Well...it has been some time since I have stopped by to say hello!
Many things have happened since February.
If I had to choose, some of the highlights would be...
-my littlest one turned SIX years old in February. This totally blows my mind. Time seems to be slipping through my fingers so quickly these days.
--my oldest son just turned ELEVEN years old last Saturday {please refer to aforementioned about time passing much too fast for my liking}.
---We have a wonderful new Pope who I really feel good about! I really did not know anything about Pope Francis {previously known as Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio}. We were privileged to witness a good deal of the happenings when they were occurring. One of the perks of homeschooling is that you are able to live in the here and now and bear witness to wonderful life changing events! I still remember when Pope John Paul II became the pontiff when I was a child. I did not understand too much about it, but, thought it was so exciting nonetheless! My boys were absolutely thrilled to be part of it. They sat in amazement watching and waiting his arrival. It was a blessed day for all Catholics indeed.
Pope Francis has an aura of goodness about him. I cannot really put it into words, but, I truly feel he is going to be an important part of history. You can almost feel his humility and simplicity and caring when you see him.
----We celebrated a joyous Easter and were truly blessed by a fruitful Lent. I really love Lent. It probably sounds odd, but, I do. I love to take the time to slow down a bit and rest in the Jesus' goodness and strength. It is a time to meditate on the important things in life and to *try* to be a bit more like Him. I always find that I am a stronger person when Lent is upon us. I need to try to keep up that work during the rest of the Liturgical Year :-)
-----We are wrapping up our school year and have about six weeks left to go, so, of course as any homeschooling momma will tell you, my mind has been working on plans for next year for the past few months. We are going to join the Ambleside group and venture fully into Charlotte Mason territory. I have been drawn to CM and Ambleside repeatedly over the past three years. I am really excited about it and look forward to a great year! We made the switch this year to more living books and that has been fantastic and the boys have loved it!
On the horizon there are still three more birthdays before Memorial Day {myself, my dear husband and Kit Kat}. Hopefully spring will get the memo and bring some warm sunny days our way. We have been rehearsing for a play the past few months that will take place next month and the boys have been having a ball. It is really cute and they've been learning the Charleston! I am eagerly planning my gardens for this year too and getting that itch just to be outdoors!
Philippians 4-8
Showing posts with label curriculum. Show all posts
Showing posts with label curriculum. Show all posts
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Taking a Step Back to Look at the *Big* Picture...Homeshool Edition
When it comes to school, I tend to be short sighted at times. I think it is something that may plague us homeschoolin' mommas...you want to know in your head {and heart} that what you are doing is working and it would be really nice if you could always see results when you are looking for them!
We changed things up a bit this year. This is our sixth {WOW} year of homeschooling and usually we have been very workbook oriented until I stopped and looked around last year and thought...all I am teaching my children really is how to efficiently fill in the blank with the right answer.
I wanted more for them. When we began our journey six years ago, a big reason we chose to venture down the homeschooling highway was because I did not want my boys to be bored sitting at a desk for six hours a day. That made me really sad just thinking about it. I wanted more for them...to be stimulated, interested and excited about learning.
Well, there is nothing more boring than spending hours looking at a bunch of workbooks and filling in the blanks because that is what is expected of you.
So...this year we still used some workbooks for things like spelling and math, but, more of our subjects came alive with living books and it has been wonderful. We've been spending much of the day reading. We have a family read aloud each day after lunch and the boys have really enjoyed that as much as I have. We've read wonderful books like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Wizard of Oz, Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland and the Treasury of Beatrix Potter. Now we are working on a wonderful book called A Nest for Celeste. It is a charming little book about a mouse and has the most gorgeous illustrations.
We also changed the boys cursive writing books from HWOT to the Zaner-Bloser method. I wish I had done this years ago as their cursive skills really have taken off with it!
We have spent a good amount of time exploring history this year too and have used Elizabeth Foss' Along the American History Trail. We stretched the two units, Colonial and Revolutionary Times, out to two weeks for each and have tied in the appropriate US geography for each unit as well. The books we've read have been exciting and engaging and my boys have really learned so much! We've been fortunate to tie in a few field trips too to a few landmarks mentioned.
