2011-2012 Curriculum Choices

Haven't posted here in a long while :) We officially started back to school this week so my brain is 100% in school mode. I have our school choices nailed down (for now, things always change a bit throughout the year). I'm feeling good about almost everything except maybe Frankie's Latin but time will tell with that. So here's this year's plan.... I'm going to link to everything if I can. I'm going to come back throughout the next week and explain all the choices and curriculum in more details.

Frankie - 6th Grade
Math: Saxon 7/6 with Dive CD supplemented by Life of Fred Fractions and Decimals
Bible: Explorer's Bible Study –
• Quest: Promises
• R&S Reading (Bible) 4 (he loves it an is insisting he finishes it so whatever lol)
• Daily family reading and Memorization
• LONG memorization passage (Romans 12 is first though now Clay says he wants him to do Romans 8)
Science: Life Science task cards
History: Geography and Culture Cards
Literature: Potters School Online course literature selections, some readings from the cards and choices from mom
Writing:
• Potters School Online Writing Course - writers workshop
• Geography & Science writings
English: finishing Rod and Staff 5 & and doing Rod and Staff 6
Language: First Form Latin and Rosetta Stone Spanish
Logic: Finish Logic Liftoff, Orbiting with Logic and move towards Fallacy Detective and Thinking Toolbox
Cursive – New American Cursive II
Typing: BBC Typing
Art: Picture and Artist study
Music:
• Classical music "survey"
• Recorder
• piano
Scouts, etc.

Cassie - 4th grade
Math: Finishing Math U See Gamma and doing MathUSee Delta
Bible: Explorer's Bible Study – Discovery Promises Fulfilled
• R&S Reading (Bible) 3
• Daily family reading and Memorization
Science: Life Science task cards
History: Geography and Culture Cards
Literature: some readings from the cards and choices from mom (she devours books)
Writing:
• Daily journal entries
Writing With Ease daily (narration, dictation, etc.)
• Geography & Science writings
English: finished Christian Light Education Language Arts 3 and doing CLE 4
Language: Prima Latina and Rosetta Stone Spanish
Logic: Logic Countdown and Logic Liftoff
Cursive – New American Cursive II
Typing: BBC Typing
Art: Picture and Artist study
Music:
• Classical music "survey"
• Recorder
• piano
American Heritage Girls, etc.

Adric - 2nd grade
Language arts - First Language Lessons, narrations, copywork, etc.
Math - MUS Beta
Penmanship - printing copywork and New American Cursive I
Science: Life Science task cards
History: Geography and Culture Cards
Reading lots of books
Language - Prima Latina
Logic - Mind Benders Warm-ups
Bible - Rod and Staff Reading 1 & family reading and memorization
Typing: BBC Typing
Art: Picture and Artist study
Music:
• Classical music "survey"
• Recorder
• piano
Scouts, etc.

Garrison - Pre-K
Lots of fun file folder games, 100 easy lessons, etc.

Living Math

It's amazing how you can homeschool for years and not hear even a whisper about some of the amazing resources out there. Up until now I've taught math like most homeschoolers. We have math textbooks and then we chat about math in life. Then I read a post over at Bakers Dozen where she mentioned living MATH books. Wait. What?! So as I try and fill our schooling with more and more living books, how did I not know there were loads of living math books? So I swaggled (yeah swaggled. It's a word. And if it's not, it is now. Swaggle aka search with swagbucks) So I swaggled the Sir Cumference series she mentioned. Then I saw the "Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought"s and then I clawed myself out of the vortex I had been sucked into and it was closer to 2AM. Yeah. Let's not tell Clay. I'm sure I slept until 9 the next morning. Let's not tell Clay that either.

Living Math = Literature books that teach math. Literature. A book I can sit with a 6yo and read and I won't see eyes glaze over. Stores of mummies and knights. Adventure with math. Yeah, it's that amazing. Let me send you on a trip to look at loads of great math books too.

Now I think the best of the best is LivingMath.Net . LivingMath not only has a huge Living Math books resource list in all sorts of categories, it has endless ideas for math games, math websites and more. And despite having looked at that site a lot recently just discovered it offers a historical living math curriculum that while I've only read samples looks like it could be a great supplement. And the book list for it looks amazing!

Here's a little taste of the endless living math books out there:
There is a series of 6 Sir Cumference book and every one gets rave reviews!





I had to stop myself. I have so many math books on my wish list. I wanted to add 100 more! In fact I published the post and am now editing to add a couple more like the History of Counting. Hope your feed readers shows the added books. Here's a great Amazon tag list too "Teaching Math Through Children's Literature".

