September 2011

A New School year - I turn 39

We started school on Sept. 6, 2011

Wesley starting 3rd grade, Irina 1st grade and Lucy Preschool.

Normally I don't do much for Preschool but since we had read everything several times I decided to get Lucy - Horizons Preschool - I got the teachers guide and the workbooks- if I had to do it again I would have just gotten the workbooks because the teachers guide has enough things to do if I were just teaching preschool which I am not, so it is sitting on the shelf not used.  The worksheets have been good though and she had really learned a lot through just doing those and playing. 

Wesley and Irina are both doing Core C of Sonlight the second half of World history - I've liked this half better than last year - with the Middle ages and Renessance.  I am looking forward to moving into American history next year though.

Wesley is almost done with Gamma and will move into Delta in March.  Irina is working her way through Horizons Math and Alpha.  I like the way Alpha teaches math - but Irina really enjoys the color in Horizons and I am also happy she is getting introductions to fractions and telling time in a way that really suits her. 

Spelling has been a bit hap- hazzard this year and I need to find a way to get it more organized.  In September I had high hopes for Sequential Spelling - it worked well until November and then the kids really tired of it.  I got Spelling Wisdom from Simply Charlotte Mason and while I like the idea of this approach I just can't seem to motivate Wesley.  So we went back to Spelling to Write and Read and I can't say we are really happy with this program again either.  I am just not sure what to do for Spelling.  I would be tempted to get All About Spelling if I didn't already have three programs as it is.  I am thinking I might make my own spelling program for them for next Fall but we shall see. 

We are also using Writing With Ease - 1 for Irina and 2 for Wesley.  I am feeling that while I agree this program is great for teaching them incrementally to get to writting essays I also want to encourage creative writing and am currently working on how to go about that. 

Grammar - I started using KISS grammar which is a free online curriculum put out by a professor.  I think we are kind of the beta group though and while I think it is okay for this year I think we will try Easy Grammar next year. 

Science we are doing Sonlights Core C science and as all of Sonlight Sciences it covers a wide variety of topics and we enjoy the books and experiments.  Though I save up the experiments until we get a large amount of them and then we have a week of experiments at three different times of the year.  We had one in November and I think we will do another on in March.  Then again in May of 2012

Wesley is also doing his last year of Explode the Code he finished 3 and 4 before Christmas and he will work through 5 and 6 and this will end his season of ETC.  I can't say I am sorry to see it end.  He is also doing Wordly Wise B - which he doesn't care for.  He did 5 lessons before the new year and when he finishes the next 5 lessons he will be done with this workbook for the year.  He seems to be very tired of any kind of workbook so I am trying to think through how to make school more interesting for those areas that we feel we should cover like vocabulary and phonics.  

As for my birthday - it went by in a bit of blur - we didn't have a lot of money at the time so I got some hair burretts and later Tony had me buy season 4 of Chuck.  I enjoyed watching that for several weeks in November and December.  I can't believe that next year I will be 40 it seems like such a mature age, when I still feel very immature.