Back to School Part 3: The Daily Line-up

Our homeschool is getting geared up for next school year. I am pleased to be fairly ready for next school year. I have a few more resources yet to be received but we are ready. I thought I would lay out what I have each child doing next year so that it is clear what I mean by things.
I mentioned in another post that each child has their own planning page in a weekly lineup that I can write on with dry erase pens where needed. My older children especially like the independence of being able to know what's expected and then just go do it. I'm still enjoying having our family together for some teachings/readings and we will continue with some of those things.


Here's the general plan:

Begin together:
Scripture/Praise/Prayer
Readings/Discussions from the Family Discussions section on harvestministry.com's unit study.
Unit study from Expedition Earth
Prayer wall, animal classification chart, missionary studies


Individually:
Math, Spelling, Grammar, Handwriting, Phonics for littles, reading assignments (mostly from harvestministry.com), memory work, writing assignments
There will be some weeks when there will be timeline entries, but not consistently.
Also, there are few things for the older children(not every single day, just sporadically): geography worksheets, critical thinking exercises, vocabulary worksheets


Together again:
Extras such as games, Spanish, geography experiments, music, etc Each week, I have a meal planned relative to the country we will be studying.


Some of these items only require a few minutes' time, but I list them to keep myself accountable.


I'd like to hear what you have planned for your homeschool next year. Leave me a comment!

Back to School Part 1: Roll Call

This year will be my first year with four students. Our almost-five-year-old is just chomping at the bit to get her own school assignments and participate like the older children. So, I will oblige her J
Student roll call: Dana, age 11, grade 6. Dylan, age 9, grade 3. Nathan, age 7, grade 2 and Jenna, age 5, Kindergarten-ish.
Curriculum roll call:
Math: Abeka (if it ain't broke, don't fix it)
Language arts: Spelling Workout for grades 2, 4, 6
Handwriting: A Reason for Writing for grades K, 2, 4. Copywork from various sources for grade 6.
Grammar: Finishing Easy Grammar grade 5 for grade 6 (we started mid year) , Primary Language Lessons for grade 2, Abeka Language for grade 4

Other: World Geography Unit study utilizing resources from Confessionsofahomeschooler.blogspot.com and harvestministry.com . For the remaining subjects, we will be integrating a geography unit study with a world missions focus. Erica  @ Confessions of  a Homeschooler wrote Expedition Earth and we will be using it as our base. It will be the "core unit" for the K and 2 students. The older two will be adding in more from the free unit at harvestministry.com. I love, love how Ann integrates God's heart for the peoples of the world with all of the subjects here.

Extras:  a little Spanish, little music here-n-there, lots of activities with local homeschool groups and of course, team sports with our county recreation department.

Starting line: I have no idea when we will start. We have completed our yearly standardized testing and submitted those, so we are "done" from a technical level. Right now, we are just ticking away at our math from the current year and reading a good bit. When I get the itch, we will start. I don't have a starting point or finish line, we just keep learning. That's how it's supposed to be, I think. We have somehow, over the years, become year-round, eclectic homeschoolers. It is not how I set out for our school operations to work, but it is what works. We have gone through seasons of formal, school-at-home instruction, minimalist-almost-unschooling, very Charlotte Mason and sometimes Classical methods creep in. Regardless, we do a combination of them all, doing what works for each season and according to the needs of our children.

I have a few new "methods" I have created for our homeschool this year and I'll share them soon. I hope to keep our family together and yet allow the olders who want more independence have it. What I really want is for us all to learn and love to keep learning!

Our Homeschool Method

has no name.  We are very eclectic, to say the least.  We have some Classical indicators, lean heavily toward the Charlotte Mason side, and do lots of Unit Studies.  There is nothing to call it, other than eclectic.  Things we have used and may still use, depending on the day and how I feel:
Abeka Math, Phonics, Readers, a few Science texts
Christian Liberty readers, nature readers, some History texts
History Pockets from Evan Moor, along with the plan at Guest Hollow
Spelling Power (my combined method is explained here)
Easy Grammar
Five in a Row
Writing Strands (read my review here)

There's more.  Lots more....there's Homeschool Share, using other random ideas of others' along the way, some days there's more student-led activities, many field trips and hands-on learning experiences ( we went geocaching this week and loved it).  Lots of life skills, too.  Whatever it is, I don't know what you would label it...but I know it is what we do.  It will certainly not work for everyone but it's for us. 

