Homeschool Update: What's Working, What's Not, What We're Doing About It

It's been a while since I have posted about the state of our homeschool.  Not that many people care to know the nitty gritty of our academic life, but I felt like writing about something I know.  I am certainly not a homeschooling expert (still a novice over here!) but I am an expert in our homeschool.  And since we're wrapping up a school year and making plans for the next, this seemed like an appropriate topic.

Of course, this is simply what we're doing and how it's working (or not).  I'm not advocating for any one way of teaching.  And neither do I stand by one particular curriculum.  Some we will keep using because they work very well for us.  Others are working for now, and some are not working at all.  I recognize that every family is in a different place in their schooling journey and that place changes with the growth of our children and other shifts in life.

All that said, here is what we are doing now in our homeschool.

 

MATH
What curriculum are we using?
A Beka Math

Who is using it?
Joshua, 7 years, Grade 2, Arithmetic 2
Hannah, 6 years, Grade 1, Arithmetic 1
Abigail, 4 years, pre-K/Kindergarten, Numbers Skills K5

How did we settle on A Beka?
We used A Beka Numbers Skills K5 for Joshua and Hannah in our very first year of homeschooling.  For me, it was easy to use because the lessons are scripted out, but it seemed repetative for the kids and I wanted to see if there was something a little more engaging.  We tried a year of Singapore Math, which was good for developing mathematical thinking skills but it was too teacher-intensive and produced a lot of stress and frustration.

I knew that we needed something low-stress yet thorough, with plenty of math facts practice built into each lesson.  A Beka fit the bill so we made the change in January of this year.
Is it working?
YES!  This curriculum is working well for us.  It is a better fit for Hannah (first grade) and Abigail (kindergarten) than for Joshua (second grade).  This has nothing to do with the second grade curriculum, but is simply a difference in learning style.  It is working well enough for Joshua, however, that we are most likely going to move right along with A Beka and not waste time finding a better fit at this stage.

Why is it working?
We spent most of last year having ditched a formal curriculum for learning and practicing math facts.  For nine months Joshua and Hannah made their way through the addition and subtraction facts using flash cards and an occasional color by number or other worksheet.  It was good at the time and really helped with their memorization of math facts.  However, after nearly a year of that I felt like we needed a change.  This restlessness combined with knowing that we would be giving the kids standardized tests to fulfill Virginia state homeschool law, made changing to a formal curriculum seem like a good choice.

A Beka is filling the need to cover more concepts than memorizing facts while still giving plenty of practice on basic arithmetic.  It is easy for me to use, requires no advanced preparation, and has been flexible enough for me to tweak it to fit into our daily routine.

 

PHONICS AND SPELLING
What curriculum are we using?
Spell to Write and Read

Who is using it?
Joshua, advanced speller
Hannah, intermediate speller
Abigail, beginner reader and speller

Is it working?
YES!  I have written about this before here and here.  The more I use this program the more I really like it.  The kids are excellent readers and solid spellers.  Each time I go through a section (some I have already been through 5 or more times), I am understanding more of how the English language works.  It's not as complicated and conviluted as some might think.

Probably I have written before, but I will say again that I do not use this program to its fullest potential.  When following all of the suggestions, you can use this set of two books to teach a complete language arts program from beginning reading through upper elementary school and even beyond.  It is a little too much for me to sort out how exactly to do that, so we use it strictly for phonics (leading to reading) and spelling.  We even omit the learning log and are still getting a lot out of this program.

GRAMMAR
What curriculum are we using?
First Language Lessons 

Who is using it?
Joshua, Level 2
Hannah, Level 1

Is it working?
I think so.  I read all kinds of things about waiting until upper elementary school to introduce grammar and writing.  I also read things about introducing children at a younger age to definitions and the basics of grammar and writing so that when they are older things are familiar to them.  My thought is that by the time kids get to high school and college, the only thing that will matter is if they can write well.  Their college professors aren't going to say, "Oh, wow!  You must not have started grammar until fifth grade!"  Neither will they say, "Incredible!  You must have memorized the definition of a noun when you were only 6 years old!"

