Anyone making changes for the second semester?

[vaquitita]

This is the time of year I always assess how things are going and what I want to change for the second half of the year...

 

Most things are going pretty well. I tried a block schedule for science and history this year and I'm liking it. We just finished science last week, a whole month later than I'd planned. Oh well. For December were going to do composer study. I need to pick something else light to do in January because we will be taking two weeks off for a trip, even just focus on books for the 6yo. The big kids still listen. Lol. Then in February we start SOTW 2.

 

The only thing I'm changing for next semester is dropping RLTL spelling for my 6&9 yo kids. Switching the 9yo to spelling you see and bumping the 6yo up a level in SYS. Good thing he has a little brother who can use his barely used SYS level A book! His MUS primer book too. Lol. I didn't realize he was ready for first grade work. :D

Eta: oh, thought of another change. I decided to pick AAR back up for my 9yo. i dropped it for this year because we were going to use RLTL. But that hasn't worked out, so back to AAR. I have a love/hate relationship with AAR. Lol

 

Since I'm done thinkin about next semester, I find myself starting to think about next year. Lol. But no, must wait till February. Planning for next year is how I get thru the February blues. ;)

Edited December 18, 2016 by vaquitita

[mom2kando]

Switching back to primary mathematics from math mammoth...adding more read aloudsome I hope.

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

We had a really great first semester.  I would say the main "changes" I need to make are more about getting back on track within things I started to let slide towards the end of the semester.  

 

I also plan on adding in a focused diagramming study and I need to invent a form of four level analysis that will work in French similar to MCT's for English.  

 

So that's the excitement!  

[alisoncooks]

We'll move on to Middle Ages after the new year -- just finishing up Ancient Rome.

 

Need to figure out how to add in science - I'm failing miserably at that this year. Geography, too.

 

Might add in grammar and writing, but I'm not sure WHAT. Which is why we're not currently doing grammar and writing.

 

Reading and spelling are going great. Math is so-so, but I don't want to change.

[MyLife]

We are switching from A Child's Geography: Explore the Holy Land to Legends and Leagues.

 

I would love to switch science, but I will wait 'til next school year.

 

Everything else is going well.

[Insertcreativenamehere]

We are dropping Zaner-Bloser GUM and going back to CLE Language Arts for my 4th and 6th graders.  

Adding CLE math back in along with Beast Academy for my 4th grader. 

[Jess4879]

We already replaced our literature program.  Everything else is going well, except for grammar.  We are trying Winston this year and it just isn't sticking.  What we are covering right now should be review, but the kids are getting so many wrong.  It's just discouraging. I set it aside and pulled out an EiW that I have, but my middle kiddo really dislikes it.  She has an aversion to DVD lessons. I have no idea why.  I am debating about pulling out Fix It! again...but we dumped it last year because I didn't like it either.  *sigh*  We had the most success when we were using BJU grammar, but it's long, I don't want to cover grammar every single year and it's so expensive to buy multiple levels.  If anyone knows of a magic solution to my dilemma, please chime in!   

Edited December 18, 2016 by Jess4879

[silver]

I'm pretty sure I'm switching one of my kids from MM as the main curriculum with BA as a supplement to BA as the main curriculum. I'm going to keep MM as a supplement until I'm sure it's working, then I'll probably drop it and just do BA.

[Tumbatoo]

I switched DS 12 from AoPS Pre-Algebra to Math Mammoth 7. He only had a little left in AoPS, but was having trouble recalling some of it. We're going to go to Dolciani Algebra (I think) next instead of AoPS.

 

I'm also considering switching Dd 9 from BA as supplement with Singapore as main curriculum, to BA as primary.

[ondreeuh]

9th grader finished algebra, earth science, civics, and leadership! :hurray: We are moving on to geometry, and he is taking forensic science and art next semester on-site. I am going back to doing novel studies for English (we tried using a textbook anthology of short stories, but it's just not enough depth). We are dropping world geography because we really do not like the book & assignments. He will be replacing that slot with psychology and I will just give him a half credit for geo (unless I have him do Mapping the World with Art for another half credit). He is continuing to do PE (treadmill when weather is bad, outdoor stuff when it's nice). So the only thing that looks the same as last semester is PE.