All that to say, our children are  normal and scored very well on their standardized tests this year.  We don't have a ton of keepsakes to prove what we do, other than completed papers.  I'm not an original, crafty person and haven't done a ton of cool projects with my kids like some moms do...I'm just me and we are doing what we do and it is working--at least the county/state is happy.

Teaching Art

You don't have to love art, have a degree in art or even know what you're doing to teach art for your children.  This is a great resource to help you out with the techinal issues of teaching art up to 6th grade.  We have children ages 4-11 and all participate and do well with this. 

 The lesson I'm including in this post is on form.  The children were to use clay (we used homemade play-doh) to make solid forms ( and meanwhile, learn their names).  So, here we have our handshaped pyramids, cubes, spheres and boxes.

 Another wonderful thing about this resource is that it gives you wonderful color pictures of what the end product should look like (in case yours should fail). 

 And, on this rainy day, this activity lead into other "creative" play-doh play, like the beheaded gingerbread man you see below.  Free time to create is just as important as guided time, in my opinion. 

So, if art is an area you struggle in, this resource makes it very easy  and you feel like you actually "taught" art :).

TOS Review: Download 'N' Go: Mother's Day

WHAT?

The Mother's Day Download 'n' Go  is a unit study created by Amanda Bennett in e-book format. It is very simple to use; the only preparation required is to search out optional library books to read along during the week for enrichment. This already contains indepth studies in every subject in this lineup:

Day 1: What Is Mother's Day

Day 2: The History of Mother's Day

Day 3: Celebrating Mother's Day

Day 4: Preparations for Mother's Day

Day 5: Goodies for Mother's Day

I used this study with my four children, ages 10, 8, 7, 4.   Our family lives in a small town and our library has limited titles.  So, I did not bother to try to find specific titles from the recommended reading.  We just used the unit as it was written. I gather my children round the computer and we read through them, taking one activity at a time. Also, to save a little money, I just keep the e-book saved on a flash drive and do not print out the entire book. I only print out the activity pages. For those who lapbook, the components are linked within the book and are found at the end of the study.

I'm the Mom -and Mother's Day surprised me!  The unit includes studies across all the subject areas and was very easy to use.  The entire e-book is beautiful and if you enjoy lapbooking, this would make a beautiful keepsake lapbook. We particularly enjoyed learning the history of Mother's Day.  My children's favorite part of the study was learning about Mother's Day around the world.  They were particularly interested in Scotland's traditions. 

After having done the study, we decided that we would make Mother's Day cards for others we could think of who would be blessed by them.  We made one for my great aunt who is in a nursing home, a family member who has had miscarriages but no living children, as well as our own mothers and grandmothers. 

We tried our best to make our "antique" Mother's Day cards look like the ones we saw in the study, but they were just far beyond what we could produce.  We used oil pastels to try it:

If you are interested in seeing what others think of the unit, click here to take the blog tour.
Happy Mother's Day to you all!!
 


I have been provided one free copy of the Mother's Day  Download 'N' Go to review in exchange for my honest opinion on the product.

Part Two: Hands On Grammar

I guess I should have mentioned in my previous post on this method that reverse operations serve a purpose as well. :) 

What I mean is, I have taken a  pattern of cards and given them to the children and they produce a sentence (can be silly ) that correponds to the part of speec on the code cards.  It helps them to create as much as identify.  They present it to the group and disputes are welcome.  This is how they learn--working it out, proving themselves, building confidence in their skills.  It works for me!

Hands On Grammar

I do realize that the picture would be misleading since the title refers to Hands On Grammar.  However, I have one child who struggles with grammar and needs any sort of different approach I can possibly conjure up.  I looked all around for something that I thought would be a sure-fire hit for her, at a reasonable price.  For me, that means almost free.  I had invested in various language programs through the years and have been reluctant to shell out much for something that I thought we likely might have already tried, in essence at least.   So, I decided to go it alone on this one.  I am still trudging through Easy Grammar this year.  It's going. Slowly. I felt the need to continue appealing to different senses with her on this and can see that all of my students benefit.  This is what I came up with.

