Friday, September 19, 2008

Weekly review

Week 3 is almost done and gone already!! Just 33 more weeks of work to go!

This year has been going very smoothly, and we are all enjoying school.    This week we got many things done, and thanks to our new loop schedule, we aren't even stressed about the things we didn't get done. 

Every day we usually work from about 8:30-12:00 and get through most of:

  • Latin (really enjoying prima latina... very gentle introduction)
  • Math (saxon 3... it's starting off slow and gentle and E think math is easy this year, Math-U-See Primer... Z is doing great learning about addition and writing his numbers properly).
  • Spelling: We switched to Spelling workout C, and it's going great! I'm still tempted to switch back to SWR but it;s just too teacher intensive for me right now.
  • phonics: Z is doing so good! It's so much easier the second time around teaching reading. The stress on me is just so much less.  We skip around between Ordinary Parent's Guide, Bob's books and the Little Angel Readers (I especially love this one)
  • Grammar: LOVE LOVE First Language Lessons 3.  
  • Writing: Writing with Ease Level 2... this is so gentle and a wonderful easy program to introduce writing to E through copywork, narration and dictation. I really appreciate the framework this book has laid in my head.
  • Preschool: Lots of playdough, circle time with action songs, poems and stories
  • Religion (every other day): The Treasure of My Catholic Faith... workbooky but very faithful to the church and fun illustrations for E.
  • Geography (every other day): some cutesy intro to maps book that I got... it uses fairy tales and nursery rhymes to teach about maps... it's very easy for E but fun for my littles.
  • History (every other day): We are zooming through the 2nd half of Story of the World 1.  Before Looping (my new schedule that allows us to actually GET to history), we only got through half of the book in 2 years...  hopefully this will change this year.  We are learning about the Greeks right now, and doing mapwork and narrations as we go.
  • Science (every other day): Noeo Chemistry. This is a fun literature based program, and it's so relaxed and fun.  
  • French (every other day): This is a favorite in the house. It's powerglide beginner french for grades k-3 and it's an adventure story on a cd that teaches simple vocabulary. (big plus... I got this at an outlet store for $46.. it's on amazon for $140)
Thanks to the invention of playdough and highchairs with seat belts, we are able to get through almost all of that list every day. It's been a joy to work with two students and watch them both grow in independence and love for learning. 

I love homeschooling!!

Blessings to you on this lovely fall day :-)


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