I think hands down one of my very favorite things about homeschooling is being able to teach my children in ways I never even imagined as a child. Off to swaggle some more so I can start buying some of these books :)

Truly Excited About School

There is a moment in whatever it is where you have that "ah ha" moment. Yeah yeah I quote Oprah. Don't hold it against me. For the last 5 years I have homeschooled. We did fine. The children have learned to read. And add. The have good handwriting. They're learning grammar. We've been getting the job done. But that's what it's been. Getting the job done. And that is okay. But it's not what I always wanted for them. Getting the job done isn't enough for me. At least not right now while I'm not pregnant or sick :)

I have some friends that school with a strong Classical leaning. They are inspiring ladies to say the least. Go check them out. Dell and AmyKate truly amaze me in what they do with their lovely families with ease. Over the years I have watched and listened to what they were doing and always felt that there was no way I could school like they do. But I was always in awe of their use of living books, their children's writing, and general passion for learning.

So I went and got The Well Trained Mind from the library. I started to read and was absorbed. It was almost obsessive! I read. And read. Then it lived in the bathroom. Yeah maybe library books in the bathroom is bad form. I never thought about until this moment. *blush*. Every chance I got I read that book. Here's a link to a page that gives the basic premise. Classical Education ala WTM. It was as if the heavens parted, a lightbulb went off over my head, and everything just fell into place.

I could do this. I could teach my children the way I wanted to. I didn't have to just get the job done. I "got it". I had already started Tapestry of Grace (love love) which is a classical curriculum but I started adding in more suggestions ala WTM like copywork, narrations, memorization in younger ones, her writing suggestions for older ones, and more. My children are thriving. She explains the three stages of learning and how to teach children based on their developmental stage. Blew my mind in the clarity it brought me. I could WHY to teach my 6yo one way and why I have to teach my 10 yo differently. I understood how to teach writing. That was a biggie. I have developed this love, no PASSION, for books. I've rethought Science. And am actually thrilled about it instead of dreading change like I always do. I hate change. I do. And I am now revamping lots of things! Yeah it really was an "ah ha" moment.

But more than anything, I am excited. Which makes them excited. I am thrilled to understand how all the pieces of what we're doing work together and how that works as they get older. It's not just a day by day thing. I see our future goals more clearly now.

Budget Bit - Paperback Swap

Not that I'm a series gal but I get these crazy ideas that I may talk about something having to do with budgets and cheap and free stuff more than once.

Do you use Paperback Swap? If you don't, now's the time.

PBS works like this. First sign up! Click through my link here: Kim's paperback swap referral link You list books you don't want anymore. When you first sign up, if you list 10 books you get 2 FREE credits!

When someone else wants a book you're posted, they request it from you. You print an easy printable label with their address, wrap your book in it, and mail it. You pay postage. When they receive it, you get a credit. You then request books, either ordering them if they aren't other people waiting for them, or you put them on your wish list.

On your wish list it shows how many people are ahead of you in line waiting for it. Keep adding books to your wish list, and keep posting books of your own. As your turn comes up, you get an email requesting you to confirm you still want the book and BAM the person who has it sends it to you FREE! Okay so you paid postage for other books but still... it's feels free when that long awaited book shows up in your mailbox!

Just today I got an email that one of the books on my Paperback Swap wish list was on it's way. I'm SO excited. Another great book for pennies. This is what's going to be in my box before I know it!
I'm trying to gather up a list of books to use this year for Science. I'll post about what I want to use soon. Between this and swagbucks, I've saved a lot of money. Such a blessing.

So sign up and start getting free books!

Our Homeschool 2009-2001 -Part 1

I am going to do a few posts about what we're doing this coming year. Actually our year goes from about Jan-Jan since we school year round. The Winter is when the children seem to switch to new books. But since I read many a homeschool blog post this Fall, I, being one that always gives into peer pressure figured it was time :) I'm going to break these into a couple posts. I'll post what we're using, why we like it and where to get it.

Math first. Seems there's always more talk about math than anything else. Maybe phonics, but math still seems to be the one people debate more, have strong opinions about, and doubt whether they're using the right thing, the most. We as a family use Math U See. I LOVE it. I won't say I haven't had my moments where I considered switching, but the fact that my children love it and thrive on it always keeps me on track with it.

MathUSee is definitely in the middle of all homeschool math debates for a reason. There's also a reason SO many homeschoolers use it. It's different. It's succeeding where for many children, the same old math was not. MUS (Math U See from now on in this post) is different for a few reasons. A, it's visual and tactile. It teaches learning using blocks all the way up through higher math. Being able to see and touch and build using manipulatives helps the brain visualize math. So it's good for those great at math. AND it's good for those who struggle with math. That makes it a great fit for the homeschooling family that will have children all over that map.
The blocks:
B, it focuses on the how and WHY you solve a certain problem a certain way. It's not just about learning how to do something but why you use a certain method, why you are doing what you're doing. I've learned a lot already and Frankie's only in 4th grade.
C, and perhaps the most important and controversial part of MUS, is that it uses the mastery method instead of the spiral method. Normally math is taught via the spiral method. Spiral programs introduce a variety of topics without expecting children to fully understand them. With repeated exposure and continuous review, children are expected to learn and master all necessary concepts. BUT with the mastery method, which I LOVE, a child masters a concept before moving onto a new concept. So you would master addition before moving to subtraction. So you would learn addition, then multiple digit addition before even starting subtraction. Then you would master subtraction, complicated subtraction, before moving onto multiplication, and so on and so forth. I love that my children are actually getting to cement an idea, cement what they've learned before being expected to move onto a totally new topic. They have 3, yes three, pages per lesson (each page has word problems too!). So if your child needs more than just the standard one day on a subject (like most children) they have 3 lesson pages, three days, to do the lesson. Then, it has 3 systematic review pages for each lesson. SO not only do they review past lessons and books (which people worry about) they also get more lesson practice if they need it. And of course lastly, the fact that we USE addition to subtract, that we use it to multiply. Just because we already did addition, it doesn't mean that the children don't use it every day.