As I mentioned in this post, I used sentences from literature that we had read aloud (or you could use something that the child is familiar with or reading through independantly).  We took a few simple sentences and (for the ten thousandth time) explained what a subject and predicate is.  Review never hurts and we go by the trickle-down effect for the younger ones since we basically have a one-room schoolhouse.  Using the very simple sentences that you see here, (and a few others before I erased them to write these) I had each child decipher the subject and predicate and just mentioned that we were going to have to divide these two parts because they are different and they do different things in the sentence.  That, in my opinion, is the beginning of sentence diagramming lessons.

(These are laminated pieces of regular white printer paper and I use dry erase markers on them with a clipboard)

Next, we "code" them.  This is done with our homemade code cards.  They take one word at a time and decide what part of speech it is and place the corresponding card in order, so that sentences look more like this:

This lesson is done as a group.  Anyone can (respectfully) dispute the answer that another gives.  The discussion facilitates learning AND teaching.  The ones who are sure of their answers inevitably teach the others the correct answer and even how they got it, and looove to prove it!!! 

If a child is unsure, they can reference the back of a card and find the definition and examples of what that shape represents and from there he can decide if he is choosing correctly. If a child, in coding his assigned sentence(s), runs into a word(s) that they are unsure of or have not yet learned, they can simply put a black card there and move on.  That word will be up for discussion when we all have completed their coding and we open it up for input.  Each child only had  two sentences to code on this day.   The solid black cards are KEY for them, in my opinion.  It keeps a struggling student from getting burned out and feeling stuck.   It's their "get out of jail free" card.  They are all laminated for durability.

 Got any other cool ideas for making Grammar more fun?  If so, please share :)

More on Teeth

With all the snow we've been having, running otu to gather supplies was not on my list. So, I made my own play dough. That was actually kinda fun. A project--just for Me!
Anyway, I had the children to make models of their teeth when studying the anatomy of a tooth.

In Our Homeschool....Teeth and the Tooth Fairy

Now, I'm so sure that this must only be of interest to a very slight few……but we have had quite a few teeth flying around our house for the last, oh, say 5 years!! This was an easy and fun unit to do since we only had a few legitimate school days until we are done for the year.

Even taking plenty of snow breaks, we were able to finish it in about four days. We learned soo much about teeth and the customs that other countries hold with regard to children losing their teeth. It was very, very interesting. If you read the books in order and do the lessons in relatively close order of how they are presented, it comes together nicely. This study is FREE from Homeschool Share!

First, we started our days with Geography. There was sooo much geography involved that we had to break it up and do some map searches every day. I printed out these little clipart pieces and the children would hunt for the places I called out. For the 7 yr old, I provided the continent as well as the country. The olders had to search a bit before I would give them the continent.

We did the egg/vinegar/soda experiment. All through the day, the kids couldn't help but to walk by and touch or dunk the egg back down into the vinegar. :) The egg in the soda sank and stayed there. But the one in vinegar dipped and danced a little.

We have now posted charts for every single child and they have been diligently checking off when their dental duty is done!

Seasonal Doings: Five in a Row Ornament Exchange

We began our homeschool journey 6 years ago, using literature based unit studies from Five in a Row.  The forums there are fabulous and each year, there is an ornament exchange.  I have only participated the last three years, but we have quite the collection, as you can see.  Many of the ornaments symbolize a favorite book that is included in Five in a Row, although some do not.  I have been using this wreath to hang our ornaments on, but it's looking like next year, we'll have to have a separate Five in a Row tree.  Lots of fun memories here!

TOS Review: Download 'N' Go: Pizza Party Review and Giveaway

WHAT?
Pizza Party:  The study is in e-book format and very simple to use. The only preparation required is to search out optional library books to read along during the week for enrichment.  This already contains indepth studies in every subject in this lineup:

Day 1: Pizza—What Is It?

Day 2: The Story of Pizza

Day 3: Types of Pizza

Day 4: The Science of Pizza

Day 5: Let’s Have a Pizza Party
 

 
WHO?
I used this study with my two sons, ages 6 and 8.  Although, it would have been appropriate for even my 5th grader since I learned so much myself!
 
