Weekly Update - October 29 - November 9, 2018

Again, I missed a week in posting a weekly update. 

But, we have been making progress.

History:

Megan has been studying the missionary Jim Elliot.  In the process, she has also been learning about the Aucas, South America, the Waodani, the Andes Mountains, animals native to the area, the climate of the area, and Ecuador.

Bible:

In New Testament studies, Megan has been reading and learning about the book of Hebrews.  She has also been reading about John the Baptist, the birth of Jesus, Simeon and Anna, the Magi, and Mary and Joseph fleeing to Egypt.

McGuffey:

Megan read three McGuffey stories in the last two weeks.  We do McGuffey daily, but each story takes several days as she rereads, does vocabulary, draws original artwork, writes narrations, answers questions, and does copywork. 

Literature:

Megan continues to read Miracle at Camp Friendship.  She has also learned about Owls, first and third person point of view, homophones, phases of the moon, and lizards.  Yes, all of that was in her literature study.

Megan finished When Will This Cruel War be Over and began reading Derwood, Inc. 

Word Building:

Megan has continued to progress in her learning of contractions and the months of the year. 

Science:

Megan finished the science workbook she had been studying and went back to reading about the Birds of the Air.  When she finishes that book she will be jumping into a special study about horses.

English:

Megan has continued to study about making words plural.

Math:

Megan has been learning more advanced place value, fractions, sequencing, Greatest Common Factor, and Factoring. I am proud of how hard she has been working in her math and the gains she has made.

Read Aloud:

We have been switching off our time between reading Anne of Green Gables and Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.  She is enjoying both books immensely.  We just read the part in Anne of Green Gables where Anne dyes her hair green. Megan was laughing hysterically at that part. 

Things are going to be changing up a bit over the next few weeks as we dive back in to some delight-directed learning. 

Weekly Update - October 22-26, 2018

We actually completed a five day week! 

Some Megan Art in McGuffey

History:

Megan finished learning about Adoniram Judson and began to learn about the missionary, Jim Elliot.  She will also learn about Ecuador and the Waodani tribe. 

Bible:

In New Testament study, Megan began to study Paul's letter to the Hebrews.  She also had begun to read about the Birth of Jesus in her Illustrated Family Bible.

Megan's Art

McGuffey:

Megan spent the week studying the story "Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter."  She also has created some original artwork to go with the story.

A Megan Landscape

Literature:

Megan read three chapters in Miracle at Camp Friendship this week.  She has also been studying metaphors, similes, point of view, and personification. She has nearly finished When Will This Cruel War Be Over.  

 

Word Building:

Megan finished her first "spelling" test.  She got a perfect score, so I know dictation has been effective.  Eventually we will go back to alternating dictation and spelling, but she is doing well with the spelling program that is helping her with some phonetic rules.  She began her new workbook, which includes "ch" words and contractions. 

Science:

Megan continued to learn about accurate measurements.  She learned about why there needs to be standards in measurement.

English:

Megan is learning about the different ways to make words plural. 

Math:

Megan dived into more advanced multiplication, factoring, and prime numbers this week.  She needed some work to understand factoring, but I think she gets it now.  She will be venturing into GCF and reducing fractions in the next couple of weeks.  She also covered three more chapters in Life of Fred: Honey.

Read Aloud:

We read several more chapters of Anne of Green Gables this week, putting us at 64% through the book.  

Weekly Update - October 15-19

We had a four day week, and it was a bit stressed.  I got sick and struggled each day to function.  School happened, but I had limited participation due to illness.  On Friday, we skipped school entirely so I could pick up my glasses from the eye doctor, which is an hour away from our home.  But, we had a good time hanging out at Barnes and Nobles for an hour or so.

History:

Megan continued to study Adoniram Judson.  She also learned some of the history of Robert Fulton and his steamboat.  She learned about Myanmar; the climate, geography, natural resources, and the culture.  She will finish her study of Adoniram Judson next week.

Bible:

Megan read about the Poetry and Wisdom books as well as the Prophets in the Old Testament.  She learned about Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, and Job.  She read a bit about Amos. 

McGuffey:

Megan finished the story "More Stories about Little Birds."  She did a lot of copywork and drew pictures of various birds.  She began "Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter."

Literature:

Megan began reading the book Miracle at Camp Friendship, reading the first three chapters.   She is learning about point of view in her literature study, such as first person and third person.  She also played an alphabet game where she had to come up with a word for each letter of the alphabet having to do with a topic.  She thought that was a fun activity.

She is still reading When Will This Cruel War Be Over. 

 Word Building:

Megan continued to study "ge," and "dge," words as well as the days of the week.  She also began some plural word spellings, which include words where the spelling changes when it is plural. 

Science:

Science has been relegated to every other day.  This week Megan was learning about Celcius and Fahrenheit.  She also read about how gravity impacts the weight of things.