Math has always been a toughie for me. I have one child that really excels in math as it comes quite easily to him and one who try as he might, still struggles with it. We've been with Saxon math since grade one and although it is a long haul, it does show results. Over the past year I have been doing some research into other programs and this week have purchased Teaching Textbooks for the son who is struggling with math confidence. I can't say that I feel all that great being more hands off, but, I have my fingers crossed as I have heard such rave reviews about it. We will still continue daily reviews with the use of it.
One of my favorite finds for the year is the FlashMaster. I cannot say enough wonderful things about this. My kids love it and it shows great results!!! They are enjoying learning their tables and I get a kick out of my third grader trying to show his five year old brother how to do multiplication!
For my littlest man I tried using Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. We got into it and neither of us really enjoyed it. I have had this book since before my oldest son taught himself to read. My second son was definitely not a good fit for it and I thought I would give it a go with my littlest, but, I cannot say I am a big fan. I know lots of people love it, but, we are going back to working with the BOB books that we have always loved and really they will achieve the same goal. He and his older brother {third grader} each have a really cool daily learning notebook that they both love using in the morning that I discovered at Confessions of a Homeschooler. I am trying to come up with a similar notebook for my oldest, but, with things more geared towards a pre-teen.
This year we have added narration into the picture and with the exception of the onset of "Mom, am I going to have to narrate this?" whenever I crack open a book, it has been going very well! My oldest son is able to narrate very descriptively and his skills have come a long way since last September. He has been working very diligently and I am so proud of him! He seems excited to narrate now and is enthused about reading and I LOVE THAT!
That is something that I have always wanted to instill in my sons...a life long love of reading. My mother was an avid reader and could devour a 300 page book in a few days. Books were our friends growing up. We treated them well, never dog eared the pages and NEVER tossed a book on the floor {gasp...that would break the spine!}. I want them to know that reading is knowledge and with knowledge the world holds unlimited opportunity for anything you can dream!
That is why I need to keep my eyes on the *big* picture, not just what we are doing for the week of January 21, 2013. I need to keep doing what we are doing, because really what we are doing is working. Sometimes when you are in the trenches of homeschooling and have little people fighting with you, or an almost 11 year old who would much rather spend his day building Lego creations or a dog who barks incessantly or {all three simultaneously}it can cloud your vision to seeing that whole picture.
And let me tell you it really does because there areweeks days when you try as you might, don't feel like you are achieving anything....NADA. On those days you actually feel like you have taken huge steps backwards and away from those goals and those days can really do a number if you let them.
You are the key...if YOU let them. You have to remember that YOU are the one who is in control. You are the one who makes the decisions and you are the on who sets the tone. If YOU are discouraged, then they become discouraged. If YOU are uplifting, them they will follow suit {usually}.
There will be those gray, ugly, discouraging days. I would be lying if I said it was all sunshine and butterflies {OH how I wish}, but, the crazy days are much fewer than the good and productive days and for that I am thankful!
I have been working on our curriculum choices for the upcoming year and am VERY excited about even more things we are hoping to add!!!
Homeschooling mommas are kind of like a kid in a candy store this time of year. Way too much to look at and it all looks great!
We changed things up a bit this year. This is our sixth {WOW} year of homeschooling and usually we have been very workbook oriented until I stopped and looked around last year and thought...all I am teaching my children really is how to efficiently fill in the blank with the right answer.
I wanted more for them. When we began our journey six years ago, a big reason we chose to venture down the homeschooling highway was because I did not want my boys to be bored sitting at a desk for six hours a day. That made me really sad just thinking about it. I wanted more for them...to be stimulated, interested and excited about learning.
Well, there is nothing more boring than spending hours looking at a bunch of workbooks and filling in the blanks because that is what is expected of you.
