5Wizards Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 - Real Science Odyssey Chemistry with 3 kids, ages 6, 8, and 9 (mine plus 1 extra). They love it and are very happy with the "books" they are currently making on the Periodic Table, including pictures of most of the experiments. Everyone cheers when they hear it's time for science. - Read-aloud and writing assignments made up as we go along with the same 3 kids 2X/week. They enjoy sharing what they've written with each other (cheers for this as well) - Excellence in Literature (Intro) for my 13 year old. We don't follow it exactly as written and will be skipping a few books/adding a few of our own. However, I am very pleased with the essay questions and how far my daughter's ability to answer the question asked and provide support to back it up has improved. We are also having some really good discussions about the novels (done with another child). - Derek Owns Physical Science for the 13 year old. It's providing a good framework to work on certain needed skills as we approach high school for next year. - Outsourced classes (one for each child) have been nice. Overall, I'd say that this has been a pretty great year so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lots of little ducklings Posted February 11, 2015 Author Share Posted February 11, 2015 A big help has been the weather. It has been pretty warm the last couple weeks, which is extremely unusual. Although the saying of "in like a lamb and out like a lion" keeps running through my head, so we may not be so lucky the rest of winter. A few things have helped me get through Jan. and will hopefully carry me through Feb. One is the fact that my Dd 6 has finally finished level 1 of AAR!!! We have been working on it since the middle of kindergarten. Another thing that has helped is I have given myself permission to just use Singapore Math, so a nice break of just do the next thing, instead of trying to think of creative ways to teach concepts using a combo of cuirricula. Lastly I have been researching for next year, which I enjoy doing about this time of year, and reading through a lot of homeschool blogs. I know I am getting overly psyched for next year, because in my mind it will be the perfect year ;) , but that is okay to do once in a while right. All this and expecting a newborn, too? Bravo! and congratulations! (you are giving me baby envy… :001_smile: ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lea_lpz Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Evening read alouds of the American Girl series K---- my 5 year old loves it! We're using mfw k Doing US history over 2 years instead of 1---- much less stress Ditching our morning weekly riding lesson for an afternoon lesson so we have a catch up day or a hands on stuff light day afternoon tea with dd while little guys nap so we get to our Adventure core without a 5 year old and baby tagging along Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca in KY Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 We've had a couple of great areas this year. First, as another poster said, we dropped our co-op. OMG, I can't believe how much time we got back! We are doing Sonlight Core A this year and DS absolutely loves it. He forgets the readings are for school and constantly asks for more. Even in days when nothing goes well, Sonlight is a hit. I'm also loving MFW's revision of Serl's Primary Language Lessons. They're short, simple, incremental, and gentle. As an English major with little to no grammar instruction EVER, I do not want to drown my son in memorizing such boring stuff. In my opinion it's totally unnecessary. We will learn grammar through foreign language (because then there's a clear need for it) and possibly in junior high. Other wins? Switching from Singapore to CLE. Wow! I feel so much at home now, instead of feeling like I'm swimming through muddy water. We also switched from R&S spelling to AAS. DS definitely needs the hands-on, rules-based, review-oriented approach. It has revolutionized spelling for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Adopting a stray mama cat and her kitten. Seriously, DD is really really focused on learning how to train the kitten and feline behavior, so it's giving me an excuse to sit back a bit and relax, while she happily focuses on reading and learning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ewe Mama Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Language Lessons for Today by MFW Treasured Conversations Apples and Pears spelling for Simon. He finally gets it! Joy is working very independently, which we both love! All three boys are doing the same work at the same grade level (almost). This makes my life much easier. The only fly in the ointment is that they all do different spelling programs. Starting to weed out books that we will never use due to my teaching style and the kiddos' learning styles. Shelving all devices. They haven't touched an ipad or kindle since before Christmas. The children are finally playing with each other and being creative again. Making peg dolls is the most fun ever! The kids play with them all the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alte Veste Academy Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Library schooling. We are up and out of here, do 4 hours at the library in a private study room with nothing but a big table and chairs, 4x8 whiteboard, and a window facing some lovely landscaping. Then we take our lunches and spend an hour at the park. We