Why is it working?
Well, I'm not sure how well First Language Lessons is working.  Joshua and Hannah are very good at memorizing things.  This program definitely plays toward that strength.  However, some application seems to go over their heads.  The lessons are scripted and short.  That means I am able to keep up with them with minimal effort.  I am not a lazy mom.  Neither am I a lazy teacher.  I do, however, have several irons in the fire during school time alone (not to mention the rest of the day) and I know that if I can't keep up with it, the kids won't be learning that subject.

I like the simplicity of this curriculum.  It works well enough for now.  Therefore, we will stick it out and see what results we get in later levels.

HANDWRITING
What curriculum are we using?
Handwriting Without Tears 

Who is using it?
Joshua, Grade 3 Cursive Handwriting
Hannah, Grade 3 Cursive Handwriting
Abigail, Kindergarten Letters and Numbers for Me 

Is it working?
YES!  You can read more about how and why we switched to this program here.  Everyone enjoys handwriting.  Everyone is improving in handwriting.  And, true to its name, it is all without tears.  Amazing!

Why is it working?
It's simple.  After they learn to form letters and hold their pencil correctly the kids can do it on their own.  They love the workbooks!  It really couldn't work any better than that!

GREEK
What curriculum are we using?
Hey, Andrew!  Teach Me Some Greek! 

Who is using it?
Joshua, Started the year with Level 2, Now in Level 3
Hannah, Started the year with Level 2, Now in Level 3 

Is it working?
Yes!  Joshua is attempting to construct sentences in Greek.  He and Hannah enjoy using the books.  They have learned this on their own for the most part (seeing as though neither of their parents currently read Koine Greek).  I'm pretty sure it's working.

HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY
What curriculum are we using?
Around the World in 180 Days
A Beka History of the World in Christian Perspective
Public Library, Juvenile NonFiction 900's

Who is using it?
Joshua, Around the World in 180 Days, Grade 7 History of the World in Christian Perspective
Hannah, Around the World in 180 Days, Public Library Juvenile NonFiction 900's

Is it working?
Yes and no.

So, this is a little more complex than math or handwriting simply because the kids work at varying grade-levels and this subject can't be qualified very easily.  We started off the year using the public library to check out books of the kids' interest.  They read about things from ancient civilizations to men landing on the moon.  You can read about how we did that here.  But they needed more structure.

Why is it working?  Why isn't it working?
In an attempt to find something we could all do together, we tried Around the World in 180 Days.  I like the idea, but couldn't really pull it off.  Getting books on hold from a fairly small library system was challenging.  Guiding two young elementary students through the process of reading various books in order to find answers to specific questions was tedious and too time-consuming for me.

Joshua did great with it.  I threw a packet of questions and maps at him along with a stack of books and some atlases and he finished two units without much trouble (or effort, for that matter).  He needed more of a challenge.  For Hannah it was more challenging and frustrating.  She is younger than Joshua and her strengths lie in different areas.  She needed something more age-appropriate.

Joshua has recently switched to A Beka History of the World in Christian Perspective.  I will start by saying that I had no idea that I handed him a seventh grade level book.  I really didn't.  We bought a used copy, along with a few other Christian history textbooks, to help us along with the Around the World curriculum.  The book does not say what grade it is intended for.  When he finished units on Antarctica and Australasia, did two extra activities and reports, and I didn't have the next unit ready for him I realized this approach wasn't going to work.  So, I grabbed a textbook from the shelf and said, "Read this, define the bold terms, and answer any questions you see."  He is doing great with it!

Hannah has gone back to the willy-nilly, ready-what-you-feel-like method.  It's not bad, but she is lacking direction and doesn't have the a strong interest in the subject to be self-driven.  For now we are just finishing out the year.  But we will be doing something different with her next year.

SCIENCE
What curriculum are we using?
Apologia Exploring Creation with Botany
Public Library, Juvenile NonFiction (I can't remember the call numbers - anything from plants to animals to innovations)

Who is using it?
Joshua, Apologia Exploring Creation with Botany
Hannah, Public Library Juvenile NonFiction

Is it working?
Yes and no.

This is very similar to our story of history and geography curriculum.  Joshua needed more structure and direction, so early this year we set him to work through the Apologia textbooks.  Hannah has continued with the library approach but is at a point of needing more direction.  She will be switching next year.