So...this year we still used some workbooks for things like spelling and math, but, more of our subjects came alive with living books and it has been wonderful. We've been spending much of the day reading. We have a family read aloud each day after lunch and the boys have really enjoyed that as much as I have. We've read wonderful books like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Wizard of Oz, Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland and the Treasury of Beatrix Potter. Now we are working on a wonderful book called A Nest for Celeste. It is a charming little book about a mouse and has the most gorgeous illustrations.
We also changed the boys cursive writing books from HWOT to the Zaner-Bloser method. I wish I had done this years ago as their cursive skills really have taken off with it!
We have spent a good amount of time exploring history this year too and have used Elizabeth Foss' Along the American History Trail. We stretched the two units, Colonial and Revolutionary Times, out to two weeks for each and have tied in the appropriate US geography for each unit as well. The books we've read have been exciting and engaging and my boys have really learned so much! We've been fortunate to tie in a few field trips too to a few landmarks mentioned.
Math has always been a toughie for me. I have one child that really excels in math as it comes quite easily to him and one who try as he might, still struggles with it. We've been with Saxon math since grade one and although it is a long haul, it does show results. Over the past year I have been doing some research into other programs and this week have purchased Teaching Textbooks for the son who is struggling with math confidence. I can't say that I feel all that great being more hands off, but, I have my fingers crossed as I have heard such rave reviews about it. We will still continue daily reviews with the use of it.
One of my favorite finds for the year is the FlashMaster. I cannot say enough wonderful things about this. My kids love it and it shows great results!!! They are enjoying learning their tables and I get a kick out of my third grader trying to show his five year old brother how to do multiplication!
For my littlest man I tried using Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. We got into it and neither of us really enjoyed it. I have had this book since before my oldest son taught himself to read. My second son was definitely not a good fit for it and I thought I would give it a go with my littlest, but, I cannot say I am a big fan. I know lots of people love it, but, we are going back to working with the BOB books that we have always loved and really they will achieve the same goal. He and his older brother {third grader} each have a really cool daily learning notebook that they both love using in the morning that I discovered at Confessions of a Homeschooler. I am trying to come up with a similar notebook for my oldest, but, with things more geared towards a pre-teen.
This year we have added narration into the picture and with the exception of the onset of "Mom, am I going to have to narrate this?" whenever I crack open a book, it has been going very well! My oldest son is able to narrate very descriptively and his skills have come a long way since last September. He has been working very diligently and I am so proud of him! He seems excited to narrate now and is enthused about reading and I LOVE THAT!
That is something that I have always wanted to instill in my sons...a life long love of reading. My mother was an avid reader and could devour a 300 page book in a few days. Books were our friends growing up. We treated them well, never dog eared the pages and NEVER tossed a book on the floor {gasp...that would break the spine!}. I want them to know that reading is knowledge and with knowledge the world holds unlimited opportunity for anything you can dream!
That is why I need to keep my eyes on the *big* picture, not just what we are doing for the week of January 21, 2013. I need to keep doing what we are doing, because really what we are doing is working. Sometimes when you are in the trenches of homeschooling and have little people fighting with you, or an almost 11 year old who would much rather spend his day building Lego creations or a dog who barks incessantly or {all three simultaneously}it can cloud your vision to seeing that whole picture.
And let me tell you it really does because there are
You are the key...if YOU let them. You have to remember that YOU are the one who is in control. You are the one who makes the decisions and you are the on who sets the tone. If YOU are discouraged, then they become discouraged. If YOU are uplifting, them they will follow suit {usually}.
There will be those gray, ugly, discouraging days. I would be lying if I said it was all sunshine and butterflies {OH how I wish}, but, the crazy days are much fewer than the good and productive days and for that I am thankful!
I have been working on our curriculum choices for the upcoming year and am VERY excited about even more things we are hoping to add!!!
Homeschooling mommas are kind of like a kid in a candy store this time of year. Way too much to look at and it all looks great!
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Did We Start School or Am I Dreaming?
We began our school year this week and I wish I could say that it has all been smooth sailing. Dear Husband had been sick with a horrible cold all weekend and really worn down and is still fighting it. This led to dear little ones being sick too. They all began coughing and sneezing late Monday afternoon into Tuesday morning, but, we still continued with our plans.
