Weeks 10-12

This year seems to be ZOOMING by!!  : /

It is a good year, I am thankful for that.  I'm very thankful this Sweet Bean loves homeschooling.

We have had a busy month, hence the lack of blog posts!

Math is still going well, we are more ahead than I thought we'd be.  So, that's good.  He seems to like working mostly independently with it so far.

English is going very well, he is doing a fantastic job.  We are about  three quarters done with the basic english curriculum we do online.  It's printable lessons, and quite a bit of writing.  The plan is to finish it by December, and then I'll be ordering R&S for January through the summer.  I kind of wish we'd have started that sooner, but oh well.  Hoping it's a good one.

History is still moving along, focusing on famous people and U.S. History.  He is still excited about SOTW 2, I'll probably add that back in January.

Science is still going great.  He's finished one of the 5th grade workbooks, always loves those.  I have another one for next semester.  We're also still focusing on the human body.

Spanish-still going through our books very loosely.

He's started a typing program online that he loves, it's very interactive and kid-friendly.  He's been catching on nicely.

Music lessons are going well, another recital is coming up in December.  Art is also going well, although we've had to reschedule a couple of lessons.  Hopefully things will pick up soon, he loves them.

He's read quite a load of books this semester.  Here's the assigned/completed list so far:

"The Prince and the Pauper"
"The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes"
"A Journey to the Center of the Earth"
"Helen Keller; The Story of My Life"
"Jackie Robinson"
"Oliver Twist"
"The Time Machine'
All the Narnia books, except the last one (Starting this week)
"The Hobbit"

***He has to do a book report after each book, at least two pages.

As much as that sounds, one of his favorite parts of school is all the reading and writing.  Go figure!


*Still need to order Writing with Ease, Science Curriculum I've had my eye on, and R and S English
*Want to find a good online (free) Spanish curriculum for him by next semester
*Still need to incorporate the Draw to Learn daily lessons, and Handbook of Nature Study lessons


Of course, there are days that aren't as easy as others!!  We're human, ya know!  But so far, things are going well this year.  We'll be having a break for Thanksgiving soon, so we're looking forward to that!

Weeks 8-9

So much for having time to blog daily, I'm having a difficult time just getting in a blog by the week!  Oh well, such is life!

All is great, we are still plugging along.  This little boy has been doing extremely well this school year.  He has his moments, as every child!  But he is still loving it.

Math is going well, we should be through lesson 70 by the end of the week.  I can't say enough good things about Saxon!  : )

English is going well, I'm hoping to add R & S by January, I think it'll be very beneficial.

I'm still adding Writing with Ease, Level 4 soon.  Just haven't picked it up yet.

He finished "The Hobbit", and wrote the report last week.  He LOVED that book, which I knew would happen.  He also finished "Jackie Robinson", will be writing that report tomorrow.  This week he will be starting, "Oliver Twist".  

He's about done with one workbook for Science.  We're still working on the unit about the human body, and have more projects to do before we move on from that.

Still doing U.S. History, will probably add SOTW2 very soon.  He keeps asking about it.  (YAY!)

Art lessons are going well, he looks forward to them every week.  He's very proud of his work, and gives himself extra projects to work on in between lessons.

We have a recital coming up, so lots of practice this week in music!



Goals:

*Need to start typing program soon
*Have him do more in Nature Journal, alongside "Handbook of Nature Study".  (I would love to carve time out for myself to do this, as well.)

Week 7!

Birthday party was GREAT.  The Bean and one of his friends had a meltdown after partying all day, and staying for dinner.....so that tells me it MUST'VE been a good one!!  haha

Okay, on with week 7!  I can't believe it's going by this quickly!

We are still moving along nicely, and the Bean is doing great in everything.  He's still begging to start SOTW 2, but we're trying to get some U.S. History in.  He has said, "I LOVE History, can we please do some more lessons today?!?!?".   This was such a wonderful thing to hear!! Who knows, maybe I'll just do both.  That's an advantage of homeschooling!  (I STILL need to put up our timeline, I'm just having trouble figuring out how...)

Saxon Math is still going so well, I LOVE this curriculum!!  The other day I heard the Bean say, "Math is one of my favorite subjects now!".......THAT is why I love this curriculum!  So thankful for it.  By the end of this week, we'll probably be in lesson 62ish.  I've been taking it a bit slower, and adding more outside worksheets.  I don't want to be done with math before the schoolyear is over.

English is going well.  He's still moving along nicely.  I'm still wondering if I need to add R and S, but I have plenty of time to do that in the Spring if needed.   He is currently reading, "The Hobbit".

