I haven't talked about what we're doing in school lately, so just for my own enjoyment:-), in the words of Simon Cowell, let me be a little "indulgent" today.
With SusieQ, we are currently studying Africa, Kenya specifically. We have read books about Africa, cooked African food, learned the names of all those countries (which, by the way, are LOTS different then when I learned geography - amazing how the map changes in just a few years), made our own versions of African art, etc etc. Next week, we'll move on to Asia. Can't wait! I tell ya, I've learned more this year about geography than I ever did in all my years of school.
We are also pressing in to finish up with grammar, spelling, handwriting, and math. I understand a little bit the end of the year panic that school teachers seem to feel. We too, slacked off during the holidays, and it has left us scurrying some. Fortunately, it's my school, so we get to finish when I decide we're done :-) How great is that!
Overall, it's been a great year. My goals for this year have been accomplished. My daughter has built a much more firm foundation in her knowledge of math. She has rediscovered some of her love of learning, and is building confidence. She also has friends, that love and accept her for who she is. That alone makes all the hard stuff worth it for me. I'm excited to see what next year holds for us.
Little guy is doing great as well. He is soaking up the knowledge faster than I can teach it. This week, we are learning about Kangaroos. You should have seen his look of amazement yesterday when we measured how far we could jump, and compared it with how far a kangaroo can jump. :-) We've read lots of books, both fiction and non, about kangaroos and other marsupials. We've made some art projects with kangaroos. We've looked at maps of Austrailia and learned some geography terms. So much fun. He is also doing great with reading. He is getting better and better at blending vowel sounds with consonant sounds and reading them as whole words instead of sounding out each letter. He has started trying to read words EVERYWHERE we go. Signs on the highway, restaurant menus, you name it. I am so thankful to have had this year to teach my son. I cannot imagine his wiggly and somewhat out of control body in a classroom, sitting in a desk. His mind is definitely ready to learn all these things, but I tell ya, his little body is NOT ready for that yet.
Next year, we're pretty much sticking with the same curriculum. We use My Father's World as a base. It's a unit study curriculum, beginning with a year study of geography, to provide a framework for the following years' study of chronological history. We'll be doing the first grade program with little guy, and the ancient history (creation to the Greeks) with SusieQ. Math is Math-U-See all the way, baby! :-) We're going to try Latin with Latina Christianaagain and see if we like it better next year. Language arts is where we're switching things around quite a bit. I'm going with Intermediate Language Lessons, which is a Charlotte Mason type grammar/composition book written and used in the early 1900's. We'll be doing writing with a book called Writing Strands, and spelling will be Spelling Power. I can't wait to get new stuff! The day curriculum arrives for a homeschooler is better than Christmas. :-)
posted by Amanda in NC @ 6:28 AM
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