Well come yesterday, everyone's colds had come into full swing and school was called for the day! Not much fun if you are constantly stopping to cough and grab tissues! This is the first year that we had a kink in the very beginning of our school year...but, that is okay because it was a little off before we began anyway.
Let me explain what I mean....
For about six months now I have been feeling that things could run much smoother for us, but, was not sure how to make the change. I came across and read two phenomenal books about Whole Hearted and Real Learning. These books really spoke to my heart about what was on my heart at the time (and still is). They helped to explain that real life is learning and that homeschooling can be SO much more than school at home! I was trying to do both and that is where I made my mistake. I have wonderful books that my children use and they do well with, but, it just did not feel right. I constantly run from child to child to child rushed and hurried throughout the day and it is just not enjoyable for any of us.
This year has felt pretty rushed and hurried on the whole as well :(
I feel like I am always rushing around trying my best to do what I need or want to do to rush off to the next person or thing that needs my attention. I admit that this is not how I want to remember these days and I really do not want my children to have memories of always rushing from one thing to the next!
So...I spent weeks reading and loving what I read and trying my best to prepare during the summer
Well...then came real life and with real life there are other pressing things that need your attention and life can and will become chaotic from time to time. There was a little snafu with ordering what we would need for this year as I had to put a hold halfway through purchases due to unexpected financial expenses that arose and then we were plagued by sickness for a good two weeks this summer which kind of threw all of my planning ideas out of the window for a while...but that was okay. I was a little apprehensive since I wanted to get all my ducks in a row and begin planning.
Well...once I came back to the purchasing the needed items, I fell back into the chaotic workbook scenario I was trying to avoid. I did grab that security blanket and purchased some
So at that point the score was about 60-40 Real Life taking the lead, but, the game had not even begun yet!
Last week as I was writing lesson plans I realized that Real Life had taken a dive and Old Friend took the lead :( I had written the majority of my plans for the next five weeks based on those workbooks! Those workbooks that cause chaos and rushing and teach my children that learning is mostly about filling in a blank!
*sigh*
So as I realized this last Wednesday I made peace with it and decided to do it that way for this week only and really make an effort to put my heart into it for the rest of the term to make it what I need it to be.
Then...came the sneezing and coughing and sore throats of my little ones. I decided last night that we are going to totally scrap this week and officially begin again next Monday. I am looking at it as a test drive of sorts and I did not like that one and am trying again. One of the perks of teaching your children at home is that you can do this if you wish :-)
As I was making my way across the Blogosphere this week I came across two phenomenal posts that also spoke to my heart. I had mentioned earlier about always feeling rushed and hurried and I think that this is something that tends to plague mommies as they try to do it all. I read a wonderful post at MomHeart by Kat, titled I'm Done Living A Walmart Life. She really hit home with me about the idea of trying to do too many things and nothing being done well! This is how I have felt for some time now. She also suggests to
Do as little as possible, as well as possible.
Those nine words speak volumes!
I loved it so much that I printed it out (many times), laminated them and am placing them around my house to remind me to keep my focus on a few things, but, to do those things well.
Yes I am very visual and if I see this throughout the day it will serve me well. Made some for Dear Husband too and he loves it too!
The other wonderful thing I read was from Elizabeth Foss about the first day of school never going as planned. Her kind words gently remind me that I am doing all that I do because of my children. Sometimes as moms and teachers we try so hard and do so much and when things do not work out according to our plan we can get down because of it. She puts it wonderfully and reminds us to make room and remain open to other wonderful things that were not in your original plan and to ask God for the "grace and the humility to set aside my plan for your better one."
As I wrap up our not first week of school I am remembering to leave room for the Holy Spirit to guide us along our journey throughout the day. There is so much that I want to share with my boys and ask Him for the grace to help me each day. If I take each day as it comes and am not anxious about anything (Philippians 4:6), then I am reassured that in with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26).
So that is where we are right now. I am asking God for the grace to make these changes that I have felt the Holy Spirit prompting me to do. I am trying my best to do very little, but, do it well and to remember that all that I do is for them, not for me!
