School For Us

I want to teach a class at my daughter's co-op in the spring. Actually, 2 classes - possibly even 3. I've been struggling with the decision of 'what' to teach to 4th-6th graders. So, far I've thought of:

• Nuts About Nature based on Melissa's co-op study
• Think! based on the Think! website
• Nim's Island based on Liberty Hill House's posts (I'd need another literature study for 2nd 8 weeks)
• Jungle Book study based on Little Blue School's posts
• Getting to Know...Famous People study based on Mike Venezia's books - we'd read a different book each week and I'd come up with activities to do - sounds like fun, but the most work
• European Vacation where we'd take a few weeks to a month per country and explore various European countries - I love what Fireside did with Italy and Renaissance Mama did with France recently
• Where in the World is Mrs. Waffenschmidt? class - perhaps mapping and creating notebooking pages as some of you recommended when Alex & I started this before
• Journey North class based on Journey North's Mystery Class

So, I'm really torn and having a hard time figuring out what I should do. I want it to be lots of fun. I also know that the 2 things I think Alex needs more of are science and geography, so this should play into my decision. I like the idea of creating my own study, but this is also more work.

Do you belong to a wonderful co-op? Do you have a favorite co-op class? I'm just really struggling with this and would love some input. Thanks!

We've been back to school for 3 1/2 weeks. I can hardly believe it! Anyway, I wanted to take some time to review our various subjects/curriculum and how they are going.

• Bible devotions: We do this first in the mornings and I'm trying not to consider it as part of school. We are studying various Proverbs using a curriculum from our church.
• Bible Study: We are using Rod & Staff for Grade 3, God Leads His People, and this is going very well. Currently, we are studying David's life. I love that the workbooks include mapwork and lots of questions to help you remember the story, because these are pretty complicated stories. I've been drawing stick people to help us remember the key people. I plan on us doing this for every lesson to make a book.
• Math: We used Singapore for the 1st two weeks, but then Alexandra got her own laptop and really wanted to use it. So, we are using Teaching Textbooks Math 5, something we started last year. This is going pretty well and since there are quite a few multiplication problems (we're about 1/4 through the "book" because of last year), she's getting her facts down better. We're also working on one drill sheet per day.
• Latin: We love, love, love Latin for Children! We are both learning so much! (Yes, I took Latin in high school, but I really have forgotten most of it.) We are declining nouns and conjugating verbs and learning lots of vocabulary words. We love watching the videos - they are helpful AND entertaining. There's a CD for you car - a fun workbook - online quizes & worksheets - it just is REALLY working for us!
• Spelling: We already switched spelling curriculums. Neither one of us was enjoying All About Spelling. So, we switched to Rod & Staff Grade 3 Spelling by Sound and Structure. So far, it's pretty easy for her, but at least we are both enjoying it AND it works on other skills besides spelling.
• Cursive: She hasn't liked the Rod & Staff cursive that we bought and I think we might go back to working on print for awhile. Then, we will probably return to this curriculum.
• History: We are kind of continuing with Winter Promise American Story 1 - but mostly we are just reading the books at our own pace. We're getting ready to do a pocket book about the American Revolution to finish that up.
• Science 1 (marine biology): We started Exploring Creation with Zoology 2: Swimming Creatures a few days ago and it's going Ok. I think the first chapter is the hardest to get through. After this, we'll be studying various animals, but this is kind of the background material. We're also doing the extensive lapbook by Live & Learn Press which is a great way to do Q&A and have something to remember out studies by.
• Science 2 (electricity): We also have been studying about electricity because of our studies of Ben Franklin for history. We've been using a kit I bought a long time ago and Alexandra's Snap Circuit kit - which is wonderful!!!
• Science 3 (soap): We've also been doing experiments about soap with a True Book called Experiments with Soap. I've never used any of their experiment books before, and we both really like this one. We'll try to finish it up tomorrow and post about it.
• Composition: We started IEW's Teaching Writing: Structure & Style and it has been working wonderfully! I'm learning from it, too! We did take a break this week as I think she has step 1 & 2 down pretty well and I need to watch the next video!
• Literature: We're reading Laura Ingalls Wilder by the Benges. We're actually both enjoying this better than Laura's own series.

I'll try to post something more entertaining tomorrow - with photos and everything. :-)

We started school Monday and are off to a pretty good start... though we are having to work around a house painter and running errands to Home Depot.


I meant to get our house painted during the summer, but we just got it arranged to start on Monday. So, we're living in kind of a mess... but an exciting mess! We've always had white walls and we are going to a fairly dark brown. I'm loving it!!! The first 2 rooms to be done are our master bedroom and bath. So, we're sleeping in the spare room and sharing Alexandra's bathroom.
So far, we've had 2 pretty full days of school. For history, we are reading 3 books about Benjamin Franklin. They are a Time for Kids biography, What's the Big Idea, Benjamin Franklin? and Ben and Me. We are enjoying and learning from all three. While I was reading, Alexandra drew a picture of Amos from Ben and Me.