We are still studying the human body, and he's loving it.  I found a really good website that has some fun videos to go with this, he loves them.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I'd love to find an outside source to give him art lessons.  Out of nowhere, one of my friends said she is now giving art lessons!!  SCORE!!!  He started them this week, and is SO excited about them.  (In exchange, I'll be tutoring her son in Spanish.)  He was so excited about his lesson that he woke me up around 5:45 a.m., panicking, and saying, "Momma!!  It is VERY foggy outside, we'll still get to go to my art lesson, right?!?!"  .......Yes, son.  hahaha


Which reminds me, I still have big goals for this boy and Spanish.  We've incorporated a little bit more, I need to go ahead and start putting labels on everything in the schoolroom, that would help tremendously.

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Maybe someday when I am able, I'll post reviews on what has/hasn't worked for us throughout the years.  I'd love to do that, just need to have the time.

Weeks 5-6, & Birthday Planning!

Life is just so busy lately.  A good kind of busy, though.  I'm grateful for that.

This will be quick, as I'm spending the rest of the week planning our little Babylove's NINTH birthday party!!!!!!  AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!  How in the world??  Time, I'll never understand you!

I'm very glad that we've managed to get some good field trips in this early in the year.  We've gone to the zoo and the Discovery Center.  We also went to a local farm that had a corn maize, pumpkin patch, and all that jazz.  Good times!  I'm currently planning more trips for the next month or so, hoping they work out.

Homeschooling is still going well, as long as I keep things organized!  That is such a challenge, and often I wish I had a secretary.  It's not because it's hard, it's because as a Homeschooling Momma, it's another huge task to head up.  I love it!  For whatever reason, this year has been the "girl, you better stay organized" year.
We will be through lesson 60(ish) by Friday in math.  He is soaring, and have I mentioned how amazing Saxon is??!?!  It is great, and he is loving math.

By Friday, we'll also have completed about lesson 21 in Intermediate Language Lessons.  That is also going well, as this boy loves writing.

We are still plugging along in our Human Body unit study, and going to Discovery Center was great for that.  There were plenty of exhibits on the body, and he had fun.

He has already written the book report on "Helen Keller; The Story of My Life".  That was part of our history this week.  We are focusing on U.S. History for the next several weeks.  He is begging to start SOTW 2, so I'm sure we'll throw that in soon.  I love that he loves history.

He is still doing a lot of drawing in his Draw Write Now notebook.  I need to make sure and add those daily, along with the other art books we have.   We need to enjoy his nature notebook, as well.

I'm super busy the rest of the week, planning this sweet boy's Dinosaur birthday party.  However, I'm proud that I've already gotten decorations, goody bags, and ordered his cake!! Yay!  At least some of it is done!

Now to drink some coffee.......

Week 4, What??

I can't believe it's week 4 that has been completed today.  Another reminder of how quickly the days slip away.

We have been busy, as usual.  He still says his favorite subjects are history and science.  However, I'm glad he's loving math so much more this year.  Saxon is working SO WELL for us!!  He also loves when we do grammar/writing.  No, the days aren't perfect, but overall the school year is going well, and he is loving his studies.

We FINISHED Story of the World 1, moving on to the level 2 soon!!  So excited, this history curriculum is fantastic.  It is definitely worth every penny!

Through lesson 40 in Math.  He came across the first "new" thing today, square roots.  Caught on quickly, and hasn't had any other problems.

We are using Intermediate Language Lessons, and I love it!  He is through lesson 9.  He enjoys the writing it includes. This is another VERY good curriculum.  I supplement our English with a free online workbook site, you just print the pages...workbook style.  That's the thing I've noticed with our homeschool....I often feel as if we're not doing enough, so I supplement every subject.  And......I usually see that we do too much.  But oh well, we are at a good pace.  We take well-needed breaks, and I'm thinking we'll need a break in the next few weeks.

We are still doing the Human Body unit study, reading and/or activities pertaining to that almost every day.  This morning he watched the Magic School Bus episode about digestion, so he loved that.  I'm wanting to spend several weeks on this before moving on.

I have had The Handbook of Nature Study for a while.  I've been trying to figure out the best way to use it, because of this little science lover we have.  I am hoping to give him his brand new Nature Journal, and just let him dive in next week.  Maybe 2-3 days a week, not sure.

Music is going well, and he has a recital coming up.  Hopefully we'll start intro to piano soon.

For art, he's been going through Draw Write Now at his own pace, but in order.  This is going well, as he loves these little workbooks.  We own several, so hopefully he'll complete these for the next two school years, and I'll add more art as needed/wanted.