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Heigh Ho...Heigh Ho...It's Off to School We Go
Funny how the summer always passes us by much too quickly these days.
We began our fifth year of homeschooling this past Monday with N entering fourth grade, A beginning second and J in nursery school. It has been a good week so far and we are all happy to be in the swing of things again. I know if I ask my boys sometimes they will roll their eyes about school, but, I also know that they always seem to enjoy the structure of it when we do it. We were supposed to keep up on a few subjects this summer and keep it somewhat structured, but, unfortunately we had a few bumps in the road and things don't always work out as planned.
Here is our curriculum we are using for this year:
Fourth Grade:
This year we decided to go with many books from Seton Homeschool as we really enjoyed them the past few years. The following books come from Seton:
Spelling 4
Religion 4
Phonics 4
English 4
Reading 4 Comprehension
Wordly Wise Vocabulary
Beginning Reasoning and Reading
HWOT Cursive Success
Saxon 5/4
Numerous classic literature for read alouds and independent reading
Second Grade:
Spelling 2
Religion 2
Phonics 2
English 2
HWOT Printing Power
Saxon Math 2
Numerous classic literature for read alouds and independent reading
Nursery School:
We will be working along our own Alphabet Path which will include a different saint for each week taken from An Alphabet of Catholic Saints along with various books, crafts and snacks for each letter. Lots of fun to have here :D
We are working on these subjects together:
History- Story of the World Volumes 1(still working on this one) and 2
Science- Apologia Science Exploring Creation
American History- Beautiful Feet Geography Through Literature Pack
Geography- Roadtrip USA from Confessions of a Homeschooler Really excited about this one! Erica did a fabulous job as usual!
This year we are beginning each day with circle time which will include:
A Childrens Book of Virtues
One Year Book of Devotions for Boys
A Treasury of Fairy Tales
The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm
Leading the Little Ones to Mary
Jesus and I
Once Upon a time Saints, More Once Upon a Time Saints and Around the Year: Once Upon a Time Saints
Loyola Kids Book of Saints
We will try to include more field trips this year too and all in all it is shaping up to be a great year!
We began our fifth year of homeschooling this past Monday with N entering fourth grade, A beginning second and J in nursery school. It has been a good week so far and we are all happy to be in the swing of things again. I know if I ask my boys sometimes they will roll their eyes about school, but, I also know that they always seem to enjoy the structure of it when we do it. We were supposed to keep up on a few subjects this summer and keep it somewhat structured, but, unfortunately we had a few bumps in the road and things don't always work out as planned.
Here is our curriculum we are using for this year:
Fourth Grade:
This year we decided to go with many books from Seton Homeschool as we really enjoyed them the past few years. The following books come from Seton:
Spelling 4
Religion 4
Phonics 4
English 4
Reading 4 Comprehension
Wordly Wise Vocabulary
Beginning Reasoning and Reading
HWOT Cursive Success
Saxon 5/4
Numerous classic literature for read alouds and independent reading
Second Grade:
Spelling 2
Religion 2
Phonics 2
English 2
HWOT Printing Power
Saxon Math 2
Numerous classic literature for read alouds and independent reading
Nursery School:
We will be working along our own Alphabet Path which will include a different saint for each week taken from An Alphabet of Catholic Saints along with various books, crafts and snacks for each letter. Lots of fun to have here :D
We are working on these subjects together:
History- Story of the World Volumes 1(still working on this one) and 2
Science- Apologia Science Exploring Creation
American History- Beautiful Feet Geography Through Literature Pack
Geography- Roadtrip USA from Confessions of a Homeschooler Really excited about this one! Erica did a fabulous job as usual!
This year we are beginning each day with circle time which will include:
A Childrens Book of Virtues
One Year Book of Devotions for Boys
A Treasury of Fairy Tales
The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm
Leading the Little Ones to Mary
Jesus and I
Once Upon a time Saints, More Once Upon a Time Saints and Around the Year: Once Upon a Time Saints
Loyola Kids Book of Saints
We will try to include more field trips this year too and all in all it is shaping up to be a great year!
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