Back to Homeschool 2014-2015: Language Arts Curriculum (Back to Homeschool Blog Hop)

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This year I will begin to teach Delani to read. I am going to admit that teaching reading is not my favorite subject to teach. I used Phonics Pathway with Destini and Chantry and while they did learn to read I wanted more of a writing component to go with the reading portion. So after doing some research I have settled on Memoria Press First Start Reading. Since her oldest sister needed vision therapy, I will be watching her closely to see if see if she has any struggles in this area.

My other focus with Delani this year is to do a lot of read-alouds. I haven't quite sorted out exactly what I'm going to use, but I'll will be referencing Ambleside Online's Year 0 list and I am also seriously considering investing in My Book House Set. (My local library carried these books and I went to check one out to start reading to her. To my horror I discovered that the library got rid of them so they could add in piles of twaddly early readers. Ugh!!)

We use a lot of Charlotte Mason's methods in our homeschool, but I found when it came to grammar and writing I needed (not the kids) a more rigid method. So this year we are adding Rod and Staff grammar and composition to the mix. I think this will really help me keep them on the straight and narrow, though I do want to find the right balance and tweak it where necessary to make it work for us.

Chantry will be doing:

• Grammar & Writing - Rod & Staff English 5. I think it will be a good fit for him. He will also start writing one written narration a week and for my writing phobic son this will be plenty.
• Spelling You See - I reviewed this earlier this year and Chantry preferred it over what he was using. We will finish the Americana book and decide from there where to go.
• Handwriting - He will be fine-tuning his cursive handwriting. I bought a couple of Christian Light Education Pentime Cursive books for him to work through and then we'll transfer over to copywork where he takes a typed out portion and writes it in cursive. 
• Literature - This will include Bulfinch's Mythology - The Age of Fable and Ben-Hur by Lew Wallace. He will also join our Shakespeare readings on Sunday evenings. Normally we have two to three literature books, but I know that our third term of school tends to be busy with other things, so I am just going with Ben-Hur. I am hoping the extra time can be given to other read-alouds such as finishing up Swallows & Amazons Collection and a few others I have been wanting to read to him.
• Free Reads - Ambleside Online Year 6 free reads. These are books based off of Ambleside Online that he will read or listen to throughout the year. He won't make it through them all, but the list gives him plenty of options.

 

Destini will be doing:

• Grammar & Writing - Rod & Staff English Grade 6.  Destini hasn't done a lot of grammar so I am starting a little lower for her. If I see it is too easy then she can jump up to Grade 7. She has done Rod & Staff's spelling for the last few years and really has thrived with it, so I am hoping the grammar and writing will be a good fit. She will also be doing written narrations for history and science.
• Spelling - Rod & Staff Grade 7. I can't begin to say how much I really like this spelling curriculum. The best thing is that it works. She is applying what she has learned to her writing.
• Typing - This year the focus will be on picking up speed.
• Literature - Same as Chantry's. We do this all together.
• Free Reads - Ambleside Online Year 6 free reads. I usually put the more challenging books on her list since she is older.

Head on over and visit these other Review Crew Blogs as they share different topics on homeschooling.

Jennifer @ Chestnut Grove Academy 

Crystal @ Tidbits of Experience 

Rebecca @ Raventhreads 

Jennifer @ Milk & Honey 

Mommy Dawn @ Guiding Light 

Homeschool Monique @ Living Life and Learning 

Erin @ For Him and My Family
Lisa @ A Rup Life 

Back to Homeschool 2014-2015 - Math Curriculum (Back to Homeschool Blog Hop)

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For our 2014-1015 school year I will still have three students, though I am swapping Caleb, who just graduated, for Delani, who will "officially" be on the schedule. (I attempted to do things with her last year, but finally gave it up. My hat is off to the moms who can homeschool more than 3 at once!)

A little background on my students:

• Delani is 6 and I am considering her Kindergarten. In our state you do not have to register for  school until you are 7 and then it can be 1st grade. So this year our focus will be on math, learning to read, and reading aloud a lot of good literature.
• Chantry is 12 and is in 6th grade. 
• Destini is 14 and could technically be in 9th grade but due to the above state law is registered as an 8th grader. She is happy as an 8th grader, though she will be starting to work on some subjects for high school credit. 

Our math of choice is Math-U-See. Caleb worked through it from Alpha to Algebra II and he also did Stewardship. My other kids have done very well in it and this is one area that I feel very contented in and don't feel a need to change.

Delani will be using the Primer book. This is the first time I have used this book. She already has a few lessons finished, so we are going to pick up where we left off. If I see that she has a good grasp on these concepts I will probably just have her jump into Alpha, which is already sitting on the shelf.

 

(LOL! He is in agony because the book is purple.)

Chantry will heading into Zeta. Math is his strength and I don't see him having any problem completing this book this year. Zeta (decimals) is much easier than Epsilon (fractions). He will also continue to do Math-U-See's online drill page. I love, love, love the drill page--no more flashcards!! Chantry drills all the math functions at one time and is required to do three sets of drills. I also may resurrect Xtramath's drills which we did a few years ago, thought I won't use both drill features at once.

