Back to School

Now that I'm finally done with all of the posts about our trip to Ethiopia I can start updating on the goings on around here.

The Monday after we returned from Ethiopia we started back to home schooling.  Mooky will "officially" be doing kindergarten this year and I'll continue working on preschool type stuff {though not exactly structured} with Pumpkin.

Yup, I'm homeschooling these children and kindergarten is totally spelled wrong up there.  I'm just gonna laugh it off and move on.

I know I always like to hear what other families are using for curriculum so I thought I'd share what our final choices were and what I think of them so far.

Mooky:

Math: Math U See -  I chose this because it has a good hands on aspect to it and has been touted as working well for all children as it is passed down through the family.  The "primer" level is meant to introduce children to many different subject areas.  So far it has been super easy {counting, writing numerals, coloring in boxes} so we are flying through the lessons.  I think that will work out well because I know there will be a point {telling time} when we need to spend a little more time on some lessons.

Working on some math while enjoying a storm.

Language Arts: The Phonics Road to Spelling and Reading - I chose this because of its emphasis on spelling {obviously spelling is not MY strong point}.  I knew it would move fast and so far it has.  Week one and two was learning to write all of the letters.  Luckily we focused on that last year using Handwriting Without Tears or the first two weeks would have been very stressful.   I'm sure this one will get a review at the end of the year with my final thoughts.  I'm wishing for a little more structure and directions in the teachers manual.  It comes with a DVD, but you have to write everything down.  I think I would have preferred written instructions.

Science: - Apologia's Exploring Creation with Botany - I knew this would be a little above her head because any of the elementary curriculum could be chosen to do any year.  It is very technical and she says it sounds like "blah, blah, blah" {lots of Latin}.  We just finished the first lesson today {each lesson takes over a week or two}.  I think I will write up a simple test to make sure she is getting the concepts even if she can't tell me all the Latin words from memory.  Hopefully this book will hold her interest more as time goes on because we will be growing lots of things.  Today we finished lesson one by building a light box to grow our seeds in.

Light box

Learning about taxonomy {how scientists categorize plants} with shoes.

Bible/History/Geography: - Sonlight Core A - I'm am really liking our Sonlight curriculum this year.  The read-alouds seem good and we are getting some good history.  The Mother Goose and poems are never our favorite, but they aren't quite as annoying as last year.  I like the timeline and the map activities.  She will have a good understanding of where a lot of things are by the end of the year.  The amount of activities is also good...for me.  Mooky wishes there were more, but I just don't have the time to do constant activities.  I know you can buy a c.d. with more activity ideas, but I did not since I don't even have a c.d. drive on my computer.  The weekly Bible verse that starts with each letter of the alphabet is also syncing up nicely with what I'm doing with Pumpkin.

Painting using berries like some of the early people.

Pumpkin:

She sits in on all of the Sonlight and the extra things we do like prayer, pledge, and calendar work.  My goal for her by the end of the year is to know her entire alphabet {she was close last year}, know the basic sounds each letter makes, start being able to write most letters, begin to understand rhyming and possibly number recognition through 20.  There will be lots of other motor and life skills that we will work on through the year as well.

Mostly I've printed off worksheets from the following websites for her.  It's really a mash up so I won't go through and provide a link to each worksheet.  We are reading the Chicka Chicka Boom Boom books to go along with it and putting each letter or number up on our own tree as she learns them.  I especially like review worksheets.

http://www.1plus1plus1equals1.net/2012/05/alphabet-printables-more/

http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/letter-of-the-week

Egyptian Collar Necklaces

This week we will start back to homeschool P.E.  They are kicking it off at the local skating rink which we are very excited about.  I'm hoping to meet some more people with the group this year, but that may be a little difficult the first few months with Baby Boy hopefully coming home soon.

I'm sure I could use prayers for our homeschooling as we figure out how Baby Boy will fit into the mix.  The past few weeks have been hectic with swim lessons, friends in town, and birthdays.  We intend to slow down quite a bit when he is home so that should help some.