Spanish, we're hitting it next week, and immersing ourselves in it.  That's the plan, anyway.......we'll see how it goes.  : )


I had to tweak a few things after starting this year, but I'm pleased with all subjects.  I still have to remind myself to SLOW DOWN.  He's super bright, but I want him to continue to ENJOY homeschooling, and not just see it as work.  Also....the biggest thing I hope to instill in him is to enjoy LIFE.  So far, he loves it.  I hope to keep lighting that fire in him, and never squelch his passion.

For now, it's the WEEKEND.  : )
(Which means I'll start putting things together for the next homeschool week!)

Week Three, Planning Ahead

Monday was a holiday, so no school.

This week, I'm pretty sick.  I have zero energy, but am glad I'm a planner!  For a homeschooling family, there's NO time for Momma to be sick.  School must go on!  I'm glad this little boy can work well independently, because he's managed to get his work done mostly alone, while I've been nursing myself back to health.

By Friday, we will have gone through lesson about lesson 34 in math.

We are almost done with SOTW, hope to be through 35 at the end of this week, and finishing up by next Friday.  (If this happens, it may just be something we hit "on time", according to my hopeful and ambitious schedule!)  If not, it's no  big deal.

I gave Easy Grammar a try, not digging it.  It's just dry worksheets, many of which I'd printed myself for him for last school year.  We're sticking with one I found last year, which was free.  (Score!!)  It will end up being supplemental work. I'm planning on implementing the new English next week.  On the fence about which one, but I have a good idea.

We did several more lessons in U.S. History, and he's inching up on halfway through his first Science workbook for the year.  I always supplement Science heavily, as it's one of his favorite subjects.  The same with history.

He's halfway through "The Horse and His Boy", and hopefully will have written the book report by Friday.


New books should be in next week...I'm very excited about the science we're adding! I'm REALLY hoping it turns out to be as great as it looks.  Finally, we'll be getting the workbook for Writing with Ease.  Can't wait for that one.

I'm also getting rid of many books we've accumulated.  Either they didn't work, we just didn't do them, won't use again for next child, or they were forgotten.  When one makes bookshelf space, one can GET NEW BOOKS!!!  : )

Week 2, Couple Goals, and Reality

Monday:

This morning, we're all tired.  But on with homeschooling!

We started off the day with Draw to Learn, then immediately wrote his first book report for the year.  "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader".  (He'll have to re-write because I told him two pages, and he wrote only one.)  We'll hopefully get that done at the end of the day.

Next, he read aloud and worked out sample problems from Lessons 17-20 of Saxon Math.

Short break, snack followed.

After doing the next lesson in Intermediate Language Lessons, he worked on memorizing those prepositions for Easy Grammer.  Next was lunch and reading time.

After snack today, we finished the next SOTW lesson, and U.S. History lesson.

He then spent some time reading out of one of the big Pirate books, and I plan on doing a big Pirate project next week.

At the end of the school day,  he did the next two science lessons.  (Just redoing his book report from this morning.)

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Tuesday:

Started off by completing the book report on "Voyage of the Dawn Treader".  He's already read the next Pirate book, so we'll be starting his third book for the year today or tomorrow.  After the report, we took a short break and hit math.  Lessons 21-23 were completed orally.  We will begin writing problems down soon, to polish up neatness in math.  After math we had a quick snack, then back to work!

We did the next lesson in SOTW, U.S. History.  Then the next two science lessons.  During reading time, he read several pirate books for our Pirate unit study.


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Wednesday:

This morning we finished the activity pages for SOTW.  Next he did the next two lessons from Saxon, this week we've started writing down the problems.  It's all still review, but he did have to re-write both.  He's learning the value of neatness when doing mathematics!

After that he spent time memorizing the list of prepositions, then doing the next grammar assignment.  Next we read the following two chapters in SOTW, and answered all the questions for both chapters.  Before reading time, he re-wrote the math assignments.

Today, he's starting the next Narnia book.

This afternoon is a playdate with one of his friends he hasn't seen in a while, so we're both looking forward to that!

Thursday:

Another busy day.  But we've gotten SO much done.

He is through lesson 27 in Math.  He's got the "neatness" thing down now, and I hope to do plenty to grow his love for math this year.

The list of prepositions is now memorized!!  He is going through the Grammar curriculum wonderfully, and without a problem.

He has practiced for his music lesson twice already, and his lesson is today.

The book we're reading now is, "The Horse and His Boy".  He's almost halfway through it.