Why is it working?  Why isn't it working?
Apologia is working well for Joshua.  It is pretty thorough without being overwhelming.  The text is easy to read and gives in-depth information and explanations.  I like that it isn't full of cartoons and that the text doesn't sound like it's from a toddler board book.  We will definitely continue using these textbooks.

What isn't working are the projects.  It is hard to keep up with things like this.  Claude is taking care of holding Joshua accountable with his projects, but many of them Joshua does in the morning and then moves on before Claude or I even know he's done it.  Honestly, I haven't checked his science notebook in several weeks.  And since he is one to value completing assignments quickly rather than being thorough, I have no idea how he's really doing.

I know...bad mom.  Bad, bad homeschool mom.  This is why I need summer.  A chance to stop the madness of the daily school grind and be inspired to want to check the science notebook.  Oh, yeah...and give birth, recover, figure out how to do life with six children, and then jump back into a new school year.  Sounds like a recipe for being able to check all the schoolwork, doesn't it?  ;)

   

NEW SUBJECTS
Joshua will be adding two new subjects next year.  He needs a little more challenge and stimulation.  Plus, there are a couple of skills he needs to begin working on.  His new subjects will include keyboarding and Latin.

Why keyboarding?
Because it's a necessary skill and he has had very little practice using a computer or keyboard of any sort.  I think he'll have fun since it will seem more like a game than a school subject.  Since I'm the mean ogre mom who makes him slave away over assignments all day this may be a breath of fresh air for him.

Why Latin?
Because it's a necessary skill and...oh, wait.  That's not the reason!

When asked what subjects he would really like to study in school he said, "Hebrew, Latin, Geography, and Space."  Joshua has a knack for languages.  He is picking up Greek very easily and is interested in developing his own codes and secret languages.  He also says that one day he wants to write books for people to understand difficult things like the book of Revelation, the Rapture, and the Millenial Kingdom.

Biblical languages are a natural fit for him.  As is Latin and maybe Elvish.  Hebrew will probably come in time, but of the two languages Latin seemed like a better choice for an 8-year-old.


WHAT'S IN THE WORKS FOR NEXT YEAR
With all that in mind, here's what the plans are for next year:

Joshua, 8 years, Grade 3 
Math: A Beka Arithmetic 3  
Spelling: Spell to Write and Read, Wise Guide for Spelling (Finishing!)
Grammar: First Language Lessons Level 3
Handwriting: Handwriting Without Tears Grade 4 Cursive Success
Keyboarding: Typing Instructor
Latin: Latin's Not So Tough Level 1
Greek: Hey, Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek! Levels 3 and 4
History and Geography: History of the World in Christian Perspective
Science: Apologia Exploring Creation Series (TBD; Possibly Astronomy)

Hannah, 7 years, Grade 2
Math: A Beka Arithmetic 2
Spelling: Spell to Write and Read, Wise Guide for Spelling
Grammar: First Language Lessons, Level 2
Handwriting: Handwriting Without Tears Grade 4 Cursive Success
Greek: Hey, Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek! Level 3
History and Geography: A Beka Our American Heritage
Science: Apologia Exploring Creation with Botany

Abigail, 5 years, Kindergarten
Math: A Beka Numbers Skills K5 and Arithmetic 1 
Phonics / Reading / Spelling: Spell to Write and Read, Wise Guide for Spelling, BOB Books, Home Library, Public Library
Handwriting: Handwriting Without Tears Kindergarten Letters and Numbers for Me and Grade 1 My Printing Book


CONCLUSION
We have made a number of changes to our curriculum mid-year.  This is the first time we have done this, and I do hope it's the last.  It won't be, but I can dream, right?  I like routine.  I like things that work.  I like making plans that we can actually stick with and that will succeed.  But, I do like a change of pace every once in a while and I do not like when things are not going well.

As we are in the final weeks of our third year on this homeschool path, I think we are settling into some curriculum choices that will likely stand the test of time.  Things that fit into our ever-crazier daily routines are not things I will toss out the window with the changing of the winds.  We are learning what works, what doesn't, and when to make changes.

So, what have you been doing in your homeschool recently?  What is working?  What isn't working?  What are you doing about it?
 