Since we are studying about Benjamin Franklin, I thought we should study electricity for science. I actually have a book of experiments about Ben, but I just couldn't get into it. But, I found one of my science kits (I seem to collect them!) about electricity that we hadn't finished, so we got it out. We started by making a battery... and it worked! Then, we tried an electromagnet... and it didn't. I think it is because we used pennies that were post-1982. Did you know that "U.S. pennies made before 1982 are 95% copper, but newer pennies only have a 2.5% copper coating!" (from this website)

Alexandra has 2 new favorite subjects: Latin & composition.

She is really enjoying Latin for Children - especially the chants. And, she loves finding derivitives for the various vocabulary words. For example, we had the word "terra" which means "earth" and she came up with "terra cotta" and I came up with "terrestrial sphere" and "extraterrestrial." For "porta" which means "gate", she came up with "portal" from Cyberchase... the "gate" which takes them into Cyberworld.

For composition, we're using Andrew Pudewa's Teaching Writing: Structure & Style. So far, it is working great! We both think it is a lot of fun... and effective! For this first step, you basically write an outline and then tell the story back from the outline. I'll share a story she did today. I got the story from a sample of a Scholastic Magazine.

This week, I finished ordering our curriculum for next year. I can't believe we'll be starting our FOURTH year of homeschooling! We're planning on starting school on August 18th.

I have done lots of reading (especially about Classical Education) and research this summer, so it feels good to have it done. And, I just don't make decisions very easily, so this is a huge job for me. I thought I'd share our curriculum choices for the fall.

• Bible Studies - Rod & Staff Grade 3 (it covers David & Solomon, the Kings & Prophets, God's people during & after captivity, and Luke) - Alexandra actually wanted to do ALL of the Rod & Staff Curriculum
• Latin - Latin for Children A (this is our "big" Classical change - most of our studies will still be Charlotte Mason-style)
• Math - Singapore - we are once again starting the year by backtracking and covering some "holes" from last year
• Math - Hands On Equations - I will be teaching this to a class of 3rd-6th graders - it is a manipulative-based algebra curriculum for younger students to help them enjoy algebra
• Grammar & other Language Arts - Rod & Staff Grade 3 Beginning Wisely - we actually got a little more than halfway through this last year, so we will start by reviewing those sections
• Spelling - All About Spelling - I like that this is phonetic based
• History - Winter Promise American Story 1 - we started this late last year, so we're about halfway through it
• Science - Exploring Creation with Zoology 2: Swimming Creatures - a marine biology course I'll be teaching to 3rd-6th graders
• Composition - Andrew Pudewa's Teaching Writing: Structure & Style - I've been to several of his lectures and can't wait to start teaching this! I've heard lots of great things about it.
• Cursive - Rod & Staff Grade 3 - Alexandra's choice
• Music - piano lessons (along with a music theory test) - we found a GREAT new teacher this summer

Besides the 2 classes I'm teaching, she will also probably take classes on music history & appreciation and a speech class. Also, our enrichment school will be adding clubs this year. I'm leading a nature/photography club and a board game club. Alexandra will also be in an American Girl club and a speech club. Most of these clubs (including mine) meet only twice a month.

For sports, she will probably continue with 2 days of gymnastics. And, we will continue with our once a month book club that I'll be leading out of my home with some help from the book, Deconstructing Penguins.

I hope I'm not stretching myself too thin by teaching 2 classes and leading 2 clubs, but this will keep me accountable and hopefully we'll have more fun doing these classes with other children. And, I'm just passionate and excited about these subjects, so I hope to inspire these kids!

This week, I've been thinking alot about next year's curriculum. We'll be stopping for summer in about a month, and I am just wanting to plan what we'll be doing next year. So, here are some of my thoughts:
HISTORY - We actually started Winter Promise (WP) on Monday. So far, we are really enjoying it. I went ahead and bought the whole package, which is pretty expensive. But, it saves me a lot of time in traveling back & forth to the library and making sure I have the books when I need them.

We are doing AS1 (American Story 1) and actually started at week 14 as we'd already studied the earlier chapters this year. This week is about the pre-Revolutionary War time. We are really enjoying The Fighting Ground and adding to our Book of Time. There are also a lot of paper crafts like "A Town Meeting in Boston." There are a lot of hands-on native American crafts, but I think we're skipping the Native American focus, at least for now.

MATH: This is always the hardest subject. Alexandra catches on so quickly and I have to keep hopping to keep ahead of her. We will probably be doing a combination of ALEKS and Teaching Textbooks, though I continue to search for things that will let her go at her pace.