 

My 3rd grader is mostly continuing on with the same stuff from first semester. Once he finishes grammar, we will start Latin. He will finish his math in a couple of months unless I stretch it out with lots of supplements. He has a break in his outdoor school program, so he will try a JAM Lego class this winter and maybe a session of swim lessons. He finished up musical theater, and he will start art and robotics classes on-site. Battle of the Books finishes up in February.

Edited December 18, 2016 by ondreeuh

[HomeAgain]

We are adding French (his request) and introducing Latin as we do a unit on Rome.

[lexi]

We just switched to a block schedule for our group science and history time. That's working well so we'll continue that.

 

My 5th grader just finished Landry Chemistry so we're going to try BJU science 6 for the spring semester (and the summer).

 

We've been doing Phonics Road. But none of my kids are natural spellers and their spelling is just not very good. We might try some All about Spelling for a while.

 

My oldest will do another Landry class this spring. It's a storytelling/writing class.

 

I think I might do Real Science 4 Kids Biology with my 3rd and 2nd graders. We've been doing Apologia Anatomy (as a read aloud). Or maybe we'll do Nancy Larson 2. I have no idea!

 

I'm still trying to squeeze art into our schedule. Sigh.

 

Everything else is staying the same I think. Things are working pretty well.

[3girls4me]

Sadly, we are dropping our history program and I ordered HOD Resurrection to Reformation last night. We used HOD last year and my then 5th grader learned and retained more than she ever had, but she's a slow worker and there are so many fun projects that school took SO long. So I went with something different this year. I've not loved what we are using but tried to make it work, all the while wishing I had gotten HOD. I was telling DH this last night and he gave me the go ahead to just buy it! So......we'll be so behind but we are excited to start back up using this in January. :)

[lindsey]

Changes for the 3rd grader...I want to add either typing, or logic. He LOVES logic puzzles and such, but I have no idea what kind of program to try. Maybe he is young for keyboarding? 

 

For the 1st grader, I am thinking of starting spelling. He started WWE 1 this past week and liked it a lot, felt very important with his new program. 

 

Also, I am a science FAILURE, so we really need to get our act together and do...anything. ::shuffle:: 

[...................]

Yes, I am going to try my son out in Derek Owens math. We will give it a two week try, and the material he will start with will be mostly new, so it'll be a good trial.  If it seems to be wrking, we will dump Saxon and stick with it.  If not, we will keep Saxon and hire a tutor.  A tutor would be a lot more expensive so it's not my first choice.  :)

[SilverMoon]

Not curricula itself really. Structure of our days and how we use the curricula perhaps. Some things need a little more streamlined. Others need condensed. We did not get off to a fabulous start this school year. Then the family as a whole was just worn down and half burned out so I shelved everything and called it holiday break really early. (This was caused by life in general; not homeschooling specific.) I'll nip and tuck what I can to make sure that doesn't bog next summer down too hard.

 

The 11th grader on the other hand wants a LOT of change in January. Like upheaval and sudden direction change for the next few years at least. We've crunched numbers and made decisions together. This can work.

[CadenceSophia]

I made almost a 100% overhaul after the fist month this year, with all changes actually going really well so far. Not too much to switch up after Christmas but I am going to add in Touch Type Read and Spell for my older two and MCT Island for at least one.

 

I also need to get a handle on the computer extras because the kids are fighting over our one computer wanting to do Reflex Math, Prodigy, Code.org, and Mystery Science.

[Another Lynn]

Not curricula itself really. Structure of our days and how we use the curricula perhaps. Some things need a little more streamlined. Others need condensed. We did not get off to a fabulous start this school year. Then the family as a whole was just worn down and half burned out so I shelved everything and called it holiday break really early. (This was caused by life in general; not homeschooling specific.) I'll nip and tuck what I can to make sure that doesn't bog next summer down too hard.

 

The 11th grader on the other hand wants a LOT of change in January. Like upheaval and sudden direction change for the next few years at least. We've crunched numbers and made decisions together. This can work.

