Luci ~ 2nd Grade

Luci will be starting 2nd grade next week. As hard as it is to believe that my oldest is beginning 8th grade, it's even harder to accept that my last 'baby' is already this big. Luci loves doing her school work. There isn't much that gives her a reason to whine. She made significant strides in reading this past year and now she's reading pretty much anything I hand her. She can't yet handle longer chapter books, but does great with readers up through about a level 3 reader. She loves to write short stories, poems, or narrate her drawings. However, she usually needs a lot of help with her spelling. Although it's not her favorite subject, she doesn't mind math work, especially since we switched over to Singapore Math for the last part of her first grade year.

Here is a look at Luci's 2nd grade curriculum plans:

Math: Luci grew weary of math worksheets last year and started to groan at the mere mention of math.  We were using a popular Christian curriculum for math at the time. I had a couple of Singapore Math books on hand, leftover from the boys, so I decided to give that a try with her. She worked quickly through level 1A in just a few weeks and then moved on to level 1B. We'll pick up where we left off in 1B and then continue with the next level. She likes that they are straightforward, allowing her to master one topic before moving on.

Science: Luci and her brother are moving into the second Zoology book in the Young Explorer's Series this year, Zoology 2: Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day. We had so much fun completing Zoology 1 last year, that it was an easy decision to move into the second book this year. Luci has the accompanying Zoology 2 Notebook that she will be working in as we work our way through the text. Luci loves the projects, the hands on learning through making mini-books, and the experiments.

Language Arts: Luci will be using a variety of curriculum pieces to round out her language arts program. She will be using Sonlight's Language Arts for Grade 2 Readers along with the Level 2 reader package from Sonlight. I have a feeling that with as much progress as she's made in reading lately, that she will breeze through these level 2 readers at a much faster pace than planned. If so, that's fine because I already have the next level readers as well. She can go just as fast as she wants. For spelling this year Luci will be using All About Spelling, beginning with Level 1 and moving through at whatever pace she sets. It looks like All About Spelling will also be a terrific program for building phonics skills. Luci will also be working through  books 4, 5, and 6 of the Explode the Code series, and A Reason for Handwriting.

Bible & History: Luci's Bible and history this year will come from Sonlight's Core B (Formerly Core 1), Intro to World History part 1.

Electives: Luci is going to be taking a Theater Class this year along with other elementary age students. She loves being in the spotlight, and is a bit of a ham already, so this class will be perfect for her and I know she is going to have fun with it.

Ben ~ 5th Grade

Ben is 10 years old now and will be in 5th grade this year. If you know Ben very well, then you know he is an absolute sweet heart who thrives with attention and routines. He will do anything you ask him to do, as long as he knows ahead of time and isn't surprised by it. It's his need for this structure that helps keeps me on my own routine. Ben doesn't like a lot of frills or extras in his school days. He does not generally like hands-on crafts or spelling games and such. Just tell him what you expect and he will move steadily forward one subject at a time. He is greatly motivated by the promise of one-on-one time and board or card games with the family (very competitive!).

Here is a detailed look at Ben's 5th grade year:

Math: Ben will be using Saxon Math again this year, Saxon 6/5 with Dive CD. Ben does well with Saxon math. He enjoys watching the lesson on the DIVE CD and he is usually able to move right into his work without any help. Ben is assigned to do all of the lesson practice problems (usually 3-6 problems in that section) and every third problem in the mixed practice section. If I notice any problem areas I go back and assign more problems, but this is usually not an issue with Ben. Math is his strongest subject.

Science: Ben and his sister are moving into the second Zoology book in the Young Explorer's Series this year, Zoology 2: Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day. We had so much fun completing Zoology 1 last year, that it was an easy decision to move into the second book this year. Ben has the accompanying Zoology 2 Notebook that he will be working in as we work our way through the text. Even though Ben is not a fan of crafts and hands-on activities, he does enjoy the "try this" and experiment activities in this science program.

Language Arts: This year one of my primary goals with Ben in the area of language arts is to develop good writing skills. He is going to be working through the Institute for Excellence in Writing's All Things Fun and Fascinating: Writing Lessons in Structure and Style.  I've been preparing for this (and Gavin's IEW course) by watching the Teaching Writing With Structure and Style seminar by Andrew Pudewa. For grammar Ben will be working through Easy Grammar, grade 5. Easy Grammar is a new program for us this year, but I think Ben will enjoy the straightforward - no frills - approach to grammar. He will once again be using Wordly Wise (book 4) for vocabulary, Spelling Power for spelling, and A Reason for Handwriting.

Bible/History/Literature: Ben is going to be completing Sonlight's Core E (formerly Core 4): Intro to American History part 2. We are doing this along with Core 100 so I am modifying the core slightly to make a combined American History program for both boys. For Ben, this simply means that instead of hearing readings from Landmark History and The Story of the USA, he is listening to readings from the Core 100 spine, Joy Hakim's books: A History of US.  The Bible and reader portions of the core are planned as written in the Sonlight schedule.

Electives: Ben will continue karate training this year. Despite major changes in the dojo (his Sensei moved and as a result the karate school closed), he has continued training under another Sensei and is working towards earning his brown belt, and then his black belt. Ben will also be working on improving his keyboarding skills (using Typing Instructor).