2014-2015 School Year, Part 3

This is the final post of our monster 2014-2015 School Year series.  Part 1 introduced our school-aged kids and jumped into what we're doing for Language Arts this year.  Part 2 focused on our major shift in how we do math in our homeschool.

I hadn't intended on being so long-winded, but without trying to be concise I tend to run on and on.  So, today we will conclude with the secondary subjects - Bible (not at all secondary in our lives, but academically speaking that's where it fits), science, history, music, and read-aloud (my favorite!).

SECONDARY SUBJECTS

Bible Reading

Sample from Hannah's Bible Reading Notebook.

Claude does a great job making sure we are all hearing God's Word each and every day.  He reads before meals and each night the kids have Bible Time with Daddy.  However, we don't consider these to be part of our "school" day.

The older two kids, however, have an added subject in their school assignments - their own Bible reading.  The original thought was that Claude and I would read along with them in our own quiet time.  Claude is much more disciplined about this than I am, and the kids...well, let's just say they are whole books ahead of us in the reading plan.

Anyway...they read three chapters a day and will finish up the New Testament in the next several weeks.  Then they will jump into the Old Testament.  After completing their reading assignment for the day they write down a verse or summarize the passage they just read.

Science and History

Samples of Joshua's narration pages.

Currently Joshua and Hannah spend 30-60 minutes each school day reading books on various history, geography, and science-related subjects.  We find books from the library that sound interesting – usually they will each choose a topic (or two or three) that they are interested in and we look up the call number at home, find the books on the shelf, and go from there.

After they are finished reading, they are required to write what we call a narration page.  I can’t remember where I heard of this, but it’s certainly not unique to our homeschool.  Basically, the kids write 1-3 sentences about what they learned and if they have time or feel up to it, they draw a picture.

These are pretty simple, and for the moment I don’t get too worked up about the narration pages.  Often times I find that they have copied sentences directly from the books (with a few punctuation or spelling improvisations).  For now I don’t mind.  They are learning what clear written communication is like.  If it helps for them to copy a sentence, that’s fine.  The standard will be higher as they get older, so I’m not too worried about it right now.

At the moment, Joshua is expected to read 30 minutes each for science and history/geography.  Hannah is expected to read 30 minutes on one subject.  She is almost to the point of adding the second subject each day and soon the reading time will be increased for Joshua.

Samples of Hannah's narration pages.

My goal for them is to be able to spend a total of one hour reading in science and an additional hour reading in history in the next few years.  At some point we will most likely have them in a more formalized history and science curriculum, but for this stage they are learning a ton and having fun to boot. 

Geography

We are trying to memorize the countries and capitals of the world.  We stalled somewhere in Europe a few months ago, but we may have a few days in the upcoming months to cram in a little more of those gazillion European countries.  After last school year we had completed all of North, Central, and South America including the Caribbean Islands.  It’s a bit hit or miss, but we are still moving forward…slowly. 

Greek 
Joshua and Hannah are still going strong in their Koine Greek curriculum, Hey, Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek!  It is super simple, super slow, and has proven to be very thorough.  They like to use the Greek words they have learned in every day speech.  “I γινωσκω (know) that you can βλεπο (see) me!”

They are currently in Level 2 and will continue on until the end of the program, which I believe is about 8 levels in total. 

Music

I’ll admit, as tragic as this is for two people with music degrees, Claude and I are struggling to keep up with music lessons in our homeschool.  Recently I have been thinking that having music teachers who are not the parents is probably an ideal situation, but seeing as how the budget does not at all accommodate for such an expense, and also how we are both pretty convinced that if we can teach them we should, we are still trying to find a way for music lessons to progress even as we have zero time to do it.

Claude is decidedly better at making the time than I am.  He will take 10 or 15 minutes before Joshua and Hannah’s evening Bible time to teach them a measure of a piece or quiz them on their note reading skills.  The best I can do is that I tuned their violin a couple weeks ago, just in time for Jeremiah to drop it and break the neck.  Nice.

One thing that I am noticing, though, is the aptitude that the kids have for music.  I’m pretty sure that Joshua has an ear as good as his dad – he will sometimes tell me what pitches he is hearing, whether that’s someone singing or something humming.  He picks out melodies on the keyboard with ease.  And he gravitates toward the music area when he is looking for something to stimulate his busy brain.  I think the kid needs something more than what we’re able to give him at the moment.