 

Hope you'll blog about the changes sometime.  I love to read what you're doing.  And  :grouphug:   for the fall semester.  Hope your changes bring a refreshing start after Christmas.   :)

[Soror]

This is my year of trying not to change. BUT things happen and sometimes change is needed.

 

A month in I had to change dd1's spelling as she needed more intensive work and she quickly decided she didn't like the science she picked out- she went to Mystery Science as I had a free trial.

 

DS has faired pretty well, the only big change has been Math- I switched it half-way through the year. He finished JAG so is currently working on Teaching the Classics and after that(3 more weeks) he will move into Ceasar's English for that slot. Our main program has been BYL but we just use Geography, Lit. And World Religions. I had to switch up the scheduling but nearly all of the book choices have been a good fit.

 

DD1 has switched Math half-way through the year, the complaints got louder and louder. She is back to Horizons. She is continuing Logic of English Foundations for Language Arts and is close to finishing the series. We added in WWE for writing when she finished LoEC as I don't care for most of the writing activities in LoE D, she is doing it double time(at this level it still doesn't take long).

[cottonmama]

Most of my changes are gradual transitions -- either things we have already started to implement, or things that we won't begin right away. 

 

1.  Switching to BA after we finish our current Singapore book

 

2. Scheduling -- checklist instead of a block schedule for me, and a student planner for Savannah's reading assignments

 

3.  Fewer worksheets.   (We have been doing math, handwriting/copywork, and a rotating schedule of Red Hot Root Words, Mad Libs, Perplexors, Primarily Logic, and KISS Grammar.  It has been doable but has taken away from other things I want to focus on.)

 

4. Scheduling in our AO free reads.  They don't get done otherwise.

 

5.  Regular reading lessons with Cheyenne.

 

I had been considering starting Indie on first grade mid-year, but he doesn't seem to be ready for that kind of structure yet.  So we wait.  :-)

 

I'm also hoping to use some lessons/ideas from Notice and Note for literature discussion, but I am still reading and really don't know what I expect that change to look like.

 

Edited December 19, 2016 by cottonmama

[mama25angels]

I will be but I'm still trying work out the kinks.

[2_girls_mommy]

Normal semester changes here. My high schooler did a semester of Logic. I had considered doing the next level for this semester and giving a full credit. Instead I think I will leave it at a half credit and use that time for her to expand on some other things to create another half credit (art or music or PE, things she does anyway, but will have more time for. We will see what pans out of that time for another credit.)

 

Also, our co-op is going through a tough time. We are halfway through the year and no longer have a place to meet. Long story. So we are in transition, but also halfway through a couple of for credit classes for the high schoolers. So as we look for a more permanent place, we will need to meet in the transition period for shorter times just to get through the have to have classes (latin and science,) but do our art and music that they were doing there, here. Which could leave us more time at home on Fridays since we won't have a full day out. So... I am waiting to see how that goes. We may be able to institute some things I was planning for next fall as far as a "morning basket" kind of thing as a fun Friday to cover some of that. Still up in the air, as we are looking into some churches to meet at.

[CadenceSophia]

I need to invent a form of four level analysis that will work in French similar to MCT's for English.

 

Ooohh..When you succeed, please do share.

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

Ooohh..When you succeed, please do share.

 

It's my Christmas break project, so keep your eyes peeled for my results.  I'll post them to the Bilingual board probably.  

[SeaConquest]

We moved in September, and went on a belated vacation, so we got a late start to our year. I've been struggling to "catch up" ever since. We might even have to do some school over the summer.  :scared:

 

BA4 has been slow going this year because my DS still didn't know his times tables cold. Computing the multiplication was using up a lot of his brain power, which didn't leave much left for learning things like exponents. So, we took a detour to shore up his math facts with Timez Attack, which I highly recommend. Hopefully, we are back on track now, going into long division.  :willy_nilly:

 

MCT Town, WWE3, and W&R Fable have all been going well, as has my DS's lit class at Athena's. We may get to TC this year, or just shelve it until next year. We have been hit or miss on New American Cursive. I really need to start making copywork with the software.

