This fall went well. I feel like we have finally found a our groove. It has only taken 7 years...We have curriculum that works. I have found a schedule that works.The girls have daily to-do lists. My youngest is old enough to follow her own list. It is lovely. Yes, I still worry that I should be doing more or that my kids aren't at the level they could or should be, but for the most part I am just hoping we don't hit any bumps in the road.
One thing that helped last semester go smoothly is that, without an active homeschool group, we had very few interruptions in our schedule for field trips and park days, etc. We did have public school friends though, so there was the rush to finish our school work before the neighbor kids were home from school and ready to play.
Our daily schedule looked something like this.
7:30am - I attempt to get out of bed
8am - I go to gym to work out
8:45 - 9 - return from gym, eat breakfast, computer time (Kids are awake by this time and are eating breakfast and watching TV)
9am - school starts - girls work on independent work while I finish up on computer and do other morning chores, such as start laundry and tidying up a bit. I am often called over to answer questions.
9:30 - I take a shower, put away laundry, more tidying, more questions
10:30 - Read aloud (or, as has been happening lately because we no longer spend much time in the car, listening to book on tape)
11:00 - "mom school" time - some days history, some days poetry, some days science
12:00 - lunch
1:00 - girls finish independent work
2:00 -school's out
after school - play with friends, instrument lessons, choir. We tried a session of parks and rec gymnastics. We also participated in a homeschool science club, but my girls didn't like it because there were no other girls in it.
Here is the curriculum/books we used:
Reading: Sierra read Ella Enchanted and something else - ack, this is why I should keep more timely records, oh yeah, Hitty: Her First Hundred Years. Kali read The Lion and the Witch and the Wardrobe and...um...Book 1 of Harry Potter. Both older girls were reading Harry Potter during their free reading because I challenged them to read all 7 books by June when the last movie comes out. Arwen started reading the Magic Tree House books.
Writing: Sierra and Kali started using Writing
Strands. Kali book 4 and Sierra book 5. I really liked the exercises, but felt that they needed practice with writing longer pieces, so we used our K12 books as a guide for writing newspaper articles (both) and a how-to paper (Kali) and a compare/contrast essay (Sierra). the compare/contrast essay was kind of a disaster. It makes me crazy that Sierra has such trouble with formal essays when she loves creative writing and is good at it. I read recently that that often happens with creative writers. Arwen started freewriting. All three girls did copywork.Spelling: We started out using Sequential Spelling. I tried doing it with all three a the same time. Sierra and Kali begrudgingly cooperated and Arwen futzed around and made it take longer than it should have. It didn't seem to be helping and it was taking precious time out of our day, so I gave it up after a few weeks. We then did individual lists made from words they misspelled in their own writing. All 3 girls got email accounts, which has helped their spelling. Sierra started typing a story that she is writing and that has also improved her spelling.
Grammar: Growing with Grammar is working great for Kali (finished grade 4 and began grade 6) and Sierra (finished grade 6 and began grade 8). With so much repetition each year in the curriculum, I chose to skip a year and take 2 years to complete each grade level. Arwen worked on the 2nd grade level of First Language Lessons.
Math: Singapore Math for all three. Arwen 2a, Kali 3b and began 4b, Sierra 5b, 6a, and 6b
History: Story of the World
3Science: Real Science 4 Kids Chemistry
Vocabulary: English from the Roots Up
Foreign Language: Live Mocha Sierra started French, Kali tried Mandarin Chinese and then switched to Italian.
2011 has started off nicely. Here's to hoping it continues to go smoothly and that I don't panic too much as a think ahead to high school for my oldest in 18 months!