Time will tell what opportunities God opens up for our kids in the area of music.  I am increasingly convinced that this just isn't the season of family life for us to focus on it.  Perhaps a couple years down the road we will have figured out a host of other pressing issues and will be able to better hone our musical abilities.  And maybe not.

For now we are encouraging all of them to play the piano as much as possible and I’m looking (in all my free time) for some resources for learning both piano and music theory independently.  I even had an idea to make a video of each new violin lesson with the kids.  Then, they can practice right along with the video every day.  Just as good as having mom sitting there in person, right?  Well, that was the idea.  And then the violin had a great fall from which neither dad nor mom could put it back together.  :(  Maybe in the future this could be a solution for us - affordable, consistent, and able to work at each students' pace.  We shall see... 

Read Aloud

Once upon a time I spent countless hours, toddlers in lap, colorful picture book in hand, reading to our oldest two children.  It was beautiful.  It was picturesque.  And It almost stopped happening when I became swamped with three kids three and under.  After a while the reading was infrequent.  I was sad.

Then I met a friend who let me borrow a couple of books filled with lists of suggestions for read-aloud books (picture books and chapter books) and books for children of all ages.  Initially I was just looking for suggestions beyond Little House on the Prairie for Joshua and Hannah to read.  It's hard to find appropriate material for a 6- and a 7-year old who both read well above grade level.

Anyway...reading these books about reading books rekindled my excitement for read-aloud time.  Now we have two read-aloud times every day.  The first is with my cuddle crew - Abby, Jeremiah, and Rachel (if she isn't in a nap).  We are having fun reading every picture book about vehicles we can find, twisting up our tongues with some Fox in Socks, and discovering new favorites from the library shelves.

In the afternoons (most days) the older three kids - Joshua, Hannah, and Abby - spread out around the living room and we read a chapter or two from our current book.  Our list for the year consists of Stone Fox, Homer Price, The Year of Miss Agnes, Mr. Popper's Penguins, Sarah Plain and Tall, The Matchlock Gun, and currently we are nearing the end of Caddie Woodlawn.  The kids love read-aloud time - it seems to be a highlight of their day.  I'm enjoying reading with them again, as well.

CONCLUSION

We have made a lot of changes to our homeschool curriculum for 2014-2015.  While our school structure remains basically the same and our overall goals have not budged, we have found that the most important factor in choosing what to do for each subject is our ability to work consistently.  How easy is it for the kids to get their schoolwork done?  How much can they do on their own?  How much is dependent on mom or dad to accomplish?  If it's too parent heavy, it's not going to fly in our household.  But, if our students can take it and run, then all the better.  They tend to move faster without us holding them back, anyway.

2014-2015 School Year, Part 2

This is the second of three posts in a series about what we're doing for school this year, 2014-2015.  Last time I introduced our school-aged kids and talked about what we're doing for language arts.  Today I'm dedicating the entire post to our math revamp.


MATH
This may be the area in which we have made the biggest change.  Last year we were working through the first grade books from Singapore Primary Math and really liked a lot about the program.  I love how they look at a concept from several different vantage points so as to have a full understanding.  I like that there is a strong emphasis on word problems and putting math skills into every day life situations.  I even found, although many reviews I read did not, that the kids had plenty of practice on each concept and the math facts since we used the Math Sprints, Extra Practice, Intensive Practice, and Challenging Word Problems books.  In fact, I like the program so much that I may use it in a couple of years to get Abigail started on math. 

Here the problem had nothing to do with the curriculum and everything to do with our family situation.  We (literally) have a handful of kids all born within 6 years of each other.  I like to be efficient and frugal with our time.  Since the older two work at the same grade level in math I thought we could do lessons together.  This turned out to be a huge mess.  Frustration levels were high as they picked on one another and goofed off.  I felt like I spent the time doing crowd control instead of teaching a lesson. 

This combined with the fact that while Singapore curriculum is great, the format of the teacher's manual wasn't very natural for me to use the first time around.  We left math lessons angry, frustrated, and sometimes in tears.  Not good. 

