Beginning the New Semester

The new semester has begun.  Other than the math woes, we had a great day.  Laura began her new Geography, Bible, and Language Arts programs today.  Over the next month or so we will also add Health.  It actually went very well.  Laura first looked at the new program and thought it was hard.  I admit that the spelling is going to be quite a bit more challenging.  However, she liked the manageable portions of work for the day.  It seemed that with other programs, we were never quite done for the day.  Either the work load was superbly heavy and we didn't get to it all, or it was too easy and we felt like we didn't do enough.

Geography looks like it will be interesting.  Laura is covering some of the basics the first couple weeks, but then we will kind of get to travel in our studies.   We are starting off with the basics of maps and globes.  We will touch on early explorers, exploring the ocean, and even the space program.  I think exploration is our theme.  Then our travels will take us to spots around the world.  We will study seaport cities like Sydney, Hong Kong, Istanbul, London, and San Francisco.

While I am not going to do the entire year program, we are going to pick and choose.  Laura already learned about some of the places in her science over the last couple years.  I am planning to study Island Countries and North America.  I'm torn between Grasslands and Tropical Rain Forests. 

Ironically, Laura also touched on a little map reading in her bible lesson.  We are reading about Peter first starting to follow Jesus.  Laura got to learn a little about Ancient Israel and the town of Bethsaida, Peter's hometown.


I hesitate to review the new program I am using until we actually use it for a few weeks.  So far, I like it, but I want to see how it is going to work in our home and how flexible it is before I say too much.  I will say that the reviews are mixed.  I switched because the costs of the other programs had just gotten too high with the financial strain we have been under.  I also switched to make sure that Laura was covering the skills I needed her to cover.  I worried that some of the other programs weren't comprehensive enough in one area or another, and constant supplementing and adjusting was putting too much strain on both me and my daughter, and adding way too much work.

Laura started reading Song of the Brook from the Abeka reading program.  Extra reading is something I will always do.   Song of the Brook is a wonderful book, but Laura will also practice glossary skills and write out answers to questions.  She did this with Secret in the Maple Tree, and she said it really helped her as she read to get into the story.

So, the second semester of the school year has begun.  I am looking forward to it, despite the trials with math.  Sadly, I had a sick teenager today.  Taking care of her and running to town for groceries kept me from working with my toddler.  There's always tomorrow.