English:

Megan finished learning about different sentence types and alphabetizing.  This next weeks she will move on to reviewing and learning new skills in nouns.

Math:

I realized I forgot to update Math last week.  Megan has made a lot of progress in her math.  She has been reviewing fractions and ordinal numbers.  She has also been practicing her long division and is doing very well.  The constant review in Ace Math helps her to solidify her skills.  I am proud of her progress.  She will be introduced to some new skills in the coming weeks, and I am certain she is ready now.  She also conquered another couple chapters in Life of Fred Honey. 

 

Read Aloud:

We are continuing to read Anne of Green Gables in the mornings.  We read four chapters, which was pretty good considering my cold limited my ability to read aloud.  

Weekly Update - Crazy Week - October 8-12

School did not happen as normal last week.  And, I am perfectly fine with that reality.  My second grandson was born on Wednesday.

He was in the NICU for a couple of days, fighting low blood sugars because his mom is a type-one diabetic.  So, there was a lot of time spent up at the hospital.

Then, on Friday, we skipped school completely for eye exam day.  This year my little bookworm-in-training needed glasses.  We had avoided them last year, as she was borderline then, but this year the doctor felt that her near-sightedness was getting bad enough that she could use them.  If she was in school, she would have probably struggled to see the board or Power Points.  At home, she does a lot of reading, but she isn't straining her eyes to see, and that might have helped.

With school happening only sporadically, I did make a decision.  I changed up our routine a bit, because Megan seemed to be getting dragged down.  I noticed she had skipped some work, and I don't want her doing that in a rush to get through her day.

History:

Megan is taking a break from World History to study Adoniram Judson and Myanmar.  She is also learning a bit about ships in her lessons.  I find it interesting that a young Adoniram Judson was not a Christian despite growing up in a home where his father was a minister.  This delved into studies about Lazarus and the Rich Man as well as The Prodigal Son.    A break from normal studies seems to help Megan to refocus later. 

Bible:

In her New Testament study, Megan continued to learn about Paul's Letters to Phillip and Thessalonica.  She also read Daniel 10 and part of Daniel 11. 

McGuffey:

In McGuffey, Megan finished up "Stories about Birds" and worked on "More Stories about Birds."  Above is her drawing of a canary.

Literature:

Megan is learning about synonyms and antonyms as she prepares to start Miracle at Camp Friendship.  She is still reading When Will This Cruel War be Over for her independent reading.

Word Building:

We are taking a break from dictation for a few weeks and delving into some Word Building.  Megan and I love dictation, but variety sometimes helps.  Word Building deals with more than just spelling, but adds in some vocabulary and handwriting practice. It also helps to reinforce words through repetition and word groups.  Last week she studied words that has the "o" before "r" sound, such as storm and forty.  This week she is reviewing "dge" words as well as the days of the week.  It's not her favorite, but she can work independently.

Science:

In science, we paused Megan's study of birds to focus on learning about length, weight, temperature, and time.  We will go back to birds when she finishes this study.  Doing two different studies at one time was getting confusing. 

English:

We set aside the Language Lessons briefly to study dictionary skills and alphabetical order.  I realized a couple weeks ago that Megan had not gotten much practical use in using a dictionary for awhile because we were using dictionary.com too often.  It's easy to rely on technology and not use real books.  Because of this, I made the switch and Megan is refreshing skills she hasn't used for awhile.

Read Aloud:

We are loving Anne of Green Gables.  We didn't get as much read aloud time in last week as we would have liked.  We stopped at chapter nine.  But Anne and Megan are quite similar in temperaments and chattiness. 

Weekly Check-Up: September 17-21

It was a busy week, with experiments and drawing and a lot of reading.  We even had a cool experience in meeting a local children's author!

On Thursday evening we went to our local library and got to meet Shannon Anderson, a local teacher and author.  Megan thought meeting an actual author was cool, even if her books are for a younger target audience.  We love books, so it is cool to meet someone published!

We got a lot done this week, even with a couple days where we were delayed in getting started.

History:

Megan began learning about Jonah and Ninevah.  She began to delve into Babylon, Jeremiah's prophecies, and Nebuchadnezzar.  She read the book of Jonah in the Bible and is continuing in the book, Within the Palace Gates, which is a story about Nehemiah.

Bible:

In Bible, Megan read about Ninevah and Judah.  In New Testament, Megan learned more about Paul's letter to Colosse.

Science:

Megan worked on her science experiment, which included soaking a raw egg in vinegar for three days.  She is currently soaking that same egg in Corn Syrup for an additional three days.  This is teaching her about eggs and how baby birds survive and grow before hatching.  She also began studying baby pigeons and sketched some local birds.

Poetry:

This week, Megan studied Robert Frost's poem, Dust of the Snow, and began to paint a snowy landscape.

McGuffey:

In McGuffey, Megan read and learned about turtles, writing facts about turtles and sketching one in her notebook.  She then began reading a story called "The Quarrelsome Roosters."