Another worry is about the fact that schools use a spiral method so children aren't always in the same place testing wise, or won't have learned the same thing school children have at the same time. Don't worry! It all comes out in the wash. They WILL all learn the same things, they just learn them at different times. So while a public schooled child in one grade would have learned single digit addition and subtraction, our MUS children would have learned addition and double digit addition that year. But the next year the school children would learn double digit addition and subtraction, our MUSers would learn single and double digit subtraction. So after a couple years everyone's learned the same things. And my homeschooling goals do not include mimicking the public school system's goals, so I don't worry about it anyways.

MUS also comes with a DVD that has Mr. Steve Demme teaching each lesson up with a white board. My children just put the DVD in the computer, watch their lesson and that's it. Now I do have to teach now and then :) but Frankie especially doesn't need me at all. The DVD is all he needs. So if you aren't sure about teaching math, then this is great for you.

Check out a free demo here:
http://mathusee.com/demo.html

That was longer than I expected! Maybe I'll just stop with that for now.

String Figures

How we got to this place I don't know. On one hand we are moving more and more to being as self-reliant as we can. Cutting way back on electricity, line drying our clothes, heating with wood, growing as much of our own food as we can, and yet we are all tied to technology, bad. TV, computers, video games. Bad.

None more than I am. But that is for another post coming soon.

As a result of seeing this more and more, I've been trying to be more active in turning their minds away from the tv. I've been trying to remember and seeking out those simple fun games and toys that my kids can play that require little more than a string or ball.

Remember String Figures? While my childhood was the real beginning of the video game revolution (yes I spent way too many hours playing Atari, and then way too many days and weeks playing Nintendo as a kid) I still think back and there are so many simple pleasures we enjoyed as children.

We've started learning string figures. Cat's Cradle, Jacob's Ladder, Teacup and Saucer, and there's a million more we have yet to learn.

What's amazed me is how much they LOVE it! They each have their length of string they take with them everywhere constantly doing Jacob's Ladder. Here's a proud String Figurer :)
I remember Jacob's Ladder and Cat's Cradle from my childhood, but we did watch a YouTube video about it to double check :) Here's some links to some YouTube videos:
Sweet YouTube Videos by a nice young man

And here's a great site. It looks like it will take some getting used to and learning the symbols, but there are LOADS of great ones there that the kids are excited to learn.

Fabulouso String Figure Website

Yeah you know you love toys that are nothing but a scrap of yarn. You can thank me later.

Homeschool Science *warning dead animal picture*

Who needs a Science book when Daddies come home with this beauty found dead in the road. Note..... picture of dead owl ahead. In theory Gramma you won't be reading this since you saw the title first thing. Hopefully...

Originally when they saw it in the road they thought it was a hawk and threw it in the back of the truck. But when Clay brought the kids out they saw it was an owl. The kids were wide-eyed as they looked at the claws and beak. Cassie, our resident feather collector, got a huge owl feather to add to her collection. Clay and Frankie told the story about how there were two dead rodents right by the dead owl and how they looked like were run over together. Frankie felt like it told a "story" about how the owl was chasing the rodents and swooping down to get one when the car came.
Clay's face says "I'm holding a dead thing". Doesn't it?


Wow those claws really were something. Oh the creatures God has made.I think looking at the face is what made me feel sad that the owl was dead. Owls are amazingly beautiful, so unique in the look of their face. It was fascinating and sad at once.

While he supposedly brought this for the kids to see, the most excited to check it out was Daddy. It made the children more excited about it. As parents we really need to show excitement for learning for our children to have excitement for learning. Clay and I searched online until we found out what kind of owl it was. The children were most excited in this whole process when they saw a picture of what the own looked like alive. Their little brains put it all together then and I could see light bulbs go off. It is a Spotted Owl.

Clay then went to throw the owl off into the woods. Somehow he managed to get it stuck in a tree. So there the owl sits on a branch overlooking the side road. I don't even want to know what it will look like in a month. Eek.

Honestly I hate to see such majestic creatures getting killed in the road. But it's important to seize these little learning opportunities when they come.