 

 Destini started Pre-Algebra in the middle of last school year. She made it about 1/3 of the way through the book. This year she will pick it back up and continue through the book. My main goal is for her to finish this book and start Algebra 1, but we will take it one day at a time. Mastery of the concepts she is learning is the most important thing. I let her out of math drills last year, but I think I may have her work her way through Xtramath's drills. I'm sure I'll get some flack, but I don't think you can go wrong with keeping math facts fresh.

So that is what math will look like around here. We don't do a lot of supplementing unless we see the need. If I added anything to this it would be the Math-U-See Manipulative App for the iPad.

Head on over and visit these other Review Crew Blogs as they share different topics on homeschooling.

Jennifer @ Chestnut Grove Academy 

Crystal @ Tidbits of Experience 

Rebecca @ Raventhreads 

Jennifer @ Milk & Honey 

Mommy Dawn @ Guiding Light 

Homeschool Monique @ Living Life and Learning 

Erin @ For Him and My Family 
Lisa @ A Rup Life 

2014-2015 Curriculum Choices

Here is a collection of posts that I originally did for the Schoolhouse Review Crew Back to School Blog Hop featuring our curriculum choices for the 2014-2015 school year. Enjoy!

• Math
• Language Arts
• History
• Science
• The Extra Goodies 

O is for Optometrist (ABC Blogging)

 
This week I took Chantry and Delani to the optometrist. Since Chantry's glasses have been slowly wearing out (lens falling out, screws falling out, etc.) I knew he needed to get a new pair. Chantry is an old pro at this and went through his appointment like an old pro. His prescription changed a little (not for the better, unfortunately) so I'm glad I took him in.

Delani will be starting to learn to read this fall so I added her to the visit just to make sure her eyes were okay. Going to the optometrist was a new experience for her. She didn't care in the least for the puff of air in her eyes and wasn't too thrilled with dilation eye drops. Outside of that she did pretty well until we found out that she needs glasses! She is far-sighted (like Chantry) and the optometrist said glasses would help her eyes focus so her eye muscles can stay relaxed.

I will admit that the next hour was kind of stressful. She moaned and groaned that she "won't be like daddy anymore". Chantry was all upset, too, though he wouldn't tell me why. When Dad and the other kids found out they were all kind of downhearted. What really got me about all the sad faces is that I've worn glasses since I was 12 and my kids beg me to never wear contacts because I won't look like myself, yet here they are all downhearted because she has to get glasses, she 'won't be like Daddy", "she won't be cute", etc. Excuse me! She could be like Mommy!!!!!

Oh well, that is the life of a mom. ;)

Anyhow, we have picked out new glasses for both and just let me say that picking out glasses with an extremely opinionated six year old can be frustrating and hysterically funny all at the same time. The new glasses will be here next week. Now that Delani has reconciled herself to the fact that she will be getting glasses she is waiting expectantly for them. Pictures forthcoming!

Dave Raymond's American History Part I (TOS Review)

We are big history buffs in our house and recently Destini and I had the opportunity review Dave Raymond's American History Part I from Roman Roads Media, who publishes Classical curriculum from Christian perspective for homeschoolers.


Dave Raymond's American History is a history curriculum for kids 12 and up to be used for middle school and lower high school grades. This curriculum is built around video lectures, reading of original documents, note taking, exams, making a portfolio, and projects. It is a story driven curriculum while focusing on moral philosophy. It examines characters, events, theology, and more through the lens of a Christian worldview.

Dave Raymond's American History Part I includes 13 lessons (1 semester) and covers from Meso-American to the Constitution. The student is expected to do one lesson per week. Lessons included in Part I are:

• Orientation
• Meso-America
• The Early Explorers
• The Colonies
• The Reformational Colonies
• The Puritans
• Wars of Control
• The Great Awakening
• Adams, Franklin, Witherspoon, and Henry
• The Declaration of Independence
• The War of Independence I
• The War of Independence II
• The Constitution

The student is expected to keep a portfolio and do 3 projects. The portfolio is a scrapbook for the student to put together. He gives many ideas and ways to put together a portfolio, but his main goal is for the student to have a nice visual textbook when they are finished with the course. The projects for Part I include reproducing a colonial map on quality art paper and doing a costumed speech.

The Teacher's Guide include helpful tips to help implement the curriculum, the portfolio, and the projects. Also included are handy grading guides for the exams, readings, portfolio, and projects. Last but not least is the exam answer key and an additional reading list. The Student Reader includes all the assignments for each lessons, which include original documents, readings from the Bible, questions, essays, and the exams.

I used this with Destini, who is going into 8th grade. Now I will confess she was not very happy about it, especially after she went through the Orientation lessons the first week, but when she got into the actual lessons she ended up really liking it. Her favorite part was the video lectures. She really enjoyed Dave Raymond's teaching along with the pictures interspersed throughout the lectures.  She appreciated the fact that through out the lectures important words were shown on the screen to help with spelling.  She took copious notes and spent a lot of time offering up voluntary oral narrations to whomever was willing to listen.