LANGUAGE ARTS: I'll continue to do more & more CM style - narration, dictation, and copywork. I think I'll start the year with Learning Language Arts Through Literature which seems to go very fast. Then, possibly use some Rod & Staff for the 2nd semester. I might go back to Sequential Spelling for some spelling - we haven't been using anything since November. And, she might be taking a LA class at her enrichment school - we're still deciding.

SCIENCE: I'm looking at both NOEO and Real Science 4 Kids. If I did RS4K, I'd do Level 1 Chemistry (Alexandra did pre-level 1 this year at her enrichment school). They have just come out with some KOG books that go with this curriculum and they look GREAT!!! (See sample chapters here.)

LANGUAGES: I'm torn between Spanish (possibly Rosetta Stone or finding a local class) and/or Latin. If I did Latin, I'd probably use LOGOS Latin Primer I with the DVD. I'd like to do both, but I think it might be too much.

OTHER: Alexandra will probably continue gymnastics and piano. And, she wants to start another instrument and cheerleading. We'll see! And, she is planning on taking 4 or 5 classes at her enrichment school again. She'll probably take a whole day off for classes, but we're still in the planning stage. And, we'll probably join the book club at the library and start learning chess at home and then playing it weekly at the library. But, I'm still very unsure!

Please let me know if you've used any of the curriculum choices I'm considering. It's so hard to plan! But, fun, too!

I've been wanting to have Alexandra learn how to play chess for quite awhile. But, I barely play and, honestly, I haven't found it that enjoyable. Last week, though, we went to an intro class (basically a sales pitch) for chess books, etc, by Chess Coach Steve Schneider. I really enjoyed the class! He starts you out with just one pawn and you play pawn games. Very fun!

So, I bought the game (above) and the "Basics" book. Last week, we learned how to play various pawn games - and the skills to win at those games! Today, we started with our second piece, the knight. And, we learned a fun game called knight's tour.

We both really enjoyed this game. (You can find lots of versions of it online.) In our game, we each used a 4x4 grid of the chess board. Then, you fill each space with some kind of marker (we used citrus erasers). Then, remove one piece and place your knight. Using the legal move of the knight (basically an L-shape where you move 2 squares 1 way and 1 square another way), you try to collect as many pieces as you can. But, you can only move to a space where there is still a space - you cannot move to an empty square!

Alexandra beat me almost every time. (We'd take turns playing and see who got the best score.) We moved the starting square of the knight to different spots to see what worked best.

Overall, it was a really fun game... AND, it taught Alexandra how to move a knight.

We're really enjoying our basics book. They said they'll be having sale prices before Christmas. Here's a link to the website! The book teaches basic chess along with other fun games (like the pawn games and knight's tour) and has fun activities, too.

While at our local homeschooling convention, I attended a seminar on spelling given by Andrew Pudewa of Excellence in Writing Institute. I was amazed by what I learned! (And, I was happy that he recommended either his own spelling program or AVKO, which is what we're using this year.)

Alexandra always wants to practice spelling using a spelling bee format - and this is a great way to practice! I wanted to share what I'd learned from Mr. Pudewa, and his website did a nice job of summarizing:

"Spelling is the correct retrieval of sequentially stored, virtually random bits of information. To spell well, students need to correctly retrieve that information.

When we look at a word we see it as a whole. But spelling is sequential, and the correct sequence can be missed when seen as a whole. Spelling the word out loud, letter by letter, ensures accurate storage of the correct sequence in the brain. Hence, auditory input is the best possible way to store spelling information accurately."

• 7:30 - wake up Alexandra!
• 8:30 - breakfast and Bible time
• 9:00 - math
• 9:45 - reading
• 10:15 - language arts (spelling, grammar, handwriting, narration, dictation, etc)
• 11:00 - KONOS
• 12:00 - lunch
• 12:30 - KONOS
• 2:00 - done!!!

For math, we are using Horizons for the first time. We are using AVKO's Sequential Spelling, LLATL, and a variety of other things for language arts. And, we are using the online KONOS co-op for science and history. This is a very fast paced, fun group that should help me stick on schedule.

One day per week Alexandra will be taking enrichment classes. And, she'll also be taking karate 3 times per week, gymnastics 1 time a week, and probably continuing with Keepers (which is like Girl Scouts).

That's our plan! So, check back if you'd like to see how we're doing. We are opening the school doors on August 2oth!