In desperation I turned to my good friend, Google, for some ideas on how to solve this predicament.  What I "stumbled" across has helped our homeschool situation immensely.  I use the term "stumbled" very loosely here because as I prayed for wisdom in the situation God used even something as unholy as Google to give me an answer.  I don't think it was just stumbling. 

Anyway...I read a comment in some homeschool forum from over a decade ago.  A mom was in a very similar situation with kids quite capable of understanding and doing the math (that was not the problem) but being in the midst of a wrestling match with the kids by the middle of each lesson.  The comment that stuck out to me went something like this, "Just give your kid some flash cards, make him do them every day to memorize all his math facts.  Don't teach him.  He needs to figure it out on his own." 

I know, I know...there are people reading this who think that is crazy, stupid, dumb, etc.  What well-meaning parent would, in their right mind, turn a 6-year-old loose to learn math...on their own? 

This desperate parent would. 

Here's how I saw it.  First of all, the situation could not get any worse.  You have to believe me, since you weren't there in our school room morning after morning.  We had hit rock bottom in our math experience.  It was that bad.  And then some. 

Secondly, I had two kids who already had a solid understanding of the basic concepts of arithmetic. They each had a couple of different ways to look at problems and to solve them.  They didn't need me to explain these things to them any longer.  Their understanding and ability was not the problem. 

And last of all, our kids are super independent.  And that is an understatement.  I have a 10-month-old who reportedly pushed away the nursery worker who was trying to help her stand and walk.  She could do it on her own.  And if she couldn't...well, there's no such thing.  The oldest two are particularly independent.  Learning on their own might just work for them. 

So, we ditched the workbooks, the textbooks, the manipulatives, and I made a huge stack of flash cards covering addition, subtraction, and multiplication facts through the 12's.  And do you know what?  It actually works for us! 

The goal is for the kids to know - and I mean really know - the facts (including division) through the 12's before they move onto a boring, no cartoons included, textbook that they will work through on their own. 

You see, a big part of our philosophy of education is that our kids need to learn how to learn.  We don't want to spoon feed them information, answers, or ultimately success.  In the real world they will need to be their own teacher.  In fact, I can remember my violin teacher from high school saying this all of the time.  "You are your own teacher".  And I think it's true. 

They can be their own math teacher, too.  Of course we're not cutting them loose just yet.  They're only first and second graders!  With plenty of materials (appropriate textbooks, extra practice worksheets, manipulatives) and support (help understanding something that doesn't make sense after a few tries on their own, finding an online lesson or tutorial to explain a particularly challenging concept) I'm pretty certain they will have success.

2014-2015 School Year, Part 1

We are several weeks into the 2014-2015 school year.  At the end of our last school year I wanted to review what we had done and how much of it we were keeping for the new year.  That, obviously, didn't happen, so I thought I would give a bit of an long update now.

Since I am not one to leave out details, this has been split into three separate posts.  Today I'll fill you in on what we are doing for language arts.  The following posts will cover the big changes we've made in our approach to arithmetic.  The final post will cover everything else. 

As many of our posts about schoolwork go, it is mostly as a record for our family.  Within a few days years, we are likely to forget what we did in this crazy stage of life.  It's always kind of fun to look back and say, "Oh, yeah!  I remember doing that!"  If it's at all informative or helpful to others that is an added bonus. 

So, without further ado, I will jump right into what the 2014-2015 school year is looking like!

 

THE STUDENTS

Joshua, 7 years old, Grade 2

Hannah, 6 years old, Grade 1

Abigail, 4 years old, Preschool / Kindergarten 

The kids' grade levels are partly determined by age and partly be capability.  They all have birthdays in the summer or early fall, so if they were going to school they might be a grade behind what they are now just based on their ages.  Like most children, they do not perform at the same grade level in all subject areas.

Joshua probably fits best into a grade level, while Hannah is doing some second grade work, some first grade work, and some work that simply cannot be graded at all.  Abigail is similar in that she is in between grade levels doing some preschool type stuff and a couple of things that are advanced for her age (she just turned 4 last week).

 
LANGUAGE ARTS

Phonics / Reading
Abigail is on the slow road to reading using the Spell to Write and Read phonics system mentioned below.  This is not actually because of her abilities.  I think she is already reading several words, but we have some issues with following directions.  These challenges generally keep us from finishing our lessons without a tantrum.

