Schedule

Time sure does fly! We are almost done with another 'school' year! Even though we school all through the summer, officially we are done by the end of June. It has been 6 1/2 years of home learning at our homeschool and the kids are doing well. I sent out their 4th quarterlies and will be sending out their annual assessments this coming week. The kids have learned so much, and I am so proud of their accomplishments.

We have decided together that we will be following a more scheduled approach to our homeschooling this coming school year. No curriculum but just a more structured approach, F already does a lot of that, it's the girls who need a little more structure. I am not the greatest at sticking to any one way of doing things, so we shall see how long it lasts :). I like the great flexibility that we have since we are not tied down to any one thing, except for some ongoing weekly classes.

I have to sit down soon and make a tentative schedule for the upcoming year.

For F. (seventh grade) yes that is 7th!! OMG!

We will be using IXL math program and the Khan academy for math and some history videos/lectures. Some workbook use for math as well, but he prefers the computer/scratch paper for computing method more than any workbooks for math...

F will continue to take classes with Writopia Lab for his creative writing, as well as writing his various stories at home.

For history he will continue to read the Story of the World book 1and Book 2 (we are behind in that series) as well as a wide array of history as well as historical fiction books. The History channel and other DVDs for history will be used as his interest dictate. I do not worry about this part of his education as he is interested in all of mankind's history :).  We will also study local government and current events.

Geography is his most favorite subject so that is always covered through his many readings, educational TV watching, web site searches etc...

Science is a subject I have to do a little more research for 7th grade, but he will be using the microscope, reading various science books, Discovery channel, Nova, covering a wide range of topics. Again he is very interested in learning about all things related to science so I'm sure we will have this covered.

Reading will be a wide range of books, fiction and non fiction. He is a regular at the library :) and he loves to read! I am very thankful for that, and I know that letting him read at his pace and the books that he chose early on led to this love of reading.  I have to make a reading list for him, it will include a few biographies and some non fiction books of his interests. He has a big library of books to choose from at home. I'd like for him to read some works from all variety of writers, and will do a search with him to see what he'd like to read about.

For J. (fourth grade)

J will be doing The Writing Strands program for her writing, she loves to write and writes short little stories, graphic novel type books, and a variety of other things, so I think it's time to have her do a little bit more formal writing work. For grammar we will use a variety of books.

For Math we will continue to use IXL and some workbooks.

History is not her most favorite subject so I have to do some more research as to what books to use that will keep her interest.  Current events will be covered more this school year as she has gained a wee bit of interest in what goes on in the world around her.

Geography will be covered somewhat through the Little Passports program, as well as looking at the globe and maps we have available and having many discussions.

Science will be covered via many different materials, such as hands on experiments, books, DVDs, educational programming, museums, etc.. more research needs to be done by me :)

J. is also a reader, but she is more selective as to what she likes to read about. She is more into fiction and graphic novels. I will be looking at our book selection in our home library with her to help her to branch out in her reading preferences.

Art is her most favorite subject and she is very talented at it. She will continue to take weekly art classes in the City so she can improve her skill.

For A. (second grade) my baby :)

For A. we will be working on her reading, which she has greatly improved upon these last few months,  by reading all of the Bob Book series as well as any books that she chooses to read. She tells me all the time that she loves to read. :)  Makes my heart smile... I also love to read and there is nothing like curling up with a good book and getting carried away.

She enjoys using IXL for math as well as her many work books.

We will continue on our journey in discovering Greek Myths, which are her favorite. She has a great understanding of Homer's the Odyssey (for kids) and looks forward to our read alouds.

Since she is still in the lower grades I am not as focused on having a very strict guideline for what we study. She is like her older brother, as she has a wide array of subjects that she is interested in. She retains a lot of what we discuss and read together and has a lot of questions about every thing.

My focus for all of our childrens' education is to foster a love of learning that will carry over to all subjects, so far it is working and I am very happy with their progress.