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.)

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

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.


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


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!

************************

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!


**********************************************************


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.