This year, I signed my daughter up for the 3rd grade Scholastic News magazine. It is a weekly, 4-page magazine which usually has 3-4 articles and then questions on the last page. The questions often include figuring out what the main idea is, vocabulary, reading a graph, and other questions. They also cover such things as supporting sentences, synonyms, and antonyms. This is the first magazine we've subscribed to that my daughter actually reads eagerly, cover-to-cover. We're really enjoying it (and learning too!), so I thought I'd pass that along. You can order it at www.scholastic.com.

I have really been doing a lot of research, thinking, and praying about our spring schedule. I am really getting excited about the changes we'll be making! Here's m planned schedule:

• Math - continuing with RightStart C (we're about 3/5ths through)
• Language Arts - switching to Learning Language Arts Through Literature, Yellow Book -Alexandra's spelling has improveds a LOT from Saxon Phonics 2 this year, but I'm ready for a change
• Handwriting - we'll be using a workbook by Evan Moor - we have been just creating our own materials - she'll also be learning cursive from LLATL! (this actually might be too much writing for Alexandra... I had just bought the Evan Moor workbook and then decided on LLATL a few days later, which also includes lots of writing - I'll have to watch Alexandra and see if it is too much)
• History - continuing with SOTW but I will be adding my own activities - 2 times a week
• Science - we'll be using Living Learning Books to study the human body - I'm excited because this curriculum is laid out just how I like! It lists both fiction & non-fiction books to read, a few activities, and some internet sites - 2 times a week
• Bible - continuing Romans with BSF (Bible Study Fellowship)

I'd like to do more (especially art), but I think this system seems very doable. If it goes well, we can add some more later if I think it would work. And, I'm going to put everything else away so I don't feel like I have so much to do! :-)

During this "school year", we read our first long book - The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Since then, we've read several of these longer books that take more than a week to read. I am getting my lists of books to read from 3 main sites: Sonlight, Ambleside, and a "Good Books" list from www.schoolofabraham.com) Here are the books we've read this year:

• The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis (just a wonderful book)
• The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum (Sonlight Kindergarten)
• Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard & Florence Atwater (Sonlight 1st Grade)
• The Chocolate Touch by Catling (with our chocolate unit)
• James & the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl (when we saw the play)
• Capyboppy by Peet (Sonlight Kindergarten)
• Dolphin Adventure by Grover (Sonlight K)
• Dolphin Treasure by Grover (Sonlight K)
• Homer Price by McCloskey (Sonlight 1st grade)

And, we're currently reading:

• Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi (Good Books list - Kindergarten)
• The Velveteen Rabbit by Bianco (Year 1 Ambleside)

After reading The Well Trained Mind 2 weeks ago, I decided to try classical education. I've been working hard on what curriculum we will use, and I think we have it figured out. I'll be ordering it soon.
Here is the curriculum we plan on using:

• Math: RightStart Level C (we completed A & are almost done with B and I think it's a wonderful program)
• Language Arts: First Language Lessons - I still have not actually seen a copy of this, so I hope it works out. It is for 1st & 2nd grade, but I'm planning on doing it in one year. I'll see if that is possible when I get it.
• Spelling: Saxon Phonics 2 - a friend shared this curriculum with me and I was really impressed with it. Besides being a great spelling curriculum, it also introduces a lot of history.
• Latin: Prima Latina - I wasn't sure if we should start Latin this early, but we're going to give it a try!
• History: Story of the World 1 (with workbook) - I think we'll love this. It has lots of activities and lists extra books we can check out from the library.
• Piano: Music for Little Mozarts - I'll teach her this.
• Science: we might finish Apologia Botany. We will also probably do some more lapbook studies from Hands of a Child, but this will not be one of our main "cores" this year.

While traveling last week, we listened to James and the Giant Peach on CD and loved it. So, I thought I'd create an entry of audio stories we enjoy so we can refer back to it & others can, too.

• James and the Giant Peach by Dahl performed by Jeremy Irons
• All of the Magic Tree House books read by author Mary Pope Osborne
• Tchaikovsky Discovers America (Classical Kids)
• Mozart's Magnificent Voyage (Classical Kids)
• Peter and the Wolf - several versions
• stories by Jim Weiss - I'll record some specific names soon
• The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis - we have the Harper Children's Audio unabridged version & it's wonderful - I like that it is unabridged - each book is read by someone different, complete with different voices - we got them for Christmas & haven't listened to them all yet, but my favorite so far is Prince Caspian read by Lynn Redgrave
• Trouble with Tink (Disney Fairies book) by Kiki Thorpe - WONDERFUL audiobook!!! Alexandra borrowed it from the library and listened to it almost every night & in the car. We will probably buy this one.
• Your Story Hour Volume 7 - We actually just listened to the 1st of 12 CDs today. It was about Joan of Arc. It was wonderful! Then, while Alexandra napped, I listened to about 20 minutes of the 2nd one about John Bunyan. It was wonderful, too! I can't wait to listen to the others.