Language Lessons:

Megan reviewed subjects and predicates as well as complete and incomplete sentences.

Literature:

Megan finished reading My Father's Dragon.  She then began to read The Bridge.  She also learned about the character traits Love, Compassion, and Tolerance.  She touched on emotions displayed in My Father's Dragon.  When she began The Bridge, she studied the setting and began to evaluate the moods displayed in the book.  In her independent reading, she is reading the mystery, The Scripture Sleuth.

Read Aloud:

In our read aloud time, we are still making our way through The Penderwicks at Last.  

Dictation:

Megan only passed one dictation.  We have slowed down in our progress, as the passages begin to progress in difficulty and length.  I am allowing for two days copywork for each passage before we do the day of dictation.

Math:

Megan continued to review in Ace Math.  She will soon be jumping into new concepts, but I have noticed that the review is helping her so much.  Her error rate has dropped drastically.  Often, she doesn't miss any.  This is building her confidence greatly and helping mathematical thinking to come to her more naturally.

In Life of Fred: Goldfish, Megan finished chapters 9, 10, and 11.  She continued to learn about review, sequencing, and algebraic expressions.  She reviewed some multiplication and geometry problems, with real-life examples.   She also worked on some word problems involving money and measurement.  I love that Life of Fred, while funny and fantastical, also uses a lot of scenarios that require the student to think about the math they are doing.  It isn't all by rote. 

Piano:

Megan began piano once again, already getting assigned a Christmas song for the recital in December... a Chimpmunk's Christmas Song.

Weekly Checkup - September 10-14, 2018

 Weekly Checkup

September 10-14, 2018

This week went quickly.  We didn't do school on Monday as there were appointments.  But, that didn't stop my daughter from being such a good help with her nephew while we were in the waiting room.

On Tuesday, we dove back into our studies... both of us.  My college classes continue, and I work steadily beside my girl. It is working well for us so far this year.


Here's a breakdown of my Meggy's week:

History:  

Megan is continuing to record the prophecies and fulfillments of Christ.  This week was about Christ coming out of Galilee. She is also reading about Assyria and the Assyrian King, Sennacherib.  She finished the book, God King, and began to read the book of Jonah in the Bible.  She continued to read the book, Palace Gates.

Bible:

This week Megan read about Hezekiah and Josiah in The Illustrated Family Bible.  In her New Testament study, she also read about Paul writing to the churches of Ephesus and Colosse. 

Science:

Megan is studying the book Birds of the Air in science.  This week she learned about how birds sing and the different types of nests they build.     Last week, she began a book where she will draw different kinds of birds over the next few weeks.

Poetry:

Megan is studying the poem Once by the Pacific by Robert Frost.  This week she painted an ocean with whitecaps.  (I didn't get a picture.)

McGuffey:

Megan is studying the 48th lesson in the Second McGuffey Reader (original), Stories About the Monkey.   She researched facts about monkeys, drew a monkey picture, answered questions, looked up vocabulary words from the story, and wrote original sentences.

Language Lessons:

In Megan's Language Lessons this week, she first reviewed Capitalization.  She reviewed syllables. Then she dived in to learning about Haiku.  She loves using Language Lessons, because it isn't drill and kill and she gets to write more. 

Literature:

In the beginning of the week, Megan finished up a book project over the book Five Smooth Stones.  She then dived into the next genre, Fantasy.  She will be reading My Father's Dragon and The Bridge for this genre.  She began My Father's Dragon on Wednesday. Her study has her searching out different moods in the book as well as differentiating between realistic and unrealistic aspects in the story.

Having a literature focus, I have assigned extra reading every day. She also finished up Penguin Puzzle in her extra reading and began Scripture Sleuth.

Read Aloud:

We finished up Penderwicks in Spring, which broke our hearts.  It was the best one so far.  We began The Penderwicks at Last.

Dictation:

Megan has been completing her dictation as copywork for a day or two before we do the actual dictation.  I like this pattern as she learns the passage much better and has less repeating due to less errors.  The dictation passages are listed in the back of the Heart of Dakota guide and are taken from Dictation Day by Day: Book One by Kate Van Wagenen.  Megan is on Level 4, passage thirty nine. 

Math:

Megan is using two different math curriculum at this time.  She is using ACE Math and Life of Fred at this time.  I really want to strengthen her skills.  We are still doing some review, making sure the skills are strong before we dive into new material. 

In Life of Fred Goldfish, Meg read chapters 7 and 8, which covered sequencing, algebraic concepts, polygons, and perimeter.

In Ace Math, she practiced place value, multiplication and division concepts, expanded form, and fractions.  She complained at first about going to a "drill and kill" program, but she is changing her attitude.  She is understanding so much better and her confidence is growing as she does well on the problems.

Piano:

Megan has practiced a few times.  Her lessons begin again next Monday. 

