually love it. Well, I love it. Number 1 likes it. Tolerates it. As she does most of her school work. ;-) I love it because it takes some pressure off of me. We're mostly using the Math and Language Arts section of it.
The Math section is my BFF. I've found that I don't love teaching math. I don't know if it's the program, the child I'm teaching (she gripes so much about math!), or if I'm just not good at it. I understand math pretty well (though I'm much more of a English girl) but may not be so good at teaching it. Whatever the reason, I'm thankful for T4L's math. It's so nice to be able to send #1 to the computer while I work hands on with #2.
Anyway, March madness has been mad but it helped me find a better way of doing things. So I guess it wound up being a good thing after all.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Summer School
I've been thinking about breaks. I started the year off planning to stick as close as possible to the public school schedule. I've changed my mind. Drastically.
One of the perks of HS is that it doesn't have to be done like public school. I've learned that in more way than one. Certainly, HS provides opportunities to take a break whenever you want. We can take a family vacation in the middle of October or February if we want. Thankfully, the HS laws for our state are pretty lenient as long as we get in 180 school days a year.
I decided that we will be schooling year around. This gives us more days throughout the year to play with for breaks. We also won't be wasting any time with review for a typical new school year. As we finish one curriculum we'll move right into the next level instead having to wait until August. We'll break when we feel like we need it. Hopefully that will prevent the dreaded burn out that I hear about.
I like the routine that schooling for a few hours provides for us. It seems to keep our day "neater." I don't want to lose that during the summer.
One of the perks of HS is that it doesn't have to be done like public school. I've learned that in more way than one. Certainly, HS provides opportunities to take a break whenever you want. We can take a family vacation in the middle of October or February if we want. Thankfully, the HS laws for our state are pretty lenient as long as we get in 180 school days a year.
I decided that we will be schooling year around. This gives us more days throughout the year to play with for breaks. We also won't be wasting any time with review for a typical new school year. As we finish one curriculum we'll move right into the next level instead having to wait until August. We'll break when we feel like we need it. Hopefully that will prevent the dreaded burn out that I hear about.
I like the routine that schooling for a few hours provides for us. It seems to keep our day "neater." I don't want to lose that during the summer.
Our "classroom"
No, we do not have a room dedicated to school time. Most homeschoolers do not. It would be nice to have a space dedicated to school time but that's just not the case for us. So we make the space that we do have work for us.
We started with a small desk and a bookcase in my husband's man cave (den). #1 is very social and hated being alone. She even balks at being sent to her room to read for 15 minutes. So I moved her to the kitchen table. That worked for a while but for some reason we started doing everything at the kitchen bar. We've settled here and it works well for us. My kitchen/dining area is becoming very educational!
We started with a small desk and a bookcase in my husband's man cave (den). #1 is very social and hated being alone. She even balks at being sent to her room to read for 15 minutes. So I moved her to the kitchen table. That worked for a while but for some reason we started doing everything at the kitchen bar. We've settled here and it works well for us. My kitchen/dining area is becoming very educational!
This is the laundry room where I keep the art supplies.
A few books scattered here and there
A broom closet that needs some serious help
Monday, February 14, 2011
New Spelling Program
We got so tired of the typical spelling program of say-spell-say and write write write. It was boring and hard and #1 wasn't retaining anything. As is typical for me, I read about spelling programs until I was blue in the face. I was looking for a few things in whatever program we chose: 1)Worksheets. I wanted more than a list of words. 2)Friendly to the kinesthetic learner. In other words, worksheets PLUS hands on activites. 3)Christian based (though not completely necessary).
I looked at several programs and narrowed it down over a few days. I finally settled on A Reason For Spelling. It met all 3 of my requirements. We've only used it for one school week but didn't use all the worksheets for that week. So far, #1 and I both LOVE it!
It comes with the student workbook and teacher's manual. After using the placement test on the A Beginning Advantage website, we chose Level C to start with.
We haven't had a full school week to use it yet. It came in the mail on a Tuesday and I was too excited to wait until the next week. It is easy enough to use that I didn't have to study the teacher's manual and make out a plan sheet. I want to spend the next day or so getting more familiar with the materials and use the program at it's maximum. With that being said, one could see that it can be a user friendly (mama friendly) program.
I'll update more when we've had more experience.
Oh, I bought it from Christianbook.com because it was cheaper to order from there.
I looked at several programs and narrowed it down over a few days. I finally settled on A Reason For Spelling. It met all 3 of my requirements. We've only used it for one school week but didn't use all the worksheets for that week. So far, #1 and I both LOVE it!
It comes with the student workbook and teacher's manual. After using the placement test on the A Beginning Advantage website, we chose Level C to start with.
We haven't had a full school week to use it yet. It came in the mail on a Tuesday and I was too excited to wait until the next week. It is easy enough to use that I didn't have to study the teacher's manual and make out a plan sheet. I want to spend the next day or so getting more familiar with the materials and use the program at it's maximum. With that being said, one could see that it can be a user friendly (mama friendly) program.
I'll update more when we've had more experience.
Oh, I bought it from Christianbook.com because it was cheaper to order from there.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)