Happy New Year!

Whoa, it seems like I should have whip lash as the time is flying by so quickly. I cannot believe we are now halfway through Year 4. Happy New Year everyone!

After taking two weeks off for the holidays, we've started back to the routine this week. During the break I did much thinking about how the first half of the year has gone. Overall the kiddo is doing very well and I felt only a couple of changes were needed. We're nearly finished with the second grade readers, and I have a 3rd grade reader ready to go. That is fantastic considering it was the end of Year 3 before reading finally clicked for him. Another area that is moving right along, more quickly than I expected, is math. I had expected to spend the entire year on Professor B Book One, and we are nearly finished with it and I have Book Two ready to start in just a few weeks. Wow! I am so glad I found Professor B! He can't wait to start multiplication. How cool is that?

We are wrapping up our nutrition study this week with a viewing of Food, Inc. While the kiddo was only mildly interested in the subject, I think he has a better understanding of why Mom makes the choices she does regarding what we eat. He is very excited to begin chemistry next week. History has also been an enjoyable endeavor, as long as I don't try to tackle too many books on a subject (so many books, so little time!). TruthQuest History has been a great fit for us. We are looking forward to tackling some Texas history and the Civil War this semester.

So, what's not working? Spelling and Spanish. While Queen's Spelling Copywork was something that he could do independently, it didn't seem to do much for him actually remembering how to spell words he had studied. On the SCM board someone asked about Spelling Mechanics, which got me seriously looking at switching our spelling curriculum. There was much to like about Spelling Mechanics and I almost ordered it. But I decided to check out Cathy Duffy's reviews and look over some other programs. I did not like that SM had exercises requiring students to identify correctly spelled words among groups of misspelled words. I thought that may further confuse the kiddo. In looking around, I decided to try SpellWell. It appeared to have some of the aspects that I liked from SM, and hopefully still be something he can do independently. In the meantime, he is using an iPad app, while we wait for the SpellWell books to arrive.

We've been playing around with Spanish since Kindergarten, and the kiddo is just not interested in learning to speak it. We've talked about learning sign language for a while, and he's very interested in that. So, I decided to take a break from the Spanish and dive into ASL. I am not giving up on Spanish and am still hopeful that he will realize the importance of learning it and have more motivation down the road. But for now, we'll work on a language he wants to learn. Since I am hard of hearing and its only going to get worse, I figure we'd better start learning to sign sooner rather than later. If sign language is something you think your kids would be interested in, check out ASLU - a great free course to get you started.

I am very pleased with how this year is going so far, and we're both looking forward to our studies for this second half. How are things going for the rest of you? I hope that your efforts are proving successful more often than not. I would love to hear what is working for your kiddos and what you are changing as we enter the new year.

First Day of School

Well, I took an unintentional break from blogging, it seems. Summer got pretty busy there. I did have a couple of posts come and go from my mind, but couldn't seem to get enough time to sit down and hash them out. I'll need to work on a routine for that. But here we are. Its the last week of August and we started back at the school work again today.

I wish I could say it went great. But, alas, I must speak the truth. Not that it was terrible. But the kiddo certainly did not have the attitude I would prefer toward the work. It started right off the bat with math. I really think he's going to enjoy the new approach when we get further along. But he was, shall we say, less than thrilled with the very basic place we started with today. Unfortunately, he also showed me, as he had to count for some of the facts, that is exactly where we needed to start. If we could just get past these facts I know he'll love math. He already does, actually. His complaint was that he wanted to do some harder problems that he saw further in the book. But because those facts are still not solid, those wind up not being as fun as he wants them to be - and we melt.

What we need is some focused attention. That is the character habit we want to work on this year. Last year we worked on diligence/work ethic in both schoolwork and chores. He's come a long way, but that lack of attention to work he really doesn't want to do gets in his way. It really goes hand in hand, don't you think? While he's come to realize that he just has to do it, and will. That lack of attention really affects the end results of the job. Either he can't remember later what was read or studied, or he'll miss  details of a chore, leaving a job poorly done. I believe this is why he still lacks rapid response or recall when it comes to those basic facts.

So, we persevere. Math facts and phonics rules it is - again. But, tomorrow is another day. And we get to do history and science tomorrow. We both enjoy those. And I must say he did fabulous on reading today. He actually told me that the Second grade reader we're using was too easy. Really??? Yes!

