How is school going? (if you have started)

[hands-on-mama]

I was just curious to see how the beginning of the year is going for everyone! I'll go first.

 

We are using HOD Little Hearts as our core. Most of it is going very well, and I am surprised at how quickly we are getting done each day. We also just started the emerging readers. The Burgess books are got g to take some getting used to though.

 

We are about to finish AAR 1 and that is going wonderfully. We start Lesson 42 tomorrow. We will be continuing on with Level 2. I can not believe how much my child is growing in her reading ability! This my first time teaching a child to read, and I am loving it!

 

We are about halfway through Singapore Essentials B. We are actually taking a break from it for a bit to work on addition and such using Education Unboxed videos. These have been a hit as well!

 

So how is it going on your end?

[scrapbabe]

Great actually!!! Hubby is home in the morning to watch our 6 mos old while I work with our two middle boys. Oldest is mostly on his own. I feel like after 10+ years of homeschooling I know what will/won't work for us.... And so most of what we are doing this year we are really enjoying! Yay!! (Knock on wood). ;)

[hands-on-mama]

Great actually!!! Hubby is home in the morning to watch our 6 mos old while I work with our two middle boys. Oldest is mostly on his own. I feel like after 10+ years of homeschooling I know what will/won't work for us.... And so most of what we are doing this year we are really enjoying! Yay!! (Knock on wood). ;)

That's very helpful that your husband is home! I hope your year continues to go well!

[momma2three]

So far so good.  

 

DD has kind of arbitrarily decided that she hates spelling.  I don't know why, none of the words so far have been troublesome: most she already knew, and the other ones she seemed to remember easily enough.  On the other hand, she eagerly sits down to do Winning With Writing, which is making my eyes glaze over (we've done 2 weeks so far).  I really like the program in the long run, and I understand what it's trying to do now, but it seems like she could have started out with a little kick of fun just to get kids interested.

 

History's been a great success.  We did the first week of History Odyssey last week, and she made her history pocket and we made a timeline and looked at a bunch of books and read about archaeology.  This week we took a break from that to spend some more time on prehistory, so we read all about human evolution and the Ice Age.  I hung some old fabric across a fence in the backyard and the kids made "cave paintings," drawing animals using only materials they could find in the yard and their hands.  My 2yo was adorable and had great fun doing hand prints.  Science was also a hit last week, and this week looks even more fun.

 

I only have 2 more weeks of having to do everything with my younger two around.  It hasn't been as bad as I expected, and they've been remarkably game about participating in the various projects without being too disruptive, but I do admit that they've been fobbed off into the living room to watch more iPad than I would have liked.  But I am eager for them to return to school so we can do more one on one stuff.

[lovinmomma]

I love hearing about everyone's years. :) My kids are all in PS currently and I miss HSing terribly!

 

I'm getting ready to start my oldest back on SWR because she is really struggling with spelling. She memorizes, but has no clue WHY she is spelling words the way that she is.

[duckens]

 

So how is it going on your end?

 

AAAAAaaaaaaaaargh!!!!!

 

We just can't seem to get traction so far this year.

 

We've done a few lessons, but nothing day-in, day-out yet.  I think that a part of that is that I am afraid of some of the new  curriculum I am using this year.  I am a little intimidated about implementing them.

 

Oh, and dd6 has forgotten how to do math facts.  (Thank goodness for Xtra Math).

 

*deep breaths, deeeeeeeeeeep breaths*

 

It's Monday again.  The plan is:

Piano

Xtra Math

Math

Phonics

Chinese

Typing

and Dinosaurs.

 

Here we go!

 

ETA:  Oh, and our living room is torn apart as we change around some furniture to fit a homeschool cabinet in.

[kwg]

Well, we had a great week last week but today is dh's birthday and of course he took off so no school.  Then tomorrow we are going to see The Body Exhibit.  I am so worried and excited about that.  So- no work that day.  sigh.

 

 

[Sobeknofret]

We're having a ball! Latin is a hit, math is fun, and he's over the moon about his science this year. Geography and history aren't as fun as he'd like, but they're tolerable. Today, we're going down to the river to do a plot study and have a little picnic.

 

I must admit I'm surprised about the Latin. I love languages and I really love Latin myself, but I thought he'd hate it. Instead, he's pushing me to do more and more with him, and he's really understanding it. We'll have to see if he can keep up the momentum, but so far it's the surprise favorite subject.

[hands-on-mama]

AAAAAaaaaaaaaargh!!!!!

 

We just can't seem to get traction so far this year.

 

We've done a few lessons, but nothing day-in, day-out yet.  I think that a part of that is that I am afraid of some of the new  curriculum I am using this year.  I am a little intimidated about implementing them.

 

Oh, and dd6 has forgotten how to do math facts.  (Thank goodness for Xtra Math).