 

History of US on audio has been such a hit that we haven't been doing as much with CA history as I had hoped. As the time periods coalesce, I am hoping to do more fun CA history field trips. We did go to a gold mine in Julian, so it hasn't all been a bust.

 

We dropped Megawords because I made my DS a deal: if he won the spelling bee at his charter school, he could drop spelling from our homeschool forever. And he did it!

 

GSWL is going super well. We will probably finish it in the next month, and move onto Minimus Secundus and Latin Prep.

 

GSWF is also a hit. Just have to figure out what to do next (likely SYRWTLF and Online G3).

 

Hebrew has always been my son's least favorite subject, so we are plodding along at a glacial pace through Shalom Ivrit and Memrise.

 

We bit off more than we can chew with Athena's physics. I need to somehow get us caught up, but I am not optimistic. I should have just continued unschooling science, but he begged me for this class. Sadly, it is just too much with all his other activities. 

 

He's got one module left to finish in Youth Digital's Mod Design class, which has been a hit. I promised him that he could sign up for JAM's online class on how to be a You Tube gaming star after he was done with Youth Digital.

 

 

[scbusf]

We already replaced our literature program.  Everything else is going well, except for grammar.  We are trying Winston this year and it just isn't sticking.  What we are covering right now should be review, but the kids are getting so many wrong.  It's just discouraging. I set it aside and pulled out an EiW that I have, but my middle kiddo really dislikes it.  She has an aversion to DVD lessons. I have no idea why.  I am debating about pulling out Fix It! again...but we dumped it last year because I didn't like it either.  *sigh*  We had the most success when we were using BJU grammar, but it's long, I don't want to cover grammar every single year and it's so expensive to buy multiple levels.  If anyone knows of a magic solution to my dilemma, please chime in!   

 

Khan Academy recently added Grammar. You could try that. I haven't looked at it at all, but I keep meaning to.

[HS Mom in NC]

Yes.  Starting in January she'll attend an enrichment program for homeschooled kids at a public school on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:30-3:00.  She's taking 6 hands on classes:

Lego Robotics

Teens in Teaching

Intro to Coding

Logic Builders

Caravan Geography

Origami

She needed more time with other kids (no neighborhood kids near her age and we go to a very small church) and the local homeschool options weren't frequent enough to suit her extroverted personality. Not all the homeschool co-ops here are as rigorous as I would like and they don't cover subjects I want her to take. 

I will continue to do core subjects on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays like Language Arts: Reading, Writing and Literature; Math; History; and Science. We'll carry on as planned in those subjects except for Science.  She's not a workbooky kind of kid so we'll not do the workbook for book 1 in the Story of Science series, Aristotle Leads the Way.  We'll just do the readings, discussion and hands on projects listed in the teacher's guide. 

We still have our monthly homeschool support group and our twice a month homeschool art class with friends as usual.

[hollyhock]

For my K-8 crowd, I'm making a few changes. We're going to try MOH to see if it makes history more interesting than what we're currently using. I bought some different logic puzzles for 12yo because he's halfway through Perplexors D and they're frustrating him. And 10yo is going to finish LLATL Purple ridiculously early because we're skipping a lot of stuff so I think when he's done I'll have him do some of ILL because it's free. :D

 

For my 9th grader, I think I have already changed up every single subject of his this year... but specifically after the new year, I'm going to have him try Diana Waring history, which we've used before, because he is just not enjoying Notgrass.

[Mommy to monkeys]

Yes, we've made changes. I didn't even realize how much of a total overhaul it was till I started going through it in my head.

Math is the same. My 8th graders science is the same. I put everyone together in SOTW 4. I read that aloud at family hour and then give everyone books on their level. That family reading hour followed by quiet reading hour is our constant. I let a lot of the other things go, so I could give each child all the hand holding they need for writing. And it's helped SO much. My oldest especially is coming along amazingly with his writing. No regrets in focusing on that for awhile.

[Shoes+Ships+SealingWax]

Continuing RightStart & Logic of English. An emergency overseas trip means we'll only be home 2mo before taking our scheduled month of vacation in March. I'll probably end up bringing RS B along with us, but will save LOE D for summer / fall.

