Monday, August 23, 2010

First day of school!

It's the first day of school today!!!
The kids are excited and so am I. As much as I have enjoyed summer, I do crave routine and a predictable schedule. I'm looking forward to getting a semi-regular routine down again and having some fun with our new curriculum.

Henry (age 7) is beginning the second grade today. He is starting the "My Father's World" curriculum (for Bible, history, geography, music, art) and we just love it. He enjoys Singapore math (with the exception of word problems, which just seem to elude his understanding), so we're continuing on with that this year, and "Spelling by Sound and Structure" and "First Language Lessons" round out the rest of language arts. His favorite part of today was setting up our timeline that we'll be adding to throughout this year. I had him draw pictures of every member of the family and put them up in the appropriate places. :)

Jonah (age5) will be working on the ABC series from Rod and Staff. These books are gentle, sweet and perfect for our little bear. They cover Bible lessons, pre-reading skills, math, following directions and much more. He started this series last year and will complete it this year. He is also working through "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" and is really excited to learn to read this year. He'll participate in much of Henry's lessons (at his own level). Jonah also has a CD curriculum that was his very favorite part of school today.

Bridget (age 3) has no formal curriculum planned for this year. She'll sit in and participate in Bible lessons and she loves any read-aloud time she can get. Some days she will have short assignments (coloring pages, simple mazes, etc...) and I also have special games that are only for school time (memory, lacing beads, puzzles, etc...). Bridget is wonderful at entertaining herself, so she really requires very little supervision during my teaching times with the boys. My goal this year is for her to begin sitting quietly at the table with us and learning to follow specific directions.
One of my favorite parts of homeschooling is the amount of time it takes. They are typically done with all their schoolwork before lunch time, leaving us every afternoon free. We also have plenty of time for field trips and getting together with friends throughout the week. It allows my kids so much freedom and room for creativity...and I wouldn't trade that for anything! :)

6 comments:

Beth said...

Sounds like it's going to be a wonderful year!

Heidi Jo Comes said...

so blessed you are! that picture of bridget is priceless!

Journey said...

I had a hard time with word problems, too! And math was always my best and most favorite subject! I got numbers and figures really fast (and oddly, reading was my next favorite subject)- but put them together, and it overwhelmed me, sometimes! I had to learn how to translate the words into an equation so I could see the numbers in front of me! You are such a great mom! And these pictures are priceless! Way to go, Lisa!

Just Mom said...

Oh Henry, word problems elude my understanding too.

Have a fantastic school year!

Kelleigh said...

I LOVED being educated at home and really miss those days of being able to do my work in a short amount of time and PLAYING the rest of the day or (as I got older) helping young homeschooling mom's out by watching their kids while they ran errands etc. I'm really looking forward to having kids of my own and teaching them in the home!!!

Mary said...

how awesome, and they are so lucky to have this special time with you teaching them. very cute pictures. love the one of Bridget.