HOW?
Again, we went at this with just the unit provided.  We live in a small town and a search of the library yielded very limited results for us.  We learned so much  just doing the study alone with none of the read-along type extras.  It was more than enough!  I find in doing these DNG units that I don't really need extras.  Amanda has done all of that for me and that's the simple beauty of these studies.

THE VERDICT
We are pizza lovers here, in the truest sense.  If pizza hasn't made it onto the menu in the last few weeks, I'll know about it soon!!  Every child here participates on pizza night. We do all ours homemade, so my crew knew exactly what was going on with this one-- some delicious FUN!!! The Download 'N' Go provided all that I needed to inspire more than just my children's taste buds when it comes to all things "pizza"!  The study of Italy was their favorite part, aside from the food, of course.  My children were quite interested in the city of Venice and the famous Italians we studied. As the teacher,it is such a pleasant experience to see your children learning and not have to jump through hoops to make it happen.  It's all right there for you-- outlined, organized, clickable bliss!

If you'd like to read more reviews from other homeschool parents,  click here and see what they're doing at their own Pizza Party!

This weekend there will be a Pizza Party and you're invited!!!  Saturday and Sunday, Pizza Party will be on sale for just $5!!! 
I have been provided one free copy of  Pizza Party Download 'N' Go to give away free to one of my readers!! To enter, leave me a comment and provide a contact email so that I can let you know if you're my winner!!!!!

Disclaimer: A copy of this unit study was provided for my use in exchange for an honest review.

TOS Review: Download 'N' Go : Roller Coasters

WHAT?

My next review for Download 'N' Go is Roller Coasters (by Amanda Bennett). This unit is a wonderful resource for teachers who are uncomfortable teaching subjects like Physics (this would be me). It contains 94 pages of fun filled learning  for an entire week.  Roller Coasters is filled with links and is complete with experiments  to help you inspire your children's creativity and help them understand gravity, force and motion. All for just $7.95!

The study is in e-book format and very simple to use.  The only preparation required is to search out optional library books to read along during the week for enrichment.  My small town library only had one of the titles given, but once we got into the study, I did not feel that extras were essential. 

WHO?

I did this study with three children, ages 10, 8, and 6. This study is listed for grades K - 4 but I felt that it was a good fit for my 5th grader, as well.


HOW?

Our family does much of our learning all together around the table , or in this case, the computer. We learn by talking and reasoning through our topics. We read through the study, seeking out more information through the videos and/or links given. We even created our own roller coaster using one of the resources provided. My students also related the roller coasters to our traveling in the hilly areas around our area. It also sparked memories of tthe blizzards and sledding downhill last winter. It was very rewarding  to me  to help them to make the connections to 'real life' concepts.

THE VERDICT

When I first thought of doing this unit, I thought that we'd do a little on gravity and a lot of just fun kiddie stuff.  I was so wrong. Roller Coasters really took us for a loop! I was impressed with  how my children never even knew they were studying Geography, Math, even some trivia along the way.

 The Download 'N' Go provided all that I needed to present physics topics to my children in a way that they could understand.  Reading over the material beforehand helped me feel very confident in presenting these concepts to my children.  It was so easy, in fact, that I felt quite silly for being nervous to begin with.  I also felt that the study could have extended beyond one week to go a little bit deeper, especially as I looked for ways to adapt the study for my older student.  This, of course, makes it even more of a bargain and cuts out all preparation time.  If you are a lapbooker, you're in for a treat on this one! There are plenty of great lapbook elements to supplement your learning. Our absolute favorite part of the unit was the video showing the experiment on force. My children watched that over and over and over!

Thanks so much, Download 'N' Go, for helping this homeschool mom get over the fear of physics and help my children enjoy learning, too!

I have been provided one free copy of Roller Coasters Download 'N' Go to giveaway free to one of my readers!!   To enter, leave me a comment and provide a contact email so that I can let you know if you're my winner!!!!!


Disclaimer:  TOS provided me with a copy of this unit study in exchange for my honest review.  This would have been my opinion had I purchased the e-book myself.