This was our homeschool week.  Sometimes I wonder if we are doing enough, especially when she completes her entire day in a few hours.  As I go back through the week and actually type all that she has accomplished, I am surprised.  It is definitely a full schedule with a lot of variety in her learning. 

Welcome to Sixth Grade

And so, we have reached the first day of sixth grade.  This beautiful girl has never been to public school.  She has been homeschooled since day one.  And now we are starting what, in our area, is "Middle School."

This year is usually stressful for students in public school.  It's the first year of switching classes for every subject.  It's the first time using lockers.  From what I remember of my older girls when they were in public school, it was a year of intense homework.  I remember saying, "I think every teacher believes their class is the only one the child has."  It was not uncommon for them to have hours and hours of homework, often going well past bedtime.

And, other than causing a lot of stress, it was often unnecessary.  Now that I have been homeschooling for a number of years, and have researched how children learn, the massive amount of homework only fulfilled the purpose of seeing if the child could handle the stress.

Homeschooling sixth grade is not like that.  Yes, the workload increases yearly.  The difficulty grows.  But, children are meant to learn line upon line, precept upon precept, slowly and steadily.  Occasionally there will be giant leaps in skills.  In between first and second grade, the girl that is now in sixth grade jumped several reading levels in one summer just because she read all the time.  For the most part, however, steady growth is best.  Stressing out a child until they are exhausted or in tears doesn't promote learning.

This year, my daughter is continuing in Heart of Dakota, Creation to Christ.  Last year, she finished up unit 12 before we stopped for the year.  She will use the program, with extensions, at half-pace to complete the year of history, bible, and science.  I am keeping her half-speed so that she can focus on some other skills.  I have typing planned, though she can't begin it until we get our computer monitor repaired or replaced.  I also want to focus on reading a lot of really great books.

So, here are our plans for sixth grade:  (All are subject to change, if they don't work out for us.)

Math:   Math is always difficult for my girl.  She struggles.  I am using a mixture of things.  She does math twice a day.  I split it up so she isn't overwhelmed.  We are using Ace Paces math, Life of Fred, and Easy Peasy Math.  I will also use some Khan Academy videos for extra explanations when needed.  Ace has so much practice that, once my daughter has mastered a concept, I may skip some problems.  I have noticed, however, that she understands the explanations very well.  We have used many other things, and much of it brought her to tears or it wasn't enough practice for her.  With the games on Easy Peasy and the stories in Life of Fred, the concepts stick more.

English:  Grammar....  Charlotte Mason liked to wait until a child was a bit older before she introduced grammar.  Personally, I introduced it much earlier through the years, and it went well.  My youngest just isn't retaining as I would like with the traditional methods.  So, I am taking a break.  We are using Queen's Language Lessons this year.  I do have an Ace Pace or two mixed in a very slow way where the concepts are not crammed with three or four pages per day.  I may continue onto next year, depending on her retention.  A more gentle year of grammar, mixed with copywork and picture studies helped one of my older daughters.  When we went back to grammar study in a more serious way, her brain had matured and she had spent a year approaching grammar gently and with more writing and less drill. 

Good grammar skills are important for writing, but many times these skills are somewhat picked up when a child is well read.  For some students, this is enough.  For others, they need more structure.  For me, I want to see the grammar study work its way into writing.  I want a steady build, but sometimes we hit a wall.  I have learned that when we hit a wall, pull back and take some time to let the brain mature.  In the meantime, we are going to work on some writing.

Spelling:  We don't do a formal spelling program.  Instead, we do the dictation that is located in the back of the Heart of Dakota guides.  Much more than spelling, it works on grammar, sentence structure, and grammar also.  It is very effective.

Literature:  I use several things for literature.  First, the history and science have a ton of literature as Heart of Dakota uses living books.  I am also using Heart of Dakota's Drawn into the Heart of Reading.  I rotate that with Ace's Literature and Creative Writing.  I also really like Easy Peasy's writing lessons and may use some of them.

Writing:  Coinciding with literature, Ace's Literature and Creative Writing contains a lot of writing instruction.  Also, Creation to Christ teaches how to write written narrations, teaching about how to write effectively about the history reading completed.  Probably my favorite writing materials that I use are the McGuffey readers.  More than just a reader, when used effectively, these little gems contain spelling, vocabulary, copywork, narration, and so much more.  I learned so many ideas about how to utilize the McGuffey's from Sherry Hayes at Mom Delights.  They really are like a potent multivitamin for the mind, and only take a few minutes per day.

History and Science:  Heart of Dakota's Creation to Christ holds the majority of these lessons.  This also includes Bible and Geography.

Music: Megan will begin once again her piano lessons in September.  She spent the summer participating in the musical, Newsies.  I also plan to add in music once a week from Easy Peasy.  The lessons are fun and engaging.  Again, I have to wait until I have repaired or replaced my computer monitor.