The schedule:
M-F at breakfast: Bible study and hymn
        walk, ride, exercise
M-Th about 9:30: Professor B Math, Learning to Spell through Copywork, Reading
        10 minute break
        Spanish
Mondays: geography, grammar, poetry
        Lunch, artist/picture study
        Piano
Tuesdays: history, science, typing
        Lunch
        Homeschool PE class
Wednesdays: history, grammar, composer study
        Lunch
        Park Day!
Thursdays: history, science, typing
        Lunch, personal development (Prudence and the Millers chapter)
        Piano
Fridays: math review as needed, oral spelling exam
        Project day, rotating Webelos projects, field trips, drawing, nature study, Spanish practice with a friend
        Grocery Cart Math when he accompanies me to the grocery store (Friday or Saturday)
        Piano

Piano!

I completely forgot about piano! This past year the kiddo has worked slowly through most of the first DVD from Simply Music. That was an enjoyable introduction to playing the piano without having to learn to read music. I believe it was a good way to go since reading was coming slower for him. We currently have it loaned out to another family, but will probably continue into the second DVD at a later time. It is an enjoyable way to get playing.

But, now that the idea of reading is starting to click, I'd like him to begin learning more about music. Unfortunately, we are not able to do private piano lessons or even buy another home-learning program. But, once again, someone on the SCM forum (I find many things that way) some time ago had recommended a website with free online piano lessons. After browsing around a bit, as far as free programs go, this one looks really good. So, we'll give it a try. It should be easy enough to remember: FreePianoLessons4Kids.com. I will let you know how it goes for us. If you've used it with your family, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Plans for Year 4 (AKA 4th grade)

All materials have been acquired and the guys went on a 3-day campout for Cub Scouts. So I've spent the last three days going over said materials and figuring out how we're going to use them. Aside from listing books we'll source from the library for history and science, planning is done! whew!

• Bible: we'll continue the Proverbs study at breakfast, and move to An Honorable Boy, studying the lives of various men in the Bible, both from Queen Homeschool.
• Math: thanks to the very helpful folks on the SCM forum, I think we've found something that will get us over the mental hurdle we've been struggling with - Proffessor B Math. I had initially thought we'd go with the computer-based version of the program. However, due to our current financial status, I decided to go with the book, used from Amazon. The book title is Mathematics Power Learning For Children.
• Spelling/Copywork: Queen Homeschool's Spelling Through Copywork, Book A. Later in the year I aim to start a book of mottoes for him to record things that he finds particularly interesting, inspiring, encouraging, etc.
• Reading: we'll continue reading practice with the CLE 2nd grade readers, Helping Hands and Happy Hearts. I acquired both of these by putting them on my wish-list at Paperback Swap. In addition, he'll read some of the books for history and science. He will also read something of his choosing in the afternoons for 20-30 minutes. 
• Spanish: I picked up Speedy Spanish Book 1 at a used curriculum sale, and purchased the CDs online. I plan to see if a friend of ours that is a native speaker will help us with practice speaking and may start a Spanish club later in the year, or next year.
• Geography: our history program will naturally include some geography. In addition, we'll read a chapter from Tree in the Trail by Holling C. Holling each Monday.
• Grammar: Monday and Wednesday, continue English for the Thoughtful Child orally, gradually adding in more writing (got this from Paperback Swap, too).
• History: Tuesday-Thursday TruthQuest American History for Young Students II (1800-1865), with the Map/Timeline/Report package. This will take us back to using living books as we had enjoyed before with SCM, overlapping just a bit with where we left off this past year.
• Science: Tuesday and Thursday, the first half of the year we'll study Real Food Nutrition for Kids, using Simple Kitchen Experiments, by Muriel Mandell, and Nourishing Traditions, by Sally Fallon, for experiments and cooking in the kitchen. We will also view videos from westonaprice.org and YouTube, as well as a documentary or two on Netflix. At the end we plan to visit a farmer's market and a farm or two.  For the second half of the year we'll work through Properties of Matter from the God's Design for Chemistry series. I found that at the used curriculum sale, too.
• Literature: reading books, of course. :) After Black Beauty, here's what's on my list: Understood Betsy, Heidi, The Wizard of Oz, Swiss Family Robinson, The Incredible Journey, Bambi, A Life in the Woods . . . We will also continue through Poems Every Child Should Know by Mary E. Burt.
• Character Study: reading a chapter of Prudence and the Millers each Thursday at lunch.
• Picture/Composer/Nature studies: I am determined NOT to let these fall through the cracks this year. Picture study is scheduled at lunch each Monday. Composer study is scheduled each Wednesday before heading to the park. If we have a CD we can even listen in the car. Nature study is part of our Friday rotations to happen one Friday each month. For picture study I'm going to try using an old book my mom found (1925) from Kansas and Nebraska public schools. I hope to find better images of the pictures as we go along. I'm going to see what we find in the library for composers. And for nature study, I plan to simply walk in our neighborhood or park and we'll each draw one thing in our notebooks. Simple enough. 
• Park and PE: We hope to re-join our local homeschool PE program, which will be Tuesday afternoons. And, of course we'll continue to attend park days each Wednesday with our local homeschool group.

