We have been in school for 6 weeks now. I like to start in the summer as it gives us time to take off in the fall when the weather is nicer - and we have several birthdays in the fall.
One of our family traditions is getting new school supplies and books as a "surprise". I piled up each child's things in chairs and on the sofa in our family room and then they all came in to see what surprises were there.
Christopher has a lot of reading to do this year. He enjoys reading so this shouldn't be a huge burden to him. Some of his coursework (11th grade) includes:
Advanced Biology (Apologia)
American History (Notgrass) - includes Bible, History and English units
Algebra II (MathUSee)
Movies as Literature
Rebecca and Christopher are both doing US Geography. They are learning a lot about the states through the various projects. One of the projects is to cook a meal from that state. I am loving seeing them work together in the kitchen - and loving having them cook! They have made 1 to 2 meals per week and they have been very good!
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Rebecca loves to cook and was excited about this new part of the curriculum.
Rebecca (8th grade) will be doing unit studies (Hitty from FIAR is the current one and then we'll move to Presidents), Algebra 1, Rainbow Science, logic, Write Shop and more.
Joshua will be doing Volume 4 of FIAR this year. He is also working on Epsilon level in MathUSee, writing in a journal, logic and more.
Isaiah will be doing Volume 4 of FIAR too. He will continue in math and handwriting. What I am working to add more of to his day is science. He loves science experiments. He has been very excited to do them and I love seeing his enthusiasm!
Isaiah is excited about pirates - and we did more study on pirates to take advantage of this interest. More on this in another post.
I bought Funtastic Frogs - mostly for Daniel, but thought that Isaiah might enjoy them too. We are just getting started, so I'll have to post later as to how that goes. A number of the books are geared for K-2 though so it seemed a good thing for both boys.
Daniel will be doing Five in a Row, math, handwriting - mostly hands-on things. The ABC wikki stix were to help with learning the alphabet as well as helping with his sensory needs. He enjoys hands-on projects and has very good fine motor skills.
The surprise Daniel liked best was this treat he first had as part of his therapy - when he did not like pizza! Thankfully he loves it now!
Eliana had a small stash of things that she was happy to play with. I've already gotten most of her "school things" in boxes and she is already working on learning a variety of skills from puzzles to lacing and more. I'll post (hopefully) at a later date more about what I'm doing specifically with her.
This little sweetheart is just so easy to please.
There was also a pile that was for everyone. The large bin contains science experiments in a bag. I hosted a swap locally and we had a full group! We have a lot of fun experiments to look forward too. My younger boys have loved doing these! There are a few more scienc books and some CDs/DVDs to enjoy.
We also eat breakfast out. This year we went to IHOP and had a yummy meal together. Its a fun way to start the year.
I have written out goals for each of the children for the upcoming year which are shared with them too. I'm excited about the year and feel better prepared than I have in a few years. Praying that this year would be one in which we would learn - not just academics, but more about God, that we would grow spiritually, emotionally and intellectually and that we would be a blessing to those around us as we live our lives.
I'm thankful for the privilege of being able to homeschool and don't take the responsibility lightly. It is a blessing.
With love
Leslie
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