Art:  Heart of Dakota's Creation to Christ has Megan painting a scene once a week, bringing Robert Frost poetry to life.   She also will be drawing with Draw and Write through History, drawing in her science, and illustration some of her McGuffey.  Art is central for my girl.  She is naturally artistic.

Typing:  Meg will be using Typing Instructor for Kids when the computer monitor is repaired or replaced.

These are the plans for the sixth grade.  We are looking forward to an exciting year.

Mid-Year Evaluation

When Plans Fail

I had it all planned.  I had what I wanted to accomplish with my fifth grader all written out. I had prayed and researched.  I knew my ten year old wasn't ready for the writing in Heart of Dakota's Creation to Christ.  I wanted to give her a chance to bump up her writing level, while exploring and reading.

Life doesn't often go as planned.  I may want it to, but these past few months have been challenging and full of unexpected crisis moments.  One daughter has been in the ICU twice, for over a week each time.  Another daughter has battled some health issues that require treatment.  My college classes have been more demanding than I anticipated, with project after project.

Re-evaluating

And so, it is about this time each year where I reevaluate what is working and what is not working.  Usually, this is simply a curriculum thing.  Is the child succeeding with this curriculum?  Do I need to switch anything?  Do I need to slow down or speed up in any area?

This semester, to some degree, has felt like a lot of work and little progress for my fifth grader.  The things that need to change are not simply a matter of curriculum.  I need to carve out more time.  Things like read-alouds have been pushed to the background because of my work load and stress level.  Even more, I don't feel like my daughter has improved her writing the way I wanted when I began to plan.

Looking at next semester, I am struggling to find more time. I am planning to drop my class load to part-time.  When I went back to college, I had this idea in my head that I could work when my children were working.  That has only somewhat worked.  I am still needed for my ten year old.  She is growing in independence, but not quite at the rate where I can spend hours on something else.  And so, I am determined to find a compromise so that I can continue my education, even if at a slower pace, and still be here for her.

We have made some headway.  In her dictation level, she has advanced forty-seven passages.  She tends to get the majority of them on the first try, repeating maybe one a week for errors.  She is looking, at this rate, to be well into level four by the next school year.

Plans From Here

Taking a look at different categories of studies, this is the plan for the rest of the year:

English - My fifth grader will continue with dictation daily, to improve writing and spelling skills.  She will slowly do a Word Building program over the next few months to help with handwriting and reinforce her spelling.  She will finish a couple of the workbooks for English that she has, because they focus on writing.  Then she will begin Rod and Staff English.  Rod and Staff emphasizes writing more than our current program, and is wonderful for leveled learning.  She is also slowly going through the McGuffey Reader, which combines reading with writing and vocabulary.

Reading - My fifth grader will continue to read slowly through the reading list I have for her.  She is currently reading through Clara Dillingham Pierson's Among People.  This will take her to the end of the school year, at one chapter every other day.  She is enjoying this series.  She is also going through Literature and Creative Writing, and is currently reading North to Amaroqvik.  She will finish this book and read Heidi before the end of the school year.  She has also started Drawn Into the Heart of Reading (DITHOR).  She is currently reading Fanny Crosby.  Also planned this year is Noah Webster, Kitten's Tale, and Riding Freedom.  She is only working on DITHOR every other day, alternating with the Pierson stories.  Megan is also alternating Abeka readers with her McGuffey Reader. 

Bible - Megan will finish her Christian Light Education workbooks studying the New Testament.  She will then begin Heart of Dakota's Bible as planned in Creation to Christ.

Social Studies/History - Megan is currently finishing some workbooks studying Christian leaders and missionaries in American history as well as Biblical heroes.  After this, around February, she will begin Heart of Dakota's Creation to Christ at half-speed.

Science - Like with History, Megan is finishing up some science workbooks.  In February, she will begin Creation to Christ at half-speed, where she will begin a study of Land Animals.

Math - I have bounced around in math this year, attempting to cement math facts and skills before the math becomes much more challenging.  After some trial and error, I have settled with Singapore math mixed with Life of Fred.  I have Meg reviewing skills until after Christmas.  I like that Singapore is also leveled, and my child can master skills before moving on.  I have scheduled it strangely, however, bouncing between a couple levels at this time so that she is reviewing more in a spiral approach.  However, that stops in a few weeks and she will begin normal plans and working straight through the textbooks and workbooks for Singapore, with a chapter of Life of Fred every couple days. Math is one area where I feel it is okay to slow down and make sure the foundation is solid before moving on to more advanced concepts.  If the foundation isn't solid, the child will not be able to grasp the more advanced concepts.

My high school senior is staying with the plans I made for her.  Unless something is completely not working for her, she won't change.  She is working for credits, and needs to be pretty consistent. She graduates this spring.