I mentioned Friday rotations. Last year we tried a 4-day schedule with Fridays as game days. But Friday's wound up turning into Saturdays with dad being home. So this year, we'll continue the 4-day schedule, as that worked well. But Fridays will be project days instead, rotating field trips, Webelos projects, nature study and Spanish conversation practice. So there you have it, our plan for year 4. Now I can't wait for the end of August so we can get started.

Conflict Resolution

In a family with multiple children, the children naturally have frequent opportunities to learn how to handle the inevitable conflicts of life. And this with their siblings, who can't stop being their siblings. But how does the only child learn this valuable skill? When conflicts arise with his friends, of course. We are getting to an age now where I feel this is delicate ground, though. I'd hate to see the kiddo kill a good friendship by developing bad habits in conflict.

Recently we had this issue twice in the same week, with different sets of friends. The first incident involved hurt feelings, and feeling slighted. The second incident had him pouting over the friends not playing how he wanted. Well, we certainly don't want that to become a habit, do we? Its difficult enough, I think, handling tattling and squabbles between your own children. But I find it far less comfortable to handle these situations between my child and someone else's child.

I am currently looking for something to read, preferably with him, to walk us through handling a conflict with grace. Our church uses The Young Peacemaker materials for the 4th-6th grade Sunday school. But, they just did it this past year, so it will be a couple of seasons before they get around to it again. I'm hoping to find something else so that will not be old hat when his class does it. I'm looking at a couple of books. One is The Peacemaker Student Edition. Technically that is for teens. But I think if we read it together, it could get the message across. And I think I would prefer that over the cartoons of the younger version. The other book I saw recommended on a forum. It has a really lame title, but the content looks pretty good: Say Goodbye to Whining, Complaining and Bad Attitudes . . . in You and Your Kids. Sounds like it will cover many areas beyond just conflict with his friends.

We are currently studying Proverbs, and that certainly covers many of the character issues like humility and pride that are involved in relationships. We can also study other passages like Matthew 18. So I think we'll start there, before we pick up any more books. But the above do look promising. I'll let you know what we come up with down the road. But I'd sure welcome any recommendations.

Its Summer!

Finally we get to summer. Once we hit May, the kiddo couldn't wait to get here. Thankfully we finished up everything but Geography the last week of May, and he likes Geography, so that's not a problem. He would love to go travel on a vacation, and also visit the grandparents and the cousins. And it may happen that we can. But I'm not counting on it. The husband retired from the military six months ago and is still looking for employment. But its still summer, and there is plenty of fun to be had right  where we are, right?

Now we do not do year-round school, but there are some things we carry on through the summer on a very relaxed and flexible routine. Of course with math being the favored subject that it is, ahem, we are doing games and activities from the book Family Math. To keep up with writing, he's writing letters and I intend to have him write my grocery list each week, or a portion of it. So far he's written a letter to our Compassion child and to Grandmom. And of course there's reading, reading, and reading. We're using the Barne's & Noble reading log this month and plan to use a reading log from Half Price Books in July.

But its summer! And Dad's here! That's something this military family hasn't had for a while. Now Dad's not just hanging around the house. He is finding short-term jobs here and there and finding plenty of ways to keep busy. But the kiddo is really enjoying having Dad around. They started a big project of building a tree-fort in the backyard. That will be awesome. Every Wednesday is park day with the local homeschool group. His PS friends are home and available to play. The library puts on some interesting programs. There's the local pool and volunteering at the food bank . . . Yeah, we're not going to be bored.

