BUSY, BUSY, BUSY!

That's how it's been since we started a new year of homeschooling this month.  And I'm loving (almost) every minute of it!  We've settled into a nice routine.

At 8:30 a.m., I work with Cakes at her reading, writing, and math.  Then, starting at 9:00, Bean and I do math and language arts (reading, writing, grammar, spelling, and story time).  We break at 11:00 in the morning, when I make lunch and the girls have playtime.  Lunch is at noon.  Then, at 1:00, Bean does a quick math review worksheet.  Then, the two girls have instructional time together.  On Mondays and Wednesdays, we have science and art; on Tuesdays and Thursdays, we have history and music.  School ends at around 3:00, when we unwind (and have phys. ed.) with a quick dip in the pool, followed by getting supper ready, eating, relaxing before bedtime, and then bed.

On Monday, we learned about earthworms and set up an earthworm farm to see how worms mix the soil to help plants grow better.  I got an absolutely fantastic book about worms at the library that is a must-read for any kid interested in worms.  It's full of fantastic information about worms, great collage-style illustrations, and big, easy text.  It's called Wiggling Worms at Work, and I highly recommend it (you know it's good, because I used a lot of italics in the description)! 

You know we're all "yankees," but when I read that all worms are both male and female at the same time, Bean let out a huge, Southern, "WHAT?!" that made me laugh out loud.  That was one of her favorite pieces of information gleaned from this amazing book.  Other useful tidbits include the benefits and uses of worm poo,  the fact that worm eggs incubate for three months in cocoons (they are relatives of the butterfly, after all), and why it's bad for worms' skin to dry up.

And, Peanut just emerged from my bedroom chewing on a nipple shield, which is my cue to get off the computer and get started with my day.

GETTIN' GIDDY ABOUT SCHOOL SUPPLIES

As you know, we started homeschooling Bean this past year.  We're loving (almost) every minute of it!  There are, of course, the occasional days when motivation is sorely lacking on the part of my cherub.  But, for the most part, she has been an enthusiastic participant in learning.

I know there are many homeschool philosophies out there: unschooling, classical, Goddard, Montessorie, etc.  It's worthwhile for anyone who is serious about homeschooling to take some time evaluating each philosphy to find out which is the best fit for his/her own life view and his/her child's unique personality and learning style.  Classical education turned out to be the best fit for us.  It relies heavily on the written word, uses original texts rather than scholars' interpretations of those texts, and accentuates the fine arts.  Using The Well-Trained Mind as a guide, we are coming to the close of our first homeschooling year.

While our particular school district requires enrollment by August 1, we choose to have school year-round.  I don't like the idea of summer undoing everything I have worked so hard to teach, and I don't want to spend the first month or so of every year reviewing last years concepts.  So, we start our school year in June, and Cakes will be joining Bean at the kitchen table for her studies.  Since we're almost halfway through May, I'm scouring the internet for my curriculum and getting that high that comes from sniffing pencil shavings and new binders.

For those who are interested, here is a list of the curriculum I will be using this upcoming year:

For Cakes, we will be covering the basics (sort of a pre-school level education).  For math, we will be using Saxon Math Homeschool for Kindergarten, complete with the K-3 manipulatives kit.  Bean enjoyed it immensely, and my little Cakes is a very hands-on kind of kid.

For reading, we will be using The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading.  It is a phonics-based approach that makes teaching reading unbelievably easy.

For handwriting, we will be using the Handwriting Without Tears book Letters and Numbers for Me.  We originally tried the Zaner-Bloser curriculum, but Bean's fine motor skills were better advanced with the Handwriting Without Tears program.

Class for the first year usually only takes 45 to 90 minutes per day, and was a great way to ease Bean into her state-mandated four-hour school days.

Bean, having mastered the basics, will begin to branch out beyond just the three R's.

We will continue to work through the remainder of The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading, but we will supplement her reading education with The Bob Books, Dr. Suess, and any other simple children's books that I think she can work her way through with relative ease.

We will also start grammar lessons with First Language Lessons, and spelling lessons with Spelling Workout A and B.