 

Next semester I need to work on adding our science / culture / art rotation back in again. The 3 R'S started taking longer & I was stubborn about breaking up lessons, so that's all we were doing for a while. Also, DS will be starting Forest School once a week, which I am super excited about!! He'll spend 2hrs out mucking around with a bunch of other kids, rain or shine, while I have time to myself!

[Clemsondana]

We've always done Growing with Grammar because it's quick, my kids were willing to do it without complaining, and it addressed the details of where to put quotation marks and commas. To help my reluctant 'writes like an engineer' kid, we added MCT's series late this fall. We flew through the first one, which was below grade level (my younger child will use it in a year or 2) and will be starting Town level in January. I think that the vocab that comes with it will replace wordly wise, and I'm planning to skip sections of our usual grammar to avoid duplication.

[...................]

Apparently all of us with kids in Landry are making unexpected unwanted changes.

[ikslo]

Apparently all of us with kids in Landry are making unexpected unwanted changes.

:grouphug:

[Ruthie in MS]

We found out during the summer that we're going to have a new little addition to the family so my super awesome, Type A plans for the year got pushed to the side.

Little one is due at the end of January so I make no promises how much school will be done in the month if January or how soon we will get back to it after baby arrives.

Changes for next semester: we're bringing back read alouds!! We have missed that. I haven't been able to do that because of my breathlessness.

 

DD12: She's been using Easy Grammar grade 5 but she's just not getting it! I purchased this to be able to do less hand-holding!

 

DD10: I have got to get off my butt and do science with her. Neither one of us are excited about what we're using: Christian Kids Explore Biology. I might just use Cindy West's NaturExplorers that I already own coupled with library books.

I need to add back in reading comprehension using FIAR books or something.

 

DD5: I thought I would be doing more kindergarten work with her but we are still stuck on learning our letters and she can't seem to hear the difference in the letter sounds so we will shelf the learning-to-read plan until fall or whenever she's ready.

Edited December 30, 2016 by Ruthie in MS

[ReadingMama1214]

We're continuing in OPGTR with DD5. If we continue to do our 1 lesson a day, she will finish the book by April. We seem to be going through it quickly right now and yesterday she did 2.5 lessons! But I imagine we will slow down once we hit more complicated multi syllable words.

 

We're adding in AAS 1 in the new year. I'll use this for copywork too and to work on handwriting if she needs. She writes pretty well but could use more practice with sizing and spacing and such.

 

My youngest turns 3 soon and today we started AAR Pre-reading. We just did the chart and the story. He's not into crafts and I need to order a new student materials pack. We will take it slowly. He knows some letter names and sounds,l and can spontaneously rhyme, but I imagine he'll go slower with the phonics activities such as rhyming and such. He will rhyme on his own but not when you ask him to. We shall see. No real plans for him except learning through play.

[scbusf]

We are adding in Trail Guide to World Geography. I ditched Biblioplan a little while ago, and we've been doing a little of this and that for history. I finally have Mystery of History 4, so we will do a little of that along with Trail Guide.

[Sherry in OH]

My fifth grader will probably switch math programs.  I plan to have him look at some options and take placement tests next week.  If he chooses to try something else, I will have him complete selected units in his current program while we wait for the new math to arrive.  

 

Both boys will be switching language arts focus to writing for the second semester.  They will also start a new science topic.   Otherwise, we’ll pick up where we left off before break.

[Cake and Pi]

We are about 60 "school" days behind schedule because of life and it's complications, so I'm stripping our subjects down to the basics.  We'll now be working through summer, too.

 

We just got BookShark and it's exactly what *I* needed right now.  Everything's all planned out with scripts and boxes to check.  We're spending a lot more time snuggled up on the couch together again, which is another plus.

 

We'll continue with Beast Academy for DS#1 and RightStart and/or MEP (depending on his mood) for DS#3.  DS#1 is loving MCT, so that'll stay for his LA, and DS#3 is starting BookShark's LA.  They like Mystery Science once a week.  And that's it.  Everything else has been cut, probably until after summer.

[visitor]

We are going to add French Skoldo and English Spelling . I am still thinking if I am going to introduce Lego Wedo this year or next year

Edited December 31, 2016 by visitor