We have an unspoken rule now that if she throws a fit or fights with me then I put the books away and we finish for the day.  We are gradually making progress (with the tantrums), but it is painful.  Probably in several months when she is no longer so hard-headed more ready for formal instruction, we will start from the beginning and I suspect it will be a fairly short and smooth road to reading from there.

Abby's spelling list.

Spelling
Joshua (7) and Hannah (almost 6) learned to read through the Spell to Write and Read phonics program by Wanda Sanseri.  I've written about it before and I have told many people about this extensive program.  Now that they are solid readers, we use the program for spelling alone with The Wise Guide for Spelling.

Joshua currently learns 40 words per week and is slated to finish out the entire program (spelling at a college freshman level) by the end of next school year.  Hannah is now learning 20 words per week and is about half way through the book.  This, I think, is the only curriculum we have used from the beginning of our schooling journey.  And we have no plans to change it in the future.

Handwriting
Previously we were using a Christian handwriting curriculum called A Reason forHandwriting.  I thought it as going well, but both kids were not improving in their handwriting as I had hoped.  Also, one of them has a right-handed hook pencil grip, which I was set on "fixing".  So, in January we switched to Handwriting WithoutTears.

Initially this change seemed to solve our problems - the handwriting was getting better and the pencil grips were also improving.  And, overall, I do like this program better than what we were using.  However, our kids still revert to sloppy handwriting, the hook pencil grip seems to be here for the long-haul, and I generally feel like I am failing my kids in the area of good handwriting.

Oh, well.

They can write legibly.  They are making slow progress in their handwriting skills.  And the strange pencil grips seem quite functional and are not causing any major problems (meaning, they don't keep the kids from writing and drawing for hours and hours every day).  So, for now we're going to leave it.  Handwriting may not be the strongest subject in our homeschool, but I'm learning to accept that.

And if we have some problems that come up, we'll address them as needed.

Writing / Composition
When I started out this official homeschool journey, I started reading a book called The Well-Trained Mind.  You can read about how that shaped our first year of homeschooling in this post.  While we still agree with many of the key principles in the classical method of education, we started running into some practical challenges.

One area has been that of writing and composition.  We were using Writing with Ease by Susan Wise Bauer.  I really like the basic premise of her system.  It's simple and seems like it might be effective.  The problem we had was that I simply could not keep up with finding passages of books to read, make discussion questions for, and provide copy work sentences from.  This could be solved by purchasing a workbook with every assignment included.  The problem with this was that I didn't like many of the literature choices for one reason or another.

So, for now we are not doing any specific writing curriculum.  The kids, do however, write plenty on their own and at this stage I think they are alright.  In a year or two we may need something formalized to work through, but like handwriting, we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

Grammar
Unlike the suggested writing curriculum from The Well-Trained Mind, we are having pretty good success with Jessie Wise's First Language Lessons.  Hannah is just about finished with Level 1 and Joshua is somewhere in the middle of Level 2.  I like that the lessons are short and simple - perfect for me to fit into our school days.  And the kids actually look forward to them.  Imagine that!

Unless something changes, we will stick with these through the end of the series at which point we will find something more advanced.  Any suggestions???

Homer Price Homemade Doughnuts

We are currently reading "Homer Price".  The kids can't wait every day to dive into some of Homer's crazy adventures.  If you haven't heard of this book, read it, or read it with your children I highly recommend it!

Now, we are not usually a very "hands-on" homeschooling family.  I have a lot of ideas for fun things to do with the kids, but we rarely do them.  At this stage in our family my daily goal is to keep everyone fed, clothed, rested, and up to date with schoolwork.

But today we actually carved out some time to make homemade doughnuts - in honor of Homer Price.  We followed *this recipe (cut it in half to make about 3 dozen doughnuts plus doughnut holes) and had great success with it.

*The recipe calls for packets of yeast.  If you buy yours in bulk, like we do, you will want to know that 1 packet of yeast = 2 1/4 tsp.

Make sure your self-control has come along for the ride or you may eat more than a couple of these babies!  Not that I have any experience with my self-control flying the coop...  ;)