Planning for Next Year Part 5 - 5th grade

Do our children have to become gradually more serious about their education? Yes. Does that mean that there has to be an end to enjoyment and fun and their school days?  Not necessarily.  I hope that this year will turn out to be as fun for our oldest student as it is for the preschooler.  Of course, fun  in 5th grade is a whole lot different that the finger paints and bean bag games of preschool. 
Here's what we've got in store for our oldest:
Math : Abeka (workbook only) (although we are currently finishing up last year's work)
Language: Abeka-workbook, but only the grammar studies, composition is separate
Writing Strands- I just love their program and my daughter is excelling with it. (I wrote a review here)
Spelling - see my hybrid spelling method here
Handwriting-A Reason for Handwriting
History - Guest Hollow, American History Year 1 (I reviewed it here)
Science--various resources, Abeka text as a reference, experiments from various places
Art--this student loooves art and is quite spontaneous in this area, also How to Teach Art to Children in a group setting, with siblings
Music-keyboard
P.E.--she is playing volleyball in the fall (2nd year) and whatever else strikes her interest in the seasons ahead.
Also, she is now old enough for our church's youth group so she is having a great time there as well.

I think she is really getting the hang of some of the crafty things I've been trying to teach her in the last few years.  So, hopefully during those wintry days of cabin fever, we will have more craft time !

TOS Review: Goofy Gecko--Download 'N' Go Unit Study by Amanda Bennett

Oh, Boy, have my nature lovers had a great time this week!!!!  We got the opportunity to review Goofy Gecko Download 'N' Go and it was a sure hit! My boys looove all things nature.  No creature is exempt from their affections or denied handling at a moment's notice.  Thank Heavens these were admired from the distance of the worldwide web.  While I may give off the 'nerves of steel' air when my children bestow their blessed creatures upon the threshold of our home, I am truly panicking inside. 

WHAT
Goofy Gecko is a downloadable unit study in e-book format by Amanda Bennett. This is a one week unit with no additional purchases necessary. Objectives for each day are clearly outlined, which gives you a good idea of what the format will be, for easy planning.  The teacher can easily glance over and quickly decide if, for example, there might be a field trip possibility.  Videos and links associated with each day's objectives are provided.  Also, printable lapbook components come with the study. Additional resources can be found at local libraries to enhance the study, so a list of possible enrichment titles is included as well. 

WHO
I used this study  with two of my children, ages 6 and 8.  Both children love nature and animals but lack enthusiasm for the paper-y work of mini books and such.

HOW
We did this study over three days.  Usually science  is 2-3 days per week, depending on depth.  We made a mediocre attempt at the lapbook on a fourth day.  As I mentioned, my boys are not thrilled with the concept of lapbooks.  The three of us sat around our family computer, learning all manner of facts and figures on these creatures.  The videos were wonderful!  We especially loved the one where we watched the gecko turn from brown to green in real time .  We were all amazed.  One of my children commented on  how wonderfully God created our world . My  preschooler was even caught with the wide-eyed look during the video sessions.  The majority of the 'studying' was done orally, with me reading aloud from some of the links or other  material provided in the e-book.  I did not have access to many library books to go along with this.  Our small town library had to order in the few that we did get.  So, we mostly used the one or two resources I had on hand and the teacher's information provided in the E-book itself.  I still felt it was sufficient, even without the extras.  My 5th grader added her input on occasion as we went through some of the discussions in creating  the lapbook, actually helping out in the review process.  There were also a few lizard related practical jokes that ensued shortly after being inspired by the day's science (as I'm sure any Mom of boys can imagine).

THE VERDICT
I really enjoyed that all of the work and research  was done for me.  It almost felt too easy! I do wish the list of book resources was more exhaustive, as my small town library only had a few of the ones given.  In my opinion, a child in the upper age range could have done this study with  minimal assistance.  This takes a ton of the workload  off of Mom and allows her to enjoy being able to be with the children (and maybe even learn along with them!).  I appreciated the ease of use of this format and  how well organized  it was.  Also, if you're a planner by nature (like me), you might find yourself out of a job.  But, don't worry, you'll quickly be sidetracked by little ones whose eyes are lit with wonder at our Creator.



Full Disclosure:
I was provided a copy of  this book in exchange for my honest opinion.  This would have been my opinion had I purchased the book myself.