Gavin ~ 8th Grade

It's hard to believe that this kid is 13 years old, starting 8th grade, and beginning to earn high school credits! Where on earth did the time go? When we started our homeschool journey he was just three years old and I was so filled with doubt as to whether I could pull this 'homeschool' thing off. Here we are, 10 years later, embarking on new territory and I once again wonder if I can pull it off!

Gavin's always had an interest in building things, understanding how things work, and why they work they way they do. He wants to become a mechanical engineer, possibly for the US Military designing weapons and vehicles. He also loves studying history, especially American history. It is with these things in mind that I have designed Gavin's 8th grade curriculum.

Here is a detailed look at Gavin's 8th grade curriculum:

Math: Gavin overcame a significant gap after losing ground with Teaching Textbooks in 5th and 6th grade. We spent the summer last year using Alek's math to cover what amounted to nearly a year's gap. This year he completed Saxon 8/7 with Pre-Algebra. While initially his average was lower than I liked, we made a few changes and brought his final quarter average up by a significant amount. He is ready for algebra now, but I feel woefully inadequate to teach this subject to him knowing that he needs such a strong math background for his future plans. Because of this, Gavin is going to be taking an algebra course from a local math teacher who offers high school math classes to homeschoolers. I am so grateful that this opportunity was available to us. Gavin will be attending this algebra class on Tuesday and Thursday mornings each week and is using the Prentice Hall Algebra I text.

Science: This year Gavin will be studying Physical Science using the Apologia text: Exploring Creation with Physical Science. We are using Sonlight's schedule for this text. Gavin is expected to keep a detailed science notebook containing all of his experiment write-ups, vocabulary, and study questions.

Language Arts: Gavin completed Institute for Excellence in Writing: Student Writing Intensive B this past year. I have to say, that was probably one of the best decisions we've made in our homeschool years. Gavin made incredible progress in his writing skills this year and I was very impressed. He loved the teaching style of Andrew Pudewa and the writing techniques proved to be just what Gavin needed to get those words out of his head and on to paper. We will continue with IEW this year, using Character Based Writing Lessons. This program will expand on what Gavin learned last year. The only difference is this year I'll be doing the teaching instead of the having him watch DVD's. For grammar, Gavin will be completing Easy Grammar Ultimate, grade 8. We will once again use Wordly Wise for vocabulary.

Bible/History/Literature: Last year we began a study of American history by combining Sonlight's Core 3 (now called core D) with Sonlight's Core 100. This allowed me to teach American history to both of the boys simultaneously. It worked amazingly well and this year we are continuing with that plan, completing the 2nd half of Core 100 along with Sonlight's Core 4 (now called Core E). This provides Gavin with Bible study, history, and a great selection of literature. Gavin is expected to keep a history notebook with answers to study questions from his history and literature readings.

Electives: Gavin will continue studying piano this year under the direction of Susan Walker. This will be his second year of piano. He also continues to develop his talent on the guitar even though he is no longer taking formal lessons. For high school credit, Gavin will also be taking a Spanish I class. He will be taking a class, along with other homeschoolers, under the direction of a Spanish speaking homeschool mom. I'm excited that he has this opportunity to study a foreign language from someone who has the experience that she does!

 

Our Homeschool Room

Our homeschool space changes from year to year to suit our needs. Some years we have used student desks, some years we've spread out into the family room, but always, we've centered our homeschool around the family dining table. A few years ago my dad helped us to build and install a wall of desks and cabinets in our dining room to help contain the endless amount of books and supplies we have. As our inventory has increased we've had to expand beyond our cabinets. Here's a look at our homeschool room as it looks for the 2011-2012 school year.

Our wall system was built using a combination of cabinets purchased from a home improvement store and custom built desk/bookshelf combinations. My dad is a cabinet maker and he put it all together seamlessly so that it all looks like one fluid unit. 

We use the right side for our desktop, which is used by the kids and my husband. The shelves hold two of the Sonlight Cores we are currently using. 

The left side of the cabinet is my space.

Behind cabinet doors and in our drawers you'll find miscellaneous supplies, games we use in our school, homeschool catalogs and our science supply kits. 

The corner of the room is home to the wall maps, charts, dry erase board and printer stand. 

While the opposite corner of the room is our chalkboard, file boxes for completed work, bookshelf where we keep our 'workboxes', and other books and supplies we use on a daily basis.

And just outside of the room is our rolling cart full of assorted types of paper, our good art supplies (water colors, pastels, oil pastels, sketch pencils, etc...), card games, and coloring books.

I hope you enjoyed the tour of our homeschool space! 

Miss Me?

Obviously, for me, taking a break from school means taking a break from my blog, too. I think after being on the TOS Crew last year I kind of needed a break from blogging. But, summer's coming to a close and as we prepare to start our new school year, I'm preparing to start a new year of homeschool blogging. I have some new goals for my blog as well, which you'll see over the next few weeks.

I am more than ready for school to start back. For a mom who thrives on routines and plans, summer is hard! I don't do summer break very well! We officially start school next week, August 1st.

In the meantime, I'd like to share a few photos from our summer. It really wasn't much of a summer to speak of; lots of planning & working on my part, lots of reading & video gaming for the kids. Not the ideal summer for most, however the kids needed the down time and we do have a vacation planned for September (booking off-season saves major dollars!).

We had a couple of art days...

A few park days...

A lemonade stand day...

Lots of library days...

A few family cook-out days...

Some stinkin' hot days (please note, that right after this photo was taken the temperature climbed to 103!)...

And a Neshoba County Fair Day...

Good-bye summer...Hello 2011-2012 school year :)