It may seem as if my fifth grader is doing too much, but many of the plans spiral.  This means that she may only work in an area every other day or a couple times a week.  When we begin Creation to Christ, she will be working at half-speed because my plan is for the level to last her through sixth grade.  She will begin next year at half-speed also, with some subjects being done daily, such as math and English.  This allows her to focus on core areas, advancing in her writing, so that by the end of Creation to Christ, she is definitely ready for Resurrection to the Reformation and the skills needed at that level.

Over the years, I have often felt that I wasn't doing enough, and I pushed my older children too hard.  I have learned to slow down, to use their natural skills to reinforce areas where they are weak, and to take things a day at a time.

Celery Experiment

As Megan works through some Science Paces before we head  back to Heart of Dakota, she has been learning about water.  She has learned the characteristics of water, the minerals and germs that can be found in water, and why plants need water.

This is a nice lesson.  Soon Megan will study why animals need water, how water is used in the human body for things such as digestion and cleanliness, and why Jesus leads us to lie down by still waters. 

She did an experiment with celery.  She placed a celery stalk into water with dye to see how the water is drawn into the celery stick.  Plants do the same thing when they draw water from the ground. 

Megan loves experiments!  As much as I would rather give her a book to read only, Megan also loves hands-on stuff.  She loves learning by doing as much as she loves reading. 

I have been out of balance lately in this area.  But I’m getting things worked out. 

Mixing Things Up

Over the years I have drifted towards an eclectic method of education.  For some subjects I love workbooks.  They are simple and don't burn me out.  For other subjects I enjoy living books.  I love stories and being able to add in notebooking and activities.  These areas seem to contrast, but in actuality, we all learn well with a variety.

It's mid-year, and I usually pray about what we have been using and make any changes needed.  This year I had already made some changes.

Megan is doing some workbooks for a handful of topics.  She is working steadily through English and Spelling and math through a couple different workbook curricula.  She is using occasional workbooks for some literature.

She was becoming bored with workbooks for every subject, as I suspected she would eventually.  I pulled out Laura's Heart of Dakota's Preparing Hearts for His Glory.  I have used Heart of Dakota with my girls for years, off and on.

Starting Megan in Preparing would mean she would skip the Bigger Hearts guide.  I don't own Bigger, however, and knew the funds to purchase the guide wouldn't be available for several months.  I started Preparing, deciding that if it was too challenging, I could go back to other things until I had the funds. 

Bigger is such a fun looking guide that not doing it has made me question myself a few times.  However, Megan is doing well in Preparing.  The hardest part seems to be that her writing, both the cursive and putting sentences together, needs more practice.  Technically, Megan is only a third grader.  The reading and narration is not a struggle for her. She is devouring the science!  She loves the Bible time. 

To help her catch up in cursive and putting together the sentences, I've decided to take Preparing at half-speed.  Megan will do daily English and build up her skills in cursive while we take our time through Preparing.  She has her nature readers and lots of books to supplement the areas where she is only working half-speed.  Technically, Meg could easily do Bigger, but her reading is advanced and I would have to add in the Extension package.  I already have all the supplies for what we are doing. 

Next year I will be investing in Missions to Modern Marvels for Laura, beefed up for High School. That alone will be a large investment.  However, I have discovered that the price isn't all that expensive when most of the program is non-consumable. While I love workbooks for certain subjects, it is nice to realize the bulk of our schooling is already purchased, in a crate in our storage closet. 

Heart of Dakota is one of those programs where you can use alternatives if you choose.  It's easy to beef up if it's not challenging enough, or to slow down if it's too challenging. Since I can add my own English, math, and literature, it really is quite customizable.  Since it is working well for my daughter, I plan to keep using it. 

A Little Variety

Megan was bored.

Megan, devouring her Nature Reader

It happens often with our homeschooling.  I get burnt out by the curricula that takes so much time and effort planning.  I switch to a workbook or computer program for awhile, but one child just gets bored.

The tree that Megan drew for her CM history

Should I jump around a lot?  Well... I don't.  I have some subjects that stays the same no matter what.  Then, I have a couple where I am more "flexible."  Megan has been working through some workbooks, but she got bored.  It was taking her longer and longer to complete school.  The workbooks provide great structure and give the teacher (me) a nice break, but I knew it wouldn't last forever, for every subject.

Luckily, I have Laura's curriculum that she used when she was younger.  Megan began some Charlotte Mason style history today.  We'll add in the science when she finished what she is doing.

Did I change everything?  Nope.  I've learned that curriculum is a tool, not a master.  I still have the workbooks for the things that are working.

I use a variety of things, and I know that my daughter is getting a quality education.   She isn't learning with just one method.  We aren't only using workbooks or computers or literature-based.  We aren't only using Charlotte Mason or classical.  We have become very eclectic and a bit more relaxed than I was with my older daughters.

A Special Plan

We have just completed our fourth week into our homeschool year.  So far this is the smoothest year we have ever had.  I don't feel the urge to change anything.  I'm watching my daughters complete their work every day.  We are relaxed, with only minor obstacles.

