What We Chose This Year and Why! 2nd Grade and Kindergarten

The homeschool blogs are buzzing this week as we all gather up our supplies, make final decisions on our curriculum, and organize our homeschool rooms! With so many options out there, sometimes it is hard to choose the curriculum that is right for you, especially if this is your first year!

So here is what we settled on this year and why!

Math - A Beka
I have used A Beka math every year with my Princess.  I love it. It is challenging, but presents the concepts in a variety of different ways to help the kids get it one way or another. When talking with other parents, I sometimes hear that you or your child must be good at math for this curriculum, but so far, it has never given us a problem!

Phonics (K) - A Beka
A Beka's phonics program worked great for my Princess, so I am now using it for my kindergartner. There are little readers that go along with it that the kids enjoy, as well as colorful daily worksheets. Both of my kids have been early readers, so this helps make any phonics program a little easier.
I also supplement the readers with other phonics readers. This year, we have Biscuit, Thomas the Engine, and Go, Diego, Go! on the schedule!

Reading (2) - Sonlight
Early on, I decided to do my own reading with my kids and to take a classical approach. I have lined out many classical novels and pieces of literature to span our years of education. My Little Princess, however, has excelled in reading and is above her reading level. This has put a hitch in my planning for this year. Why? Because she went ahead and did the 2nd grade reading last year. Why not let her go ahead? She is six years old. Many of the themes in the literature that I have chosen for the third grade level is intended for a bit more mature of an audience. She could read it, but the concepts would be a bit out of her grasp. Therefore, plan B was Sonlight.
Sonlight's literature is wonderful. They use a combination of Award Winning fiction, biographies and historical novels to round out a year that will teach your child more about the world around him/her. If it weren't quite so expensive, it could quite possibly be a first choice for me. So, for this interim-year, we have decided to do Sonlight's third grade readers.

Language (2) - A Beka
Once again, I turn to the quality education of A Beka. I just don't know of any other curriculum that does as great a job on presenting the material! One should note, however, that A Beka is a more workbook-based curriculum and may not be the best choice for more active, hands-on learners.

History (K & 2) - A Beka
At this level, Social Studies and History are very basic. I like that A Beka offers introduction to American History with a Christian perspective, rather than a more Social Studies focus. I am also familiar with A Beka's history at the upper (High School) levels and know that I will most likely use them, therefore a groundwork in that same curriculum should be a plus for my kiddos. I am thinking about using Mystery of History during a few of our Middle School years, but I will let you know at that point in time!

Science (K & 2) - Unit Studies
Choosing science this year was difficult for me. I like A Beka's science curriculum beginning at 3rd grade. We are not there yet. Up until this point, I have used Christian Liberty Press Science, however, I was not intrigued by what was offered for this next level. Therefore, I decided to try Unit Studies and do both kids together. I have heard many people talk about unit studies, but as of yet, I have not done them myself. I purchased several science unit books from Usborne that I think my kids will enjoy. I have planned out several field trips to go along with these units and found many fun worksheets and ideas online (for free!). We plan to make some of our first lapbooks this year too! (If you are in the dark about lapbooks, as I was, google it!) My favorite site that I have found to find lapbook printouts (for free!) and other worksheets is www.homeschoolshare.com. What started out as a frustration not knowing what we were going to do, has ended up with me being tremendously excited about this year's science!

Fine Arts
There is all sorts of things that you can do for fine arts! The sky is the limit! This year I found a really neat Art book called "The Usborne First Book of Art." I think it is really neat because it takes famous paintings, critically looks at them (at a child's level) and then offers a project to do based on that style or technique using regular "homeschool" art supplies!
We are also doing piano and guitar this year. We will see how that goes (this mama is not musically talented). Good thing my husband has a gift in music!

PE
One of the hardest subjects for homeschoolers can be physical education. It is difficult to stay in shape when you are not running around a gym for an hour with 30 other children. My number one solution: Community sports. Get your kids involved in sports and it will give them many wonderful pay-outs.  In addition I found this book this year: "The Ultimate Homeschool Physical Education Game Book." What is so great about this book is that it offers a variety of sports with rules tailored to as few as 2-3 kids. I can't wait to start putting this one to use!

That just about covers what we are tackling for this upcoming school year. The kids and I are all really excited to begin - in just a few short weeks! I look forward to sharing our experiences with you as we get ready to start what I hope will be the best homeschool year ever. Any questions?

So, what are you using?