 

*deep breaths, deeeeeeeeeeep breaths*

 

It's Monday again.  The plan is:

Piano

Xtra Math

Math

Phonics

Chinese

Typing

and Dinosaurs.

 

Here we go!

 

ETA:  Oh, and our living room is torn apart as we change around some furniture to fit a homeschool cabinet in.

  

Well, we had a great week last week but today is dh's birthday and of course he took off so no school.  Then tomorrow we are going to see The Body Exhibit.  I am so worried and excited about that.  So- no work that day.  sigh.

You can do it! Just dig your heels in and do what you can!

 

We take off when Daddy is home too. It's no use when he is here. Idk what we will do if our business ever takes off because that means he will likely be home more. I'm sure we will adjust though. :) The body exhibit sounds fun. :)

[hands-on-mama]

We have yet to start this morning. It is so very hard to get up early. My oldest and I are just not morning people. It is so good that she is no going to ps because they start at 7:35 this year. O.o

 

We will do school today though, and then tomorrow we have our co-op day. Friday ended up our 6th week, so Wednesday-Friday is kind of a break for us. :)

[MissKNG]

We just started today and it went very well. Just a little more to do!

[rutamattatt]

Things have actually been going fairly well this year...so far.  We started four weeks ago, and I feel like our third year finally feels a little less scary to me.  There are still kinks to work out, but overall I feel like we are all more on the same page with expectations, etc. after two years, and that saves a lot of stress day in and day out.

 

This year I switched the boys to Singapore math and they are really, really enjoying it!  I keep waiting for the "new" to wear off and the grumbling to start, but it hasn't yet.  DD is doing well - she has FASD, so it isn't easy every day, but she is making progress and I am SO proud of her.  Still on the fence about what we're doing for Bible.  

 

We are trying a six weeks on, one week off approach this year to see how that works and if it keeps "morale" up.  That is coming up - here's hoping it works!  ;)

[MotherOfBoys]

Ok, today was our first day. It is 11am and we are done. History, I thought would take and hour, only took 20min. We read the story, copywork, and talked about the geography.

 

MATH: He has about 5 problems left in math that I had to tell him to save for later. He had time and was able to finish the whole MM lesson in the 30 mins. I thought he would only do half and then the other would be done before dinner as hw to see if it set in.

 

GRAMMAR: He has 4 words to finish later, again, only because I said let's stop.

 

PHONICS: We went through the cards and he read in his room for 30min. while I did math with the other son.

 

Besides hw he will do his first lesson in spelling later today. I imagine this will all be done in 30min max.

 

Maybe he will slow down and take longer tomorrow? I'm in shock. I feel like I must have forgot something or left something out but I can't think of anything. All that planning and he's done in half the time expected. :huh:

[bobbeym]

Today was our first day back.  School was supposed to start at 8am. 

 

At 9:16 DS was just starting the first subject and DD was just getting up. DH, who is the one home with them, didn't get up until 10:30ish.  And I've already had one email conversation with DS asking if he all he had to do was read the history "homework" because he apparently "forgot" he has to do the questions as well. How he could have "forgotten" that is beyond me since his workbook says Lesson 1 questions... and then XYZ speech questions... and then moves on to Lesson 2.

 

Meanwhile I'm at work trying not to stress over how to set up a new student b/c the girl that owned that process left last week and I know nothing about it nor do I have access to any of her files.

 

 

[Mommy22alyns]

We just started our third week.  Still trying to find a rhythm, I don't have everything I want/need, and I generally feel unsettled.  A lot of stuff happened and I'm just off my game.  Functioning day to day right now, one foot in front of the other.

[Hypatia.]

This is our second week and we're off to a slow start.  DS1 is in strings camp this week so he's gone during the day.  DD1 is still excited about everything but her reading isn't where it needs to be so she needs a lot of one-on-one.  Next week we have a few park days with local homeschool groups, so I'm not sure how much we'll get done.  Still waiting to hear from DS2's teacher about when his special ed preschool will start, he's supposed to be getting some speech therapy.  Meds the neuro has me on has me in a fog, so it's hard for me to get everything going.

 

Bottom line - we're off to a slow start and I'm dragging.

[Jilly]

We are on our third week here, and I am happy to say that we are having a very good start. I am happy with all our choices, and the kids seem to be content with the work they have. Last year wasn't so good. I am felling optimistic about this year.   :)

[starwarsmomma]

first day today.

 

Our online history and grammar for the younger two that we were signed up for is a repeat of last year. (I was told it would be new, but it wasn't.  AHHHHHH!...)

 

So.... last minute changes.  Yipeeeee  (NOT!)  History switched to Story of the World (1) because I already owned it.  Grammar....  still not figured out yet.  

 

Our literature plans--  I didn't figure out until saturday (my bad-- procrastination!!!!)  and it should arrive Wednesday.  Love amazon prime!

 

My 13 year old son was halfway through a TT program.  His computer mysteriously lost all his grades.... hmmmmmm.... (Suspect foul play but cannot prove it.  tech support agrees....)  Had to re-install program.  aargh....