Occasionally my youngest girl lets her age and maybe her ADD get her distracted.  I tend to have to remind her to focus.  We also have to spend a couple weeks reviewing some math, remembering and practicing some skills that weren't used over the summer.  But... Unlike when I began homeschooling, this no longer worries me or sends me into a panic. 

Over the years I have learned something that I probably heard and read repeatedly when I began this journey, but I didn't truly understood.  Homeschooling doesn't happen in a vacuum. 

What does that mean? It means that all of life is learning, not just the book work that happens during "school time."  Homeschooling may be partly about teaching children to read and write and know science and history, but a true education teaches children to think.  It teaches them to see the world through a different lens than just their own.  For me, as a Christian, homeschooling is discipleship.  I want them to see through the lens of Christ and eternity, and see themselves as God created them.

I was surprised when I was reviewing my youngest' science curriculum.  Mingled in with lessons on Salmon were lessons and reminders about how God works and how He desires His children to think.  Whether it is a reminder that God has a special plan, or a bigger explanation that helps train a child how to think in a Godly, positive way, I was pleased that there was more than just dry facts about fish. 

It is easy to be negative in this world.  Reading this as a child is so encouraging, and not what a child is normally taught in school.  I want my daughter to feel she is valuable.  What could be more affirming than reading that God has a special plan for her life? Even more, if she reads stuff like this throughout her school days, year after year, won't it be easier for her to feel close to the Lord and confident in Him? Won't casting down wrong thoughts be easier if she has had lots of practice thinking correct ones?

There are a lot of negative, judgmental people out there in the world.  Being a Christian is becoming more and more difficult in a world getting more and more hostile toward us.  What will my daughter be told about Christians by the world?  

I think what she has been told by her parents will matter.  I also think what she has read about herself will stay with her.  When she reads that God has a special plan for her, I believe she will believe that.

When her world feels hard and dark, she can know deep inside that He is still with her. 

Over the years I have read numerous Christian books designed to teach adult Christians how to think in a way that is life-giving and affirming. Some of these books are self-help books without much Biblical basis.  However, many are grounded in Scripture and encourage Christians to think in a way the Lord knows is beneficial. 

“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”

Philippians 4:8 NLT

I want my children to be excellent students.  I want them to do well.  However, more than knowledge, I want them to learn to think in the right way.  I want them to know who they are in Christ. I want them to their worth.  I want them to know Him. 

Seven Years, Seven Lessons - Lesson One

Lesson One - It's Okay To Use Schoolish Materials!

My girls in that first year.

I think it is the most guilt producing quote ever published in the homeschool world.  "Don't base your school after the public schools."  There are entire articles and blogs and curriculum based on this thought.  And, the thing is, most of us start out basing our homeschool on our own learning history.  We may think we want different, but we still often start with what we know, how we were taught.

What was intended to set us free can actually add more pressure at times.

When I first began homeschooling several years ago, I had an idea in my head about how I would homeschool my child (we started with just one).  I went to a bookstore that sold used homeschool materials and bought the first math program in my daughter's grade.  I bought a spelling book and some workbooks.  I picked up some library books.  That was school to me.  She was in the third grade.  My idea of school was some workbooks and lots of reading.  I read to her... a lot... and I think that was the best thing I could have done for her at the time.

Two of my homeschoolers

Immediately I stressed because she wasn't getting the math.  Turned out it was too advanced, as many homeschool math programs are compared to public school.  So, I bought a different book and off we went.

That first year, when I look back over my blog posts, I was so scared.  I would read all this amazing stuff by other homeschoolers and think they had the answer.  One of the first things I read, and then read and read and read was that making our homeschool  into school at home was BAD!  And, after seven years, I agree... and disagree.

Notecard timeline

We don't have a chalkboard.  We don't have desks, except the computer desk.  We don't raise our hands to ask a question.  So, in essence, we aren't reproducing school at home.  However, I took this to mean that we should not use school materials much if there was a better way.  After a few months I really didn't care about what the schools were teaching, except in math, and if what I was teaching was lining up.  However, I thought that by using "schoolish" type stuff, such as textbooks or workbooks.  They were all dry and boring and will create children that can't think for themselves and will never get a quality education. 

Yes, that is what many of those articles and posts said... and still say to this day.

Are they right?  Well, sometimes... in some subjects.  I would try the use "real" books for everything, especially history and science.  I would spend a ton of money or would check out piles of library books.  I would spend hours planning.  And, it wasn't bad.  My daughter and I enjoyed many of those books.  However, often she would be sick of all the reading.  She is a good reader, but even for her it was overload at times.  I had a toddler, and felt like I was trying to have read aloud time in a tornado.  My toddler wasn't much for nap time either, so that plan usually didn't pan out well.