Schedule Solutions

If your child is anything like mine, then she likes to do things in her own time. When we first started homeschooling this drove me crazy! I wanted to have a set schedule with blocks of time for each subject. The problem? Princess was not wired that way. Somedays it would take her 10 minutes to do math, and then the next it would take 50 minutes. There was no way to judge how long anything would take her. This drove me crazy! And it drove my poor daughter crazy too. Once she told me that she loved everything about school except when I told her to hurry up. Oh, no! I didn't want her to have that sort of attitude about school stemming from me!

After two years (sometimes it takes us a while to get over our preconceived notions!), we figured out a way that worked for both of us! I liked to have the assignments all planned out and in order each day, and she didn't care about the clock. What I did is create this lovely "dry erase" schedule board. On each day I would write (in dry erase marker) her assigments for that day. As she accomplished each thing, she would wipe it off the list. It worked for us both! It is also a really cute feature in our school room:



It is very easy to make! I found this cute frame at our local Family Dollar store for very inexpensive. The kids and I looked through old magazines and used construction paper to create the backgrounds. (Note: the more solid and light colored the background, the better you can see your writing) Then you just write on the glass with a dry erase marker. We use a tissue to erase. It is so much fun!

Today, for Project #1 of Project Week, I added an addition to our wall planner:

I found also found this cute corkboard frame at our local Family Dollar store. I didn't have a really good place to display the kids work (really, really important to do!).  This frame is not terribly big (ie. it won't make your house look terrible!) and is perfectly decorated with pictures of my beautiful babies!

What ideas have you used to make your homeschool room cute instead of gaudy??

Easier than Pie 4th of July Dessert

This 4th of July week has been pretty hectic, so I decided on a super easy 4th of July dessert. All you need is:

1 box blue Jell-o
1 box red Jell-o
1 tub cool whip
Some pretty clear glasses or goblets

Step 1: Make the jell-os
Step 2: Layer them, along with the cool whip, in the glasses - red, white, blue, white, etc.
Step 3: Celebrate with a cool and refreshing 4th of July dessert and some fireworks!

I will post pics later of how mine turns out!

Lessons From the County Fair

I am so excited! Today my two little ones will get to show their chickens at the county fair! This may sound odd for you, but my husband is an agriculture man and loves his chickens. My kids, especially the princess, have taken up that love as well. These particular chickens were bought at a day old in March and the kids have done all the work to care for and raise these little things! I am most definitely not a bird person, but I love that my husband takes the time to give them this experience!

I love the fair! I think it is a timeless tradition that brings together families and loved ones for a good time and a chance to take pride in the things they do. What I never realized before now was what a great tool the fair can be for a homeschooler! It gives them a chance to get outside the home and present the things they have worked on during the year! As for us, we get our extra-curriculars mostly outside the home through homeschool co-op, community sports, and 4-H. Fair is just the icing on that cake for us!

Here are some lessons that kids can learn at the fair:

1) Specific instruction and hands-on training in a particular subject for months leading up to the fair. This year my daughter did chickens and photography, both of which taught her tons of facts and skills she hadn't known before. Many of the 4-H projects available tie right in to many of our homeschool lessons.


2) Pride. When the kids show their projects, they present them at their best. The kids work so hard to prepare for show and it gives them a sense of pride and accomplishment in their work because others (besides parents and grandma!) get a chance to appreciate their work.

3) Not everyone can win. Let's face it, our kids need to learn that they can't always be first or the best at everything. That is real life. As homeschoolers, they don't get a lot of that. They are always the best (and only) in their class! Not receiving the ribbon can have some great lessons for our little ones!

4) Cooperation. Have you ever seen a child show their project at fair without mom or dad's help? No! Fair teaches kids to cooperate with others in their family to get the job done and get their project looking it's very best. This is a good lesson for some of our more independent children!

5) Tradition. So many families involved in fair have created a sort of tradition out of their time at fair. Whether it is buying boots and hats, having a meal together on the grounds or participating in some of the wacky events together, when done the same every year it is a way to build memories and traditions that the kids will always remember.

As I said, I have always loved fair season. Now, I just have more reason to love it and get involved with it! What do you love about the fair?

Favorite Read Alouds for Boys and Girls

Ok, so I am going to jump in here with all the buzz about Read Alouds! It is a perfect time of year for us since it is the season of the Summer Reading Program at our library. My daughter's goal this year is top reader, therefore Mom (that's me!) must find more books that have not yet been exhausted! However, while I am reading and stealing everyone else's ideas, I thought I could at least contribute our own!

I am not sure how I am going to possibly narrow down to a top 10 with as many books that are on our shelf and the hundreds more at our disposal at the library. However, I will share the first ones that come to my mind as being my kids favorites for us to share as a family:



I know I've posted this before,
but it is so cute and fitting for this post!