When we leave for music lesson, he'll be completing the next two sections in his Science workbook, and reading the next SOTW lesson.  He'll also be taking two Pirate workbooks I put together.  Busy, busy week!  But it's still going well.  Not perfect, but going well!!

*Friday this week is vacation, out of town for the weekend.


*For science, we'll be starting a very long unit study on the Human Body.  We'll be using The Magic Schoolbus "Human Body" game, a very cool book about the body that contains information on the circulatory system, skeletal system,  and MUCH more...also has a diagram for every system.  I'll also use a nice, big,  puzzle book we have on the human body.  It's pretty detailed, with an overload of information.  I love adding plenty of visuals, and using opportunities like this to do unit studies, he usually retains more that way.   I plan to spend several weeks on this.

I won't have nearly as much time as I'd hoped to blog, but I'm shooting for at least weekly posts, citing the assignments we're on.  I have a tendency to plan TOO much, and I need to remember the reality of the days! I'm only one person.  : )  Also, in a bit of a rush, so haven't spell-checked....please forgive typos!

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More personal goals for our homeschool:

*Enjoy the days, relax a bit more
*I want this year to focus on empowering this sweet boy

Day 5, and Some Goals.

This morning has been going well.  He is still blowing through (verbally) lessons in Saxon.  It's all review.  I'm super proud of this!!  I had to piece together his math curriculum for last year, because I was not satisfied with the program we were using.  So I was constantly checking the scope/sequence for his grade, and he drilled plenty throughout the year.  I'm very pleased with that.  He's through lesson 16 in Saxon as of today.

I then read aloud to him from "Writing with Ease", and he answered questions verbally.  Did a great job.
We moved on to memorizing the prepositions from Easy Grammar, he has half of the list done.  After that, he completed the next lesson in Intermediate Language Lessons.

Next we did the U.S. History story, lesson, and activity.
We took a short break, and then did the activities for SOTW, chapter 25.
After that was lunchtime, followed by finishing his book.

After reading time, he had a quick snack, and then took his next spelling test.

He's finishing his last two science lessons now, and then we will start our PIRATES! unit study.  He'll be very happy with that, for sure!


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I wanted to use this post as a place for me to come back to for my own personal goals for our Homeschool this year.

*Add plenty of art  (possibly art lessons from an outside source?)
*SLOW DOWN, for my sake.  Learn to take it easy more often (me, not him)
*Find time (somehow???) to read the books on my personal booklist (this may or may not be possible)
*More play time....(legos, bionicles, outside, etc.)
*Read aloud more (I've done well on that this first week, with adding all the classical curriculum I've been wanting to add all these years.  He has mentioned how much he likes this school year, and particularly my reading aloud in many subjects........sore throat, here I come!)
*Blog our school year (One week down, a million to go!)
*Begin our nature notebook, to be used for many years
*Incorporate more Spanish
*Do a better job scheduling
*More field trips, one of the upsides to homeschooling!
*Savor the days.......they go by much too quickly

Day 4, Music lessons

Thursdays will be our "busy, not enough time, hustle, e'erbody's tired" day.

But it's still going okay.

The sweet boy is super tired today, probably because he always has been, and I'm thinking always will be, a VERY early riser.  

But he's still saying he loves homeschooling.  

Started with some math worksheets today.  Then he read some more of his book.  Next he did two more lessons in Saxon, and it seems to be easy.  That's what I'd hoped for.  He's through lesson 14 so far.  

This afternoon, the plan is to eat lunch on our way to his music lesson.  After that, I'm hoping to find a nice spot for him to finish his work.  I'm taking SOTW, CHOW, Intermediate Language Lessons, and Writing with Ease along with us.  We'll see how much we can get done.  

It is our "Momma/Son" day, so I'm hoping to do some fun things.  

I know I need more coffee....that's for SURE!!!  : )

**We got back after a busy day!  Music lesson, out to eat, bookstore, and Bass Pro...of course.  He's a member of the kid's club there, and each month they get a new pack of cards about wildlife.  

He did the next two lessons in Intermediate Language, read the next chapter of SOTW aloud, and read more of his book for the week.  We got a lot more done than I expected.

I'm tired.  Tomorrow is Friday!!!  

Day 3, The Tired Bean!

Today has been starting off well, he's still having a good time.  Although, I can tell he is tired!!

We started off with our Draw to Learn book again, we did two lessons.  After that, straight into Saxon.  I'm having him read and work problems mentally each day this week, evaluating where he is.  It is all pretty much review.  We are on day three of the school year, and he's about to pass through lesson twelve with no problem.  After that, he's doing a few worksheets I printed.  Multiplication drill, three digit add/subtraction, writing out four digit numbers, and comparing large numbers.

