I finished my 24th book for the year this week: The Rescuers by Sharp and reviewed it on my blog. It was a read aloud with my 8yo son, and we enjoyed it enough that we started the sequel this morning. I'm nearly finished with Pilgrim's Progress and also need to work on Ivanhoe this week as well since my 13yo is ahead of me.

Our week 8 is up!

Our week 7 is up!

At the completion of Rob Roy by Scott, I asked my 8th grader to write a minimum 1 page plot summary of the book with a paragraph of evaluation using TWTM evaluation questions for the logic stage. We've made several changes already. Here is our current draft. Any thoughts or suggestions?:bigear: Rob Roy Rob Roy starts as an elderly Francis Osbaldistone writes down his adventures, beginning with the time he was in Bordeaux studying to become a merchant. Francis' father wished him to become a merchant like he himself was, but Francis didn't want to become one or even to work because he thought his father had enough money to take care of him. When he sent his father a letter declining a position in the firm, he was called back to London immediately. Upon his arrival, his father informed Francis that he had lost his place in the firm and was being sent to his uncle and cousins at Osbaldistone Hall. Accordingly Francis went and met his cousins, uncle, and Diana Vernon there. A few days later he was accused of stealing money belonging to the English king. Diana Vernon brought him to a magistrate and made some arrangements with his cousin Rashleigh, who sent Rob Roy MacGregor Campbell to clear Francis. When that was over, Rashleigh was sent to take Francis' place in the firm, and Francis settled into life at the Hall. Then Francis received a letter from his father's partner saying that Rashleigh had robbed the firm and escaped to Scotland. Francis followed him there and met his father's clerk, Owen. Owen introduced him to Mr. Jarvie, who was a Scottish partner of the firm. Francis and Mr. Jarvie traveled to the highlands of Scotland by Rob Roy's invitation because he had agreed to try to help get the money back. On the way there they were captured by English soldiers and taken along to the highlands because the English had a warrant for the arrest of Diana Vernon and her father, and they thought that Francis and Mr. Jarvie fitted the description. At a narrow pass the English soldiers were attacked by Scotch women and children led by Helen MacGregor Campbell, and Francis and Mr. Jarvie hastily scrambled to safety to watch the outcome of the fight. When the highlanders had defeated the English, the two men were brought before Helen and she began to decide whether or not to kill them. Just then another band of Scotchmen, including Helen's sons, arrived and told her that Rob Roy had been captured. She sent Francis to the nearest English camp to tell their leader that if they wished to see her English prisoners alive again, they would have to release Rob Roy. When Francis delivered the message, the English refused to release Rob Roy and took Francis prisoner. While the two men were being transferred to a fort, Rob Roy escaped and, in the ensuing confusion, Francis also got away. While he was returning to the highlanders, Francis encountered Diana Vernon and her father, and she gave him a packet containing the money that Rashleigh had stolen. Then she left and Francis met up with Rob Roy again, and the two men returned to the highlander camp together. The next day Francis and Mr. Jarvie left and returned to the lowlands. They met up with Francis' father and Owen there and gave them the money. Then Francis, his father, and Owen returned to London. All at once the Scots rebelled against England. While fighting in this war, Francis' uncle and all his cousins except Rashleigh were killed, and Francis inherited Osbaldistone Hall. During his stay there, he encountered Diana Vernon and her father again. Then the hall was raided by Rashleigh and his friends, and Francis, Diana, and her father were taken prisoner before they could escape. While they were being moved from the hall, Rob Roy and his highlanders attacked, killing Rashleigh and freeing the prisoners. Diana and her father went with Rob Roy and his men, and Francis returned to London. While there he received a letter from Diana, saying that she was in a French convent and her father was dead. Francis went to France, brought her back to England, and married her soon after joining his father in the firm. The years between these happenings and the present time and Diana's death are briefly mentioned, and at this point Francis concludes his story. The best part of the book was the end, where Francis returned to London and married Diana. The most boring part was definitely the Scottish dialect, which could keep many readers constantly referring to a dictionary. The characters were good, and they kept the story moving briskly, although none of the book seemed very real. I was satisfied with the ending and consider it a good book, but I doubt that I will read it again due to that Scottish dialect being so often used.

We have one up!

Our week 6 is up!