I probably should add that, for us, its summer in Texas. And we have hit it. This is the time of year I am sorely tempted to become a slug and hide out someplace cool. Many of the outdoor activities are happening in the morning. The husband waited as late as possible to mow today during the last shreds of daylight, and was still dripping. So any excitement I muster is gleaned from the kiddo's enthusiasm. ;) Spring is more my season. But the kid loves summer, so bring it on!

So, what's your summer routine? Any big plans? Share with us what your summers are like.

Looking Back: Year 3 (AKA 3rd grade)

This is the year we just completed, so not that far back. This was a very challenging, but also a very good year. Although he was resistant, the kiddo made great strides - eventually. So, here's what we did:

• Beginning Reading: Really Reading from Tanglewood Education (click on the apple in the red box for the free pdf). We went through this twice, revisiting Progressive Phonics in between. Then we were finally able to start working our way through some first grade readers - Pathway Readers Days Go By, More Days Go By, and I Wonder from CLE.
• Bible: We read through a devotion book for boys, and in preparation for Bible Study, I had him keep a notebook in which he wrote/drew something after each reading. Towards the end of the year, we were able to start Increasing in Wisdom, a study of Proverbs for elementary age students from Queen Homeschool. We are taking this very slowly.
• Character study: We read a chapter from Wisdom and the Millers each week. I think he liked this book, as he's asked to read it again.
• Handwriting/Copywork: Beautiful Handwriting by Penny Gardner. Again, we went through the italic section twice.
• Foreign Language: I purchased The Easy Spanish Junior Level. While we didn't love this program, the kiddo did grow more willing to learn and actually try to speak some Spanish.
• Geography: We continued reading through Window on the World, and are almost through it. When asked he will tell you Geography is his favorite subject and has asked to read this book again, too.
• History: We tried a relatively new curriculum available through Queen Homeschool, A Living History of Our World, Volume 1. I really thought we would love this, and I did enjoy the readings, and really liked the timeline cards. However, the kiddo did not care for the writing style at all and I would have liked to have spent a little more time in some areas of history. While I know I could have brought in lots of extra books and spent as much time as I wanted on each chapter, this did not turn out to be a good fit for us.
• Literature: We've read so many great books! Robin Hood, The Jungle Book, Hans Brinker, The Secret Garden, and Black Beauty (we're a little more than halfway through this one now). We also listened to some poems from Poems Every Child Should Know by Mary E. Burt each week, on Librivox.org. You can also find the text online at The Baldwin Project. And I almost forgot, we had our first look at Shakespeare - A Midsummer Night's Dream. That was fun.
• Math: oh, yeah, that. Have you seen this Calvin & Hobbes cartoon? That would be us. We were all over the place with math this year. We started the year off trying some math facts copywork, which went over like a lead balloon. We went through MEP Year 1, which seemed to help a bit, then went back to Math Mammoth 2nd grade. There is some hope for us, though, which I will discuss in another post.
• Science: The kiddo wanted to study Astronomy, so we used Exploring Creation with Astronomy by Jeannie Fulbright. He really liked it, at first. Unfortunately, the writing style is quite similar to the Living History I mentioned above. And he wanted to do more hands-on experiments. Personally I think these are wonderful books and would like to get the Botany book for myself. But it was another misfit for the kiddo.
• Spelling: Yes, this year I added spelling into the mix with Sequential Spelling. I had hoped this would help his reading with the way the lists are set up. While it did to a small extent, not nearly enough. Although this is an excellent program that has helped lots of kids with learning disabilities, it didn't stick with this one.
• Grammar: I also started English for the Thoughtful Child this year. We worked together orally, introducing some basic grammar concepts, through half of the book. We'll do the other half this next year.
• I did have nature, artist, and composer studies in the plans, as well as drawing. But those somehow fell by the wayside and did not get done. I am reworking the plans for those next year to try to make sure we don't forget them.

While we had quite a few mis-fits with our curriculum this year, I feel I've learned quite a bit from it. I am very pleased with how the kiddo progressed towards the end of the year. A main focus for us through all this was building strong character with a strong work ethic. And while he still has a ways to go (don't we all) we really overcame some hurdles with attitude and willingness, as well as readiness, this year. Overall I think we met our challenges well and had a successful year.