Math Games

In frustration, and because I couldn't tell how much my daughter was learning, I would order the workbooks.  For awhile she would work on those.  She was such a good reader that they were usually too easy... again, except for math.  I didn't think about trying a harder level at the time.  My daughter would do well with the workbooks... too well.  Then I would read yet another article about how school materials like workbooks were so horrible and I needed to be using "real" books, and I would stress and worry and wonder if I was failing my child.  I would pray for God to show me the right CURRICULUM.  Surely, there was one curriculum that was perfect... and affordable.  The answer had to be a curriculum, and since school materials were bad, it must be a curriculum company that used "real" books.

I didn't mention that, while we used the workbooks, I also had some of those "real" books scheduled.  I also kept doing read aloud time when I could.  I just assumed that I was cheating my child out of a quality education.

Then came the Charlotte Mason curriculum loaded with those magic "real" books.  It was like Christmas morning when box day happened and all those wonderful books arrived.  There is nothing like the smell of opening a box of brand new books.  I LOVE BOOKS!!  This was perfect!  Now, my daughter and I would have all these adventures, learning along the way.  And, there were days when it was fun.  We both love books.  I had all the scheduling planned out for me with a handy little guide.  As long as nothing went wrong, we were great.  But, nothing is perfect.

I got sick.  My gallbladder started giving me attacks.  I had this great curriculum, but the attacks from my gallbladder made me too sick to do the curriculum the way it was written.  I didn't sleep well.  Laura was still young and wasn't very independent in her work.  I had a toddler that needed me.  I was having to eat a nearly no-fat diet until my insurance kicked in and I could have the surgery.  I was so tired and weak, and I was constantly sick with whatever cold or virus was going around.  I had multiple upper-respitory infections.  It is really tough to do read-alouds when you can't breath through your nose and you are coughing so much your chest feels like it is on fire.  My program called for me reading at least two or three books a day to my daughter, and on many days I couldn't do it. My family helped when they could, but my husband was working and my older girls were in public school.

The following year my husband was laid off.  We spent a few months on unemployment after the company he was working for went out of business.  Then, when he did find a job, it was at a large pay cut.  Affording the expensive Charlotte Mason curriculum was out.  I was back to putting stuff together myself.

About a year later circumstances changed in our home a bit.  One of my high schoolers came home to be homeschooled.  She was under the guidance of a teacher that specialized in homeschooling in our area.  The lady has a master's degree in education and had homeschooled for years and years.  She placed my high school daughter in a worktext program.  Since this lady was making the transcript, I didn't care what my daughter used.  It was a Christian program, and I was so nervous about homeschooling my high schooler that I just followed along.  I added some reading, but didn't mess too much with changing anything.  My high school daughter used the program for two years, enjoyed most of it, and graduated.  She is now about to graduate from college.  I guess the workbook program didn't fail her.

Workbook time

I've since pulled another daughter out of public school and began homeschooling that toddler.  That toddler is now in second grade.  I have used such a mixed up bunch of stuff over the years.  And, I can tell you, there is no magic curriculum.  I still love books.  I always will.  I use them to supplement a couple of those horrible workbook/worktext programs.  I use a couple computer programs for my high school students.  I am not afraid to find a math game for my second grader.  I still have the Charlotte Mason programs, and will probably use them in a year or two for history and science with my youngest.  I think mixing things up a bit from time to time helps children learn more.  I have bought so much stuff, including entire unit study materials that cover Kindergarten through High School.  I loved the concept, but struggled to make it work for me.

Guess what, It is okay to use "school" materials.  I use a lot of Christian materials, and some of them are used in Christian schools.  That's okay.  My children are learning.  Education is about a lot of different things.  The schoolish workbooks are only a part of our education.  Books, documentaries, computer programs, occasional projects, field trips when possible... these are part of a quality education.  The one-on-one that my children receive is better than anything they would get in public school. 

I find it ironic that the way I thought homeschool should be when I first began, after seven years and trying all the different methods and many of the different curricula, is not much different from how I educate my children now.  I have learned so much over the years, about how children learn, about what works for my family, and about how other people's opinions aren't gospel.  Maybe their did their best work by building a giant eyeball under the table.  I only liked occasional projects.  One program had a poetry unit where every week she was painting a picture to go with the poem.  That was awesome!  But, it worked for her.  I don't know if my younger daughter will enjoy it or not.  The experience will be good for her.  I love the memories of making cookies from a country we were studying or watching a movie about that time in history we had just read about.  However, when everything had to be a "learning experience", the experiences lost their impact.

 After seven years homeschooling, and four students (one graduated), I no longer live in fear that a textbook will ruin my child.  Our home is not a local school.  The stresses and problems in a classroom environment aren't here.  A textbook can be supplemented.  We can skip things if necessary.  But, if I just want to make sure that school is getting done, without Mom having to be healthy every day, then I know that our workbooks are useful.  I know I can switch out a workbook program one year for a unit study or some Charlotte Mason flair.  And, the next year, go right back into a workbook program, maybe tweaking something else.  I've relaxed in my approach, and have watched my children soar.