While she did enjoy the readings, it was hard for her to remember to do them. I had loaded the Student Reader on our Kindle, but "out of sight, out of mind" really came into play. She did mention that reference to the reading at the end of the lecture would have helped her to remember.

Her least favorite part was the projects and the portfolio. Since Dave Raymond puts a lot of emphasis on making the portfolio and the map project was something the student should be "proud to show people" brought her stress level way up. I was able to get some nice portfolio pages out of her, but we ran into problems when she went to start the map project. Though she wasn't very keen on doing it she did attempt to do it. We both spent time searching the Internet and looking through books from the library and couldn't find a map. A map resource list would have been handy for non-project people like us.

When my son did American History a few years ago, I noticed that he didn't find it as interesting as his previous history he had done. I resolved to find a new American History program for Destini when she got into high school. I believe I have found it and will probably use it with her when she is in 9th or 10th grade.

I am a big proponent of Charlotte Mason's use of "living books" and narration and even though this isn't a book, the lectures definitely had the feeling of bringing history to life, which is what I want for a history program. I like the use of original source documents and that the assignments and quiz questions could easily be implemented in oral or written narrations. I will probably adjust the projects and the portfolio so that they still challenge her without stressing her out.

Dave Raymond's American History Part I is a great option for American history homeschool curriculum. Part I comes as 4 DVDs which include video lessons, Student Reader, and Teacher's Guide. It is available from Roman Roads Media right now for $75.00

Roman Roads Media on social media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RomanRoadsMedia
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RomanRoadsMedia 
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/romanroadsmedia/ 
Google+: https://plus.google.com/115410002124541916147/posts 
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/romanroadsmedia/videos 

My 5 Favorite Homeschool Blogs

 

I have to admit that reading blogs can be very addicting and something that I have to keep in check. On the other hand they are also very helpful to have for reference and encouragement during the school year. Today I'm going to share my 5 favorite homeschool blogs that I go to for inspiration or for reference. (You may notice most of these blogs have a Charlotte Mason bent to them.)

1. Ordo-Amoris - I have been reading Cindy's blog for quite a few years. She isn't blogging very much right now, but there is plenty in the archives to inspire. Favorite blog posts: 31 One Days to Morning Time

 

2. Afterthoughts - Another blog I have followed for awhile. Brandy uses Ambleside Online curriculum, which we also use. She also has a lot of insight on Charlotte Mason. I am really enjoying her Learning How to Live series right now.

3. Amongst the Lovely Things - I kept coming across Sarah's blog time and time again and finally started following it faithfully earlier this year. She has some very encouraging posts about Teaching from Rest, which is now a book and one I recommend getting. Another favorite: The Read-Aloud Revival Podcast--If you love to read-aloud to your kids or have a desire to get started you don't want to miss this inspiring podcast.



 

4. Schole Sisters - "...a community of homeschooling moms who believe that teaching is the art of being imitated, who long to teach from rest, and who draw on wisdom from the classical tradition..." This blog just started and so far I have enjoyed everything I've read.

 
 

5. Living Books Library - I love to read Living books to my kids and Elizabeth has such great lists on her blog. Posts are few a far between, but I do reference it quite a bit.

 

On Wednesday head over to the Schoolhouse Review Crew to see other crew member's Favorite Homeschool Blogs.

 

N is for Notebooks (ABC Blogging)

This post may be a little rambling in nature, but when I got to thinking about notebooks one thought led to another and so I'm just going to follow them.

I have been reading through The Living Page: Keeping Notebooks with Charlotte Mason by Laurie Bestvater and in the second chapter she goes through the various kinds of notebooks that are referenced in Charlotte Mason's writings. Mason is probably best know for her advocating of nature notebooks, copybooks, and a Book of Centuries, but this chapter listed a few others that really inspired me to try my hand at. Here are a few:

"My Word Book" - In this book a parent records words that a child has learned to read and can recognize. Delani will be learning to read this coming school year and I really think she will like doing this.

"A Commonplace Book" - This term I was familiar with and it was used for student to write down any passage that came from any reading from any subject. I want to implement this with just the books I read. I do keep an online list of books I read, but I feel inspired to actually jot down the book information, passages I like, and a short summary of the book for reference. I would love to blog about every book I read, but that is never going to happen!

"A Household Book" - This notebook was for keeping "instruction type" written narrations for household duties, though it could be applied to anything a student was interested in. One thing I need to focus on this year is getting my kids more involved in cooking in the kitchen and washing clothes. I can see this type of notebook being very beneficial and could easily be done on paper or digitally.

And speaking of notebooks you may be asking, "Do you do notebooking in your homeschool?". And my answer is, "If it can be done in a composition notebook, yes, and if it requires special notebooking pages, no." I love the thought of using notebooking pages, but I have come to realize that it just won't happen. I love composition books and my kids love composition books. We use them for everything--notebooking, journals, recording written narrations, spelling, English, and more.

Last but not lease--I just had to share this. I love to decorate composition books and years ago I found some mini-composition books and made a few up for my mom. She absolutely loves them and uses them all the time. When she starts to run out she calls me asking me to make more. They also make great little gifts.  So there you have it--my rambling post on notebooks! Thanks for reading.