Next, we will have a snack and get to Grammar.

He worked on memorizing prepositions for Easy Grammer, then did the first two lessons out of Intermediate Language Lessons.  After that, we took another break.  Then did the next U.S. History lesson.  He finished his activities, and then we had lunch, and onto reading time. (Quiet time, Mommy time!!)

After lunch and reading, he was given his second spelling test.  Next, he started on the next spelling list.
After spelling, he went over SOTW History cards, read the chapter again, and we did the activities.  Instead of coloring the picture of the Parthenon, he was assigned to draw it.

We read aloud Writing with Ease activity, and he answered questions aloud.  We finished with a science lesson.  To wrap up the day, he played with his Bionicles while I read CHOW aloud.


**I've added plenty of "classically bent" curricula this year, and it's working VERY well.  It is a lot more work for me, and I've decided to read aloud to him in many subjects, to take part more.  I wish I would've done this earlier!!

Day 2, and Other Things (August 20, 2013)

Throughout the years, I have homeschooled year-round.  It has worked very well for us, and it enabled us to take many breaks throughout the year.  This past summer, I decided to let the Bean have a nice, big, summer break.  We then took about a month to have "summer school".  (Translation:  all I had him do was a little science workbook, and health workbook.)  Now that he had to review math this morning, he sees why Momma likes to school year-round.  Especially with math.  I think that'll be the one subject we always keep up on.

Today has been going well for him.  

We started today with a page out of an art workbook.  He loves art, one of my main goals is to add plenty of art throughout this year. (More on that later.)  Immediately after that, he had a spelling test.  After that, we dove right into Saxon.  He read aloud the next four lessons, we did some mental math with monopoly money, and then finished with a couple of worksheets on time/multiplication tables.  

After Math, we did the next two lessons in Easy Grammar.  He has had a good morning.
I fed him a pizza lunchable, then he went into his reading time for the day.  

For the afternoon, we had a quick snack after he read more of his book for the week.  We did the next lesson (orally) from Writing with Ease, I think he's ready for the next level.  He's doing very well, I didn't know which level to start him at, since we've never used this curriculum before.  He finished the next Spelling/Vocabulary lesson, and we will be testing on it tomorrow.
Next, he read from Story of the World, and reviewed the history cards.  I read aloud to him from a Child's History of the World, and he loved that.  I'm hoping to finish SOTW by next month, and move to the next book.  We spent a lot of time on U.S.  History last year, so we didn't finish that.  I'm trying to figure out what sort of timeline to put on our wall, I'm VERY excited about that.  We ended the day with the next Science lesson, as I'm awaiting the new Science curriculum for the year.  

First Day! (August 19th, 2013)

Today has been going well for the Little Bean.  We got dressed up and took pictures this morning.  (Which is not an everyday thing, an upside of homeschooling is pajamas all day!)

Our day has looked like this:

At about 9:20, we started snapping some "first day of school" pictures, and lots of 'em!
Soon after, we hit the ground running!  He wrote a two page report on his summer break.  Then we blew through lessons 1-4 of Saxon Math, and I wish we would've started this curriculum many years ago!!  He read aloud, and answered some things aloud.  Then we moved onto spelling/vocabulary.  Lunch at around 11:00, then straight to reading time.  His first book for the year is "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader".

At around 1:45 we started our afternoon session. We completed the first lessons in The Complete Writer, orally.  Three lessons in Easy Grammer 4/5.  We did the first lesson in one of our Science workbooks (Spectrum), and finished with a U.S. History Lesson out of a reader I found.

It was a FULL day, and he was tired, but HAPPY!!!

At one point he looked at me and said, "Momma I love 5th grade!  I like it better than 4th grade!  Know what I like most about it??  That YOU are my teacher!!!"

Heart = Melted.

It was a great first day.

Good Intentions

I intended to do SO much more with this blog.  I haven't forgotten about it!  Here's to hoping my good intentions actually pan out for this schoolyear!  : )

Our sixth year of homeschooling will be beginning tomorrow.  Homeschooling has been such a wonderful fit for our family.  I’ll write more about our sweet son's age, as well as his grade level, in the days to come.

I’m going to attempt to blog daily, or every other day, about our homeschooling adventures.  I wish I would’ve done this sooner!!  Every once in a while, I may throw in some flashbacks of the previous years. 

Homeschooling is definitely hard work, and it’s not something we take lightly.  I am thankful for the opportunity to be able to educate our sweet son.  He is such a wonderful boy, and he continues to blow me away daily by his mind, as well as his heart.