 

And middle son got grounded because I caught him playing minecraft when he was supposed to be doing TT math.  REALLY????????

 

 

The wine is being poured as I type...  

LOL

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest]

School is going great so far! Both of the kids love school, and I am so pleased with what they're both doing. I was frustrated the first few weeks trying to tweak things and trying to find our groove, but I think we've got it and I couldn't be happier. (Right now!)

[Guest]

We are on our third week here, and I am happy to say that we are having a very good start. I am happy with all our choices, and the kids seem to be content with the work they have. Last year wasn't so good. I am felling optimistic about this year.   :)

 

We had a less than stellar year last year, too, so I am also feeling very optimistic!

[twoxcell]

We just started today and everything went fairly well but it was a really long day. 8:15-4:30 minus lunch and recess. Hopefully we get into a groove quickly and it gets a bit shorter. ;) The kids all said they had a good day so that is good.

[hands-on-mama]

This is our 31st day! Whoopi! And it's going really really well. The first few weeks were a challenge since my 4th grader had to shed some bad habbits, but now it's easy peasy. We are getting ready to nail down a 4 day school week and even I who work outside of the home can't wait to do school everyday with them.

 

We are loving the workbox system. It makes things so much easier.

 

Glad everyone's gotten off to a good start.

Today was our 31st day as well!

[SweetMissMagnolia]

started in the middle of August---haven't really gotten into the SET routine that I want to but he's cooperating a little better which is always a plus.....

[Clear Creek]

I haven't updated my signature yet, but we started back on Monday of this week.  So far it is going amazingly well - the exact opposite of last year.  Last year was just awful, and I even told my husband at one point this summer that anything our kids learned last year was in spite of me, not because of me.  It really was that bad.  I had a horrible attitude about doing school, I dreaded getting up in the morning and therefore slept in until I had to get up to teach the kids, my middle daughter threw fits about doing anything related to school and cried all the time, my youngest wanted more attention than I had time to give him, and my oldest dawdled so much that she would be doing school work until supper time so neither of us ever had any free time during the day.  I lost my temper daily just trying to get the kids up, showered, dressed, and fed before school without it taking 3-4 hours (!!!).

 

This year I am up and dressed before anyone else in the house is awake.  My husband decided he would get the kids up, showered, dressed, fed, and ready for school by 8:00 so if the kids get sidetracked playing, he is the one that gets them back on track and I don't start my day frustrated with the children.  This morning they were all doing school work at 7:35, lol!  I seem to have successfully made an attitude adjustment in myself and do not dread the whole ordeal.  My middle child does her work pleasantly and with absolutely no fuss - she seems to have really matured this summer.  She likes her free time and it seems to be enough of a motivator that she works hard in order to have as much free time as possible.  I started using planners for my older two so they can do a fair amount of their work independently (with me in the room to help as needed), and with the two of them starting their independent work first thing in the morning I can spend the first two hours with my youngest - twice as long as I did with my older two in first grade, but the bare minimum that will satisfy him.  My oldest still gets distracted easily and takes longer than necessary to do her assigned work, but I have a scheduled meeting with her four days a week to do subjects that need to be done one-on-one (R&S English, logic) and to discuss her literature and history, so she can take as long as she wants without it affecting my day.

 

I keep pinching myself to see if I am awake. :001_smile:

 

[bobbeym]

Is it okay to say that school sucks when it's only day 3?  'Cuz it really does right now.

 

DS is already whining about his writing assignment for history. I've only seen 2 sheets of paper turned in to be checked when there should be a lot more than that.  DD hasn't turned anything in either, but she gets a very slight break for Mon-Tue for an eye infection that she just got meds for last night. 

 

I have no idea WTH DH is doing all day long but it sure doesn't see like he's keeping the kids on task to get school done.  He knows that he needs to take the lead on this during the daytime. I work FT and am gone 6-9:30pm 3 nights out of the week. He's at home all week except for 1 evening.  So why is nothing done and turned in yet?

 

Tonight after church we have to review and discuss their logic assignments. Any bets on whether they'll have even done them?

[julikins]

We're finally getting into the groove.  The first week I purposefully started only half of the subjects, explaining their independent work and got them going on each subject.  The second week we were supposed to be doing school we had to travel suddenly. Then the third week we all came down with the cold, and mine ended up turning into pneumonia.  The fourth week, I was still recovering and we didn't get to our afternoon together block very often, and this week we've gotten to everything except for our read-aloud, but we are definitely starting to get into a groove.  My poor ds 3rd grade is having a rude awakening because he dawdles and doesn't pay attention and he lost privileges today.  Just part of character and discipline training that I often believe is more important than the actual school work.  Got to learn some responsibility.  But this year is actually going better than last year in the aspect that we are starting school on time every day.  That's an improvement for sure!