My Hybrid Spelling Method

As I previously promised, here is more info on my hybrid spelling method. I have heard many, many rave reviews on Spelling Power.  Many curricula include it in their packages or recommended resources.  Assuming it was something that I must have, I purchased it (used, on ebay) last year, along with the task cards.   I have also purchased the corresponding notebooks that go along with the program. I haven't regretted it, but I also haven't used it as it was intended. 

I have tested my children for placement, according to the program guidelines.  Beginning with where the child should begin, I use the word list for the week and enter those words into the  list manager at Spelling City and label each list with the student's grade/week number. (For example, 3rd grade/week1).  The student will go into Spelling City and play a game to learn the words and do the test.  The words the student missed are transferred into the notebook to be used in the 10-step study section and continue on with the instructions from Spelling Power.   This relieves me of having to call out words every day to each child. this process is repeated.  If, by Thursday* the child is still getting the same few words wrong, they will write those words 5 times.  This will be done on the front of that day's 10-step page.   Friday, that will require the child copy the words 10 times.   Hopefully, they will have a perfect test on Saturday.   If they get a perfect test at any point in the week, they are done with Spelling for that week.  They are really working hard to get that as early in the week as possible.  The task cards are barely ever used, as I think my children get plenty of all that they require with other curricula that we use.  But, if you didn't go as deeply into other curricula, they could easily enhance your language arts program!

* We school Tuesday-Saturday, as that is what works with my husbands work schedule so that we have family time with him when he is home.

Planning for Next Year Part 4 - 3rd grade

This year is going to be so much fun!  I hope :)  I am planning for all of my children to become a little more independant in their studies, according to their abilities.  Really, I am hoping that they will come up with some iniative of their own.  My 3rd grader is pretty strong in the area of math and is a good reader (not to be confused with those who actually enjoy the reading part, but he is  a strong reader).  Narration needs more practice as well has handwriting and spelling.  I have mixed and matched some things to come up with this plan for him:
Math: Abeka workbook only (no need for tests with all that review, in my opinion)
Christian Liberty Reader: History Stories for Children for practice in narration
A Reason for Handwriting-a very simple way to teach cursive
Language:  Abeka Workbook only
Spelling:  hybrid b/t Spellingcity.com and Spelling Power (more on this method later)
History:  Group studies:  Guest Hollow (see review here)
Science:  This kid looooves the outdoors, but he will have to do a smidge of  'work' in this area, usually with a unit study with his siblings and some experiments from various resources
Art:  How to Teach Art to Children (group setting as well)
Music:  Keyboard continuing slowly in this
P.E.  Flag Football in the fall, we'll see what else might come along when the time comes

I am interested in what other 3rd grade boys do...please share.

Curriculum Review: Guest Hollow American History

Guest Hollow  is a free resource for History, adaptable for grades 2-6.  There are many resources scheduled which can be found in most public libraries.  There are a few other resources mentioned that would need to be purchased.  Science recommendations are included, as well as some notebooking elements and other fun stuff.  Some charts, maps and resources are linked within the download.  And, did I mention that it is Free!!???

I have been using it for a few weeks, after I mentioned that I needed to consider changing horses mid-stream.  Instead of sending each of my children on their own history expeditions, I opted for a group approach to history as we had done in the past.  I realize that 2 weeks is barely time to get a good grip on things, but honestly, it is very much working for us.   I have not been able to find every single book at the library, but I have been able to maintain the 'skeleton' of the program and my children are thoroughly enjoying it. I am using it with  1st , 3rd and 5th grade students.

The first several weeks focus on Native American studies.  We have not done a unit or indepth study of any kind on this topic, so my children are really running with these ideas.  But this did coincide with a recent field trip to a Native American museum nearby.  Posted below, you will find just a few pics of my children enjoying some of the suggested projects from the download and History Pockets .  I particularly enjoy that each day is scheduled in a grid format and I can 'check off the boxes'  and feel accomplished and still enjoy the living books approach.  Several maps and other resources are linked within the download which make it very easy to use. A workbook is  listed but I do not own it and feel that things are still going quite well with the library books , History Pockets, and other activities/resources mentioned.

Guest Hollow also offers other general resources as well as American History Year 2 and some Science goodies!

This is one little cutie!

We learned the steps from a youtube video and watched many videos then tried our own pow-wow. Too bad you can't hear the audio to all this hubbub.  It sounded like the real thing!