I finished two books this week and reviewed them: Rob Roy by Scott and Understood Betsy by Fisher. I'm currently halfway through Pilgrim's Progress, just started The Rescuers with my 8yo, and have Lassie Come Home and Ivanhoe waiting on my pile. Books for 2012: 23. Understood Betsy by Fisher 22. Rob Roy by Scott 21. The Story of Dr. Doolittle by Lofting 20. The Indian in the Cupboard by Banks 19. The Time Machine by Wells 18. Richard III by Shakespeare 17. Inkheart by Funke 16. Henry V by Shakespeare 15. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by Tolkien 14. Drumbeats in Williamsburg by Lawrence 13. A Spy in Williamsburg by Lawrence 12. The Boggart and the Monster by Cooper 11. MacBeth by Shakespeare 10. The Boggart by Cooper 9. The History of the Kings of Britain by Monmouth 8. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Aiken 7. Winning His Spurs by Henty 6. The Song of Roland by Sayers 5. Sink Reflections by Cilley 4. A Midsummer Night's Dream by Shakespeare 3. Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Verne 2. Beowulf by Heaney 1. Cut Your Grocery Bills in Half by Economides

We found 30 minutes to be sufficient for the majority of the lessons. On the days she did run over, an extra 10 minutes was usually sufficient.

Our week 5 is up!

Sand fun.

R&S is one of our semi independent programs, but it only takes 5-10 minutes of teaching time each day on my part. I go over the lesson in the TE with them and give an assignment which they complete independently. They are encouraged to read the lesson in the book before completing the assignment, especially if it's a new topic. It depends on the lesson. Generally I have them do all of the written practice if there is no accompanying worksheet. If there is a worksheet and it's a review topic, then I assign just the worksheet. If it's a new topic and think that more practice would be beneficial, then they complete the written exercise one day and the worksheet on the following day. I have schedules for R&S through level 8 on my blog that you can look at to get a better idea of how often we do just the worksheet versus both the exercise and worksheet if it would help.

Our week 4 is up!

I finally got around to finishing my 21st book. Hopefully with school back in session I'll be more consistent. Book 21 was The Story of Dr. Doolittle, which I read aloud to my 8yo. I posted a review on my blog. I'm also working on Bunyan's Pilgrims Progress and Scott's Rob Roy to discuss with the oldest.

HTH

Our week 3 is up!

Ours is up!

HTH

I have 3 that are schooling and a 4 year old. This is our schedule for the year. The basic idea is to finish the core work before lunch and do the extras after. We start earlier than I would like, but it gives my oldest more free time on the days she stays on task. HTH

Our week two is up with lots of pictures! I did art in a separate post on Thursday if you want to scroll down and see that as well.

We start at 7:30. It gets my oldest more free time in the afternoon and helps me get everyone's core work done in the morning.

Ours is up

The Story of Dr. Doolittle for DS 8.

I schedule 30 minutes with my youngest and have since was 2. We read books and work on letters and numbers. This year I've scheduled a second 30 minutes later in the day to play or do crafts or go for a walk... whatever. He also has 30 minutes of one on one playtime with each of his siblings, which doubles as giving them a break and helping build sibling relationships as well. He has time to choose his own activity and time to listen to books on tape. I've also scheduled a "center time", which means I try to think ahead of something fun that he can play. This week he played with a balloon, his brother's train set, our stacking cups at the kitchen sink, etc. It's been a great first week for him. HTH

Our first week is up!!

I wouldn't worry about being off by one day. I would just pick back up with today's lesson tomorrow and ignore the day of the week at the top of the schedule. Thanksgiving week or the week before Christmas make a good buffer. If you've taken two days off up to that point, schedule two days of work and take the remainder off. You'll start fresh on the correct day in January. I would stick with Prima Latina for another week. If she still hates it, then feel free to switch Latin programs and continue with the other MP materials. If you truly think MP has too much writing, then do some of the work orally and cut down on it. Make the program work for you. There are plenty of ways to add fun into the mix without switching programs. Play some math games, make some fall art, take a field trip, take her spelling words and the AAS tiles and see if she can connect them all crossword style instead of doing the worksheet for the day, etc. I don't think anything is wrong with you. You want to give your daughter the best education possible, and you want her to enjoy learning and have fun as well. The key is to find the right balance between work and fun, and learn to make the program work for you. HTH