are so gosh darn efficient, it's like a miracle. Afternoons are project time, kids' choice. This might be my perfect (if ephemeral) fix for some of the schedule chaos we have been experiencing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lea_lpz Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 ^^^ I may need to try this for our history / science readings. I am doing Bible and chapter books before bed, k read alouds before ds, 5, has his nap after lunch, but have no real set time for those readings for dd. Could work for us since in the morning the baby's up and playing and so that's something we could do before she has nap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamakelly Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 This has seriously been the best year ever for my dd. IEW level B has been a miracle for her writing, I"m shocked at what good quality writing she is turning in to me. Phonetic Zoo has made her spelling ability shoot through the roof. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soror Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 Library schooling. We are up and out of here, do 4 hours at the library in a private study room with nothing but a big table and chairs, 4x8 whiteboard, and a window facing some lovely landscaping. Then we take our lunches and spend an hour at the park. We are so gosh darn efficient, it's like a miracle. Afternoons are project time, kids' choice. This might be my perfect (if ephemeral) fix for some of the schedule chaos we have been experiencing. No library for us but since late fall we've been on a schedule and more efficient with our time to leave afternoons free as well. School was taking all day and while we were doing good things our life was not balanced. It was too much school for the ages of kids I have, so we've cut back and they have more free time. They will have to buckle down all day soon enough, until then school will not entirely take over our lives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momto2Cs Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 The biggest help for me this year is that my dyslexic dd is reading! She has turned into a "Mom, can I please read in bed a little longer?" kid at last. That's my bright spot this month! And it's good that we have math to suit both kiddos, and writing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan in TN Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 Not having a pre-schooler any more is definitely working for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soror Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 Not having a pre-schooler any more is definitely working for me. LOL, my youngest is only 2 but still way easier than last year. I was just fantasizing about how she will be even easier next year. The thought made me a little giddy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 Derek Owen's Physical Science is a hit, and most importantly, gets DONE by my DS12. He's working more slowly than I would like so this course will be more of a 1 1/2 year course, but that's okay. Beast Academy--finally my DS9 is beginning to understand that he CANT rush through math--we work side by side on this, and that helps him slow down. TabletClass Geometry along with IXL for review for my DS12....he'll be starting AoPS Counting and Probability in a couple of weeks, and I am curious to see if TabletClass has adequately prepared him. CAP Wrting and Rhetoric We dropped Latin, very reluctantly, to focus on Spanish. My kids just weren't able to spend enough time on Spanish. We are now spending an hour a day on Spanish, which is absolutely what we needed to do to learn it. We are using a mashup of BtB Spanish for my older, along with learnpracticalspanishonline.com with my guidance. As long as we don't slack, Spanish continues to go along well. CNN Student News Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forgiven Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 Library schooling. We are up and out of here, do 4 hours at the library in a private study room with nothing but a big table and chairs, 4x8 whiteboard, and a window facing some lovely landscaping. Then we take our lunches and spend an hour at the park. We are so gosh darn efficient, it's like a miracle. Afternoons are project time, kids' choice. This might be my perfect (if ephemeral) fix for some of the schedule chaos we have been experiencing. Do you schedule the private room for the whole year, or just hope it's available when you get there? There are private meeting rooms at our library, and I've been tempted to ask if we could use one for school. I wasn't sure if they'd allow it. Does it cost you to use it? Angie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alte Veste Academy Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 Do you schedule the private room for the whole year, or just hope it's available when you get there? There are private meeting rooms at our library, and I've been tempted to ask if we could use one for school. I wasn't sure if they'd allow it. Does it cost you to use it? Angie Our library has it so that you schedule the room online, and it's first come first serve. Just request it and it's yours. You can't schedule the whole year, as they have a window, but every day I go in and schedule for the next open date. So far it's been wide open as far out as they allow. Can't hurt to ask! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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