In the National Museum of the Native American Indian.  We spent most of the day and only got through two levels.

This Longhouse project was linked in the download.  We all worked on this one together.

Polished Cornerstones/Plants Grown Up - Co-ed Style: Teaching Skills

We have been out of the formal schooling loop for several months now. All have been craving a little more structure--none wanted to give in and admit it.  So, I had to take the reins and  get this horse back on track.  We started back to school last week.  Many areas went well. Others caused me a little bit of concern, as I mentioned here.   This week, it seemed appropriate to work on teaching skills, since we're in that frame of mind.  We are working a plan for doing things co-ed as much as possible and leaving any gender-specific activities for more appropriate times.  Here's the plan (btw, we school Tues-Sat, due to my husband's work schedule) for our upcoming week:

Day 1: Scripture reading, discussing and copying.I am so sure that I will have exactly three volunteers to help organize activities for my preschooler to do while I homeschool the others.  Who doesn't want to be the one to make the rules?????

Day 2: Scripture reading, discussing, copying (working through the list of passages). Perhaps someone different from day 1 can be the helper on that project.  Also, my 3rd and 5th grader will begin helping in this area this year by checking each others' math papers. Hopefully, I can explain that along with corrections, they should find something encouraging to share about their sibling.

Day 3: Scripture reading, discussing, copying.  This one could be soo fun.  I will have the two older ones write up Bible quiz questions to ask the family at mealtimes.  They really are trivia buffs. :)

Day 4: Scripture reading, discussing, copying.  We will have a few of the children tell Bible stories to the others, using visual aids --they're all pretty creative so I have no doubt this will make for a few Kodak moments.

Day 5: Scripture reading, discussing, copying.  We will make our own instructional videos on a skill or job that they do.  

And hopefully, somewhere along the way, we can squeeze in the making of an educational cassette tape for another sibling, containing things they are learning and that is appropriate for their age. 

Those are my activity choices and my plans for the week!!  Can't wait to read what others have done! 

Changing Horses Mid-Stream

This week was our first "official" week of homeschool for the new year.  And already, I have had to consider changing horses midstream.  I know the line about 'the beauty of homeschooling is that we can tailor....'  But I like my nice, neat, tidy lesson plans and I like for them to work.  I don't like having to redo my whole scheme. But, alas, I will go lightly for one more week and take another look at the situation then and evaluate if I truly must do that. 

Two of my three 'school-age' children have begged and begged to have their "own" books...meaning textbooks for their respective grades for this school year.  I have never been a textbook homeschooler, but assumed that they needed the structure and the independance of it.  So, being that they weren't huge investments (and knowing that  I would take them on other studies along the way anyway), I went for it.  And it did not prove to be what they envisioned.  I will post the verdict after giving a little more time.  I don't like to jump the gun, but I don't want to waste precious time on materials that aren't serving our purpose and vision.

Writing Strands -- Curriculum Review

Background:
This past school year was our first year using a formal writing composition curriculum. We chose Writing Strands based on suggestions in several articles I had read previously. We began using it in 4th grade for an average writer.

The Product:
Writing Strands is not a grade-specific curriculum. We began in Level 3, the first level recommended for my child's age. From the website: "It is designed to give beginning writers experience in organizing thoughts so that they can be understood easily by others. We have used it successfully even in tenth grade for students needing special help." This is a non consumable resource and can be reused.

My Thoughts
I really liked the conversational style in which this manual is written. You can almost hear the instructor chatting with the child about what the assignment will be and giving examples. Each exercise is broken down into manageable chunks. These were helpful and did not overwhelm the student. There was no feeling of burdening the child with unrealistic expectations. At the same time, I think the exercises were appropriate for a beginning writer with adequate challenge. I was very impressed with the pieces my child produced using this program. I emailed a few of her writings to various friends, family and acquaintances for input and received very good feedback. Most thought the writing was at least average. But many were highly impressed. We are using this program again for the upcoming school year.

While the manual is reusable, I am glad that I purchased the ebook because I can print out each exercise and my child can write on the pages if they so desire. I can just print more for other children later. Not all children do well transferring information from one source to another, so using the original copy is helpful.


Overall Rating: *****