We will move on to Saxon Math's Grade 1 homeschool kit, which builds directly on what was learned in the Kindergarten kit.  Fortunately, the manipulatives kit is good through third grade, so there's no extra purchase required.

We will also start learning history and geography, beginning at the beginning with the Ancients.  We will use The Story of the World Volume I with its accompanying workbook.  Supplemental materials include Blackline Maps of World History, the Kingfisher History Encyclopedia, and the Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of World History.

Science will begin with the study of plants, animals, and people, and it will be very hands-on and experiment-oriented.  The curriculum we will use includes Green Thumbs, the Kingfisher First Animal Encyclopedia,and the Kingfisher First Human Body Encyclopedia.

Bean will be introduced to the fine arts with a study of classical music and its composers, a study of various artists, piano lessons using John Thompson's Teaching Little Fingers to Play, and art lessons using Drawing with Children.

Both girls will continue with dance lessons and community soccer for physical education.

What do you other homeschooling parents use for your curriculum?

GENDER-SPECIFIC TERMS

As the daughter of a retired English teacher, I am always looking for ways to expand my children's vocabulary.  We have a plethora of books for ages birth to 5 years, which are available to the cherubs any time, but we also read more advanced books every night at bedtime.  It's part of the classical education model.  I've been surprised at how much the girls are starting to pick up from the books in terms of plot and vocabulary.  We just finished reading "A Little Princess" and are working through "The Secret Garden" now.

In reading, Bean just finished a unit on vowel combinations that produce long vowel sounds, and she likes to define the words as she reads them.  One of the words she learned to read recently was "male."  We talked about the difference between "male" and "mail," and about the opposites "male" and "female."  Apparently, Cakes was listening closely, because today she announced, "Uncle Ney is a male, and Aunt Kimmy is a email!"

WE START THEM EARLY

One of the main pillars of classical education is reading. And we like to start 'em young ...

... really young.

TEMPERA PAINT

Although I wish I were, I'm not really the kind of mom that has a regularly scheduled craft time with the kids. For one thing, I'm not very crafty. I mean, I knit and cross stitch and stuff, but it's always with patterns. I don't come up with my own ideas, I don't scrapbook, I don't sew, etc. And, although I tend to be a bit cluttered, I'm not a big fan of making messy things. That's why my kids don't often help me cook. My poor nerves can't handle flour, sugar, eggs, and other ingredients being tossed about the kitchen by happy, energetic children.

With homeschooling, I'm trying to focus on doing a seasonal craft once a week. So, armed with craft books my husband found on one of his jobs repairing an abandoned, water-damaged preschool, I began my journey into Craft Land. The first thing I noticed was that most of these crafts required construction paper and tempera paint. So, I went to the store and got construction paper and tempera paint. The cherubs were excited, so I let them each paint two pictures when we got the paint home from the store. Then, I put the paint on top of the refrigerator (safely out of reach of grabby little hands) and put my paint-drenched cherubs in the tub.

This morning, I walked into the kitchen to find Bean standing on a chair and pulling the paint down from the top of the fridge. So, I relented. The girls love painting.


And I'm just cringing inside and drawing water for a post-painting bath ....

SAXON MATH

As my readers know, I'm a homeschooler. I started homeschooling Bean this year for Pre-K. I felt that I was kind of short-changing her on math, since I wasn't following any particular curriculum and was just working with her on counting, basic addition and subtraction, etc. Not being much of a math person myself (I am a math idiot), I thought it would be best if I got a curriculum to guide me through the murky waters of Kindergarten Mathematics.

I researched several different math curriculums (Singapore Math, A Beka Book, etc.) and consulted my crazy-about-math, asks-for-math-textbooks-for-Christmas, ex-high-school-math-teacher sister-in-law. And so, I settled on Saxon Math Homeschool. And I love it!

The teacher's book is scripted, so even a math moron like yours truly can easily teach the lesson with minimal effort. The curriculum requires the manipulatives kit, but that kit contains all the manipulatives needed for Kindergarten through third grade! And each lesson involves manipulatives, which is perfect for my little hands-on learner. I think math is her favorite subject now! The lessons are not too long, are age appropriate, and provide plenty of time to explore the manipulatives while still teaching basic math concepts and applying them to real life.