Welcome again to my little homeschool blog. I have pretty much decided to just use this blog for our daily or weekly journal of what we do, did or will do!!!!
First let me start by telling you a little about us.
I am married to a wonderful man. He works in retail, I stay home with the kids and homeschool among other things. :O) My children are currently ages 14, 11(almost) and 6. I only homeschool the two younger one. My dd attends a private Christian Academy and lives out of state with her dad(my dx). We have homeschooled off an on since my oldest son was in 1st grade. Because of finances, I had to work...so that interupted our HS journey. He basically spent K-2 in PS, Homeschooled gr. 3, Ps Gr. 4 but we Moved and began homeschooling him that March...and we have been homeschooling ever since. My little one was in the pre k program when we moved. He is now homeschooling as well. We hope to continue HSing both children through High School.
Last year at the Easter Vigil I Joined the Catholic Church. My dh is a cradle Catholic, I am a convert from a mix of protestant churches. This move has blessed us as a family in many ways...We love the faith and are hoping to instill a deep devotion in our children as well.
Now in our homeschool we use a variety of curricula, methods and resources. First and foremost it is important to me that our Faith be woven into our learning. We start the mornings memorizing the Baltimore Catechism and Prayers. We then do Math, Language arts and reading. We are following the Robinson Curriculum, however I have added in a bit here and there...and we are finally pretty happy with how things are progressing.
My 5th grader is doing quite well even though we are working to get him up to what I feel is grade level. The time he spent in PS...Most of it(k-2) was wasted. He did start doing much better with the excellent teacher he had in gr. 4, but we had to move and he could no longer attend. So that is where we start from. I have to say though, I do see improvement and feel by the end of Next year, he will give anyone who wants to , a run for their money. He is smart...just needed to be taught without distraction.
My 1st Grader is doing quite well. If he were in PS he would only be in K because of his september birthday. He is quickly learning to read and is good at math...that is a great start.
Our Curricula.
Grade 1
Religion:
New St. Josephs Baltimore Catechism
Holy Bible and Catholic Story Bible
1st Grade Religious Ed at our parish( Faith First Curriculum)
Math:
Abeka Math 1
Math Flash cards and Games
Reading:
Phonics Pathways
Catholic National Reader Primer and book 1
RC Reading( McGuffey Primer)
Misc Phonics readers and picture books
Explode the Code 2 (includes spelling and phonics)
Grammar and Writing:
Seton Handwriting gr. 1 (we will shortly be switching to Handwriting without tears)
First Language Lesson
He also does Spelling from the Phonics book by dictation and some copywork.
For History, Science and Geography we are quite relaxed. We do have plenty of resources including : SOTW 1, How ....... works series for hands on activities, Games, discovery, animal planet, history channel....and other tv documentaries....plus a book case full of picture books, Maps and a globe.
He also spends time drawing, listening to music, playing his recorder or guitar(a little). We attended a semester of Art Classes earlier this year.
My 5th grade is using:
Saxon Math 54 and the Dive CD for instruction
Robinson Curriculum Book list for reading, literature, vocabulary and history/nature resources.
I add books to this to suppliment subjects like religion, history, science, and just for fun reading as well.
Language Arts:
Sequential Spelling
First Language Lessons 2(as a quick review with additional copywork, dictation and narration required) And Journal Writing.
Rosetta Stone Latin american spanish cd and Misc workbooks
He is also doing Rewards Reading for a bit of remedial help on multisylable words.
He plays guitar and is an awsome artist. He has plenty of drawing to prove it and he is beginning to learn painting techniques.
He loves to cook so is being trained in the kitchen as well. :O)
We are keeping it simple this year. We just recently decided to cut out some of the extras and go back to basics. Robinson curriculum has been a godsend for this and I heartily recomend the methods. We dont follow it word for word...we like tv and sugar...but In moderation. As I stated above, we add in alot of reading selections to help broaden the learning, teach our faith and get the kids to enjoy homeschool. The saying Less is more just seems to run true in our home...Since I have relaxed our HS, my son is actually progressing.....When I was trying to do it all...nothing was being learned. So whatever I do from now on..my reminder to myself will be " Keep it simple, Stupid!"
thanks for reading this far.
JMJ Pray for us!
Peace be with you!
Donna