 1) Definite #1 is the Llama Llama Red Pajama series by Anna Dewdney. I just LOVE those books!

2) The Bear Books as we call them. They are the series by Karma Wilson including Bear Wants More and Bear's Loose Tooth.

3) Are You A Horse by Andy Rash. Great for any Cowgirl or Cowboy!

4) Every Cowgirl Needs A Horse (and its sequel Every Cowgirl Needs Dancing Boots) by Rebecca Janni. I know it is geared toward girls, but it is SO CUTE!

5) The Biscuit series by Alyssa Capucilli - great for early readers!

6) Elephant and Piggy Series by Mo Willems are a favorite for lots of giggles

7)  Any books by Karen Beaumont are sure to provide entertainment for the whole family, especially our favorite Who Ate All the Cookie Dough

8)  Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak is a classic read aloud

9)  I still love Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst

10) Oh, no! I'm at ten already! I suppose I will end with the Family Time Bible composed by Kenneth Taylor. These are perfect length stories to read at bed time which are told in a way that is understandable for the whole family. We love to read one of these along with every bed time story each night.

I feel like I have just scratched the surface of our favorites, but then, we are a family that loves to read. Moms, I believe the love of reading comes from demonstration. If you read in front of your kids and to your kids and show an excitement and love for reading, that will be contagious. I have also used more books as a reward for reading. When my kids have read all the books they have at home and a good chunk from the library, they get to go book shopping. My sister told me once that the reason she loves to read so much is because she remembers when we were younger (I was seven years older), before she could read, I would sit and read stories to her. She said I would use different voices for the characters and get her so into the stories that she wanted to learn to read as soon as possible so she could become a part of more exciting adventures.

Reading is the basis for learning. It is a key that unlocks the doors to every other subject out there. Most importantly, I tell my children that reading is so valuable because it is the only way that we are able to read God's Word and understand God's Will and plans for our lives. So, go forth today and READ to your little ones!

Evaluating Your Next Year's Essentials

This was the year. The first year that Princess would take standardized testing in school. I ordered the Iowa test from A Beka (wonderful to work with!) and administered the test myself at the public library. My plan - if the test turned out horrible, she is ahead a year, so we have another year to redo the grade. If it was horrible again, we were putting her in private school. Everyone knew that she would do fine, but I needed that confirmation. I need to know where we were on target and where I was lacking. The test results gave me the confidence to homeschool another year. It also gave me a visual evaluation on where we stood in our core subjects. For example, I know that we need to work a little bit more on our listening skills.

In our state, we are not required to give our children standardized tests. I also know many homeschool families that choose not to do standardized testing because they teach in a very non-traditional way that would not be accurately reflected by a standardized test. For me, because of what I consider the essentials of my homeschool, standardized testing is a beautiful tool to help me evaluate for next year. Dear homeschooling companion, as you embark on your journey this summer to plan for next year, consider evaluating and writing down what you consider the essentials. With this clearly in mind, it will help you to mold your planning to meet your own expectations. Here are mine, to get you thinking!

1) Build a foundation of biblical knowledge and demonstrate God's love and Christ-likeness in all we do.

This is our number one priority for homeschooling. This is something that they cannot receive in the public school system. There are many ways to go about this. We choose to have morning family devotions before we begin school and we also have a period of Bible study during our school day. Our class rules encourage a Christ-like behavior. There are many other ways, but you get the idea!

2) Give my children the opportunity to excel to their own capabilities in their education.

No child is equal. No child will excel at the same pace nor respond to the same method of teaching. I want my children to truly learn their material. I want them to go to college and excel. I want them to be equipped to do anything they want to do with their futures. This is why I like the standardized testing. I want to know what we need to work harder on each year so that they can compete for things like scholarships and honor societies in college.

Those are my top two. I could keep going, but I think you get the idea. What do you consider the essentials? How do you plan to emphasize them in your next school year?



My baby sister receiving her college diploma. I hope to see my babies here one day!



Flexibly Organizing Your Homeschool

Here's the post you've all been waiting for! I know you've all been there. You get that motivation over the summer to get all of your lessons lined out for the new year. You print copies, make folders, gather supplies, and mark up your calendar. After about two months, you have scratched out and thrown out all of your hard work because things just didn't go as planned. Can you say frustration. While this is all with good intent, this is not the way to start off your homeschool year.

I, however, can not function without some semblance of organization. After trial and error, trial and error, I finally devised a way that works perfectly for me. It is simple, flexible and still keeps us very well organized. Here's how I do it:

1) Remember our discussion about time slots? I use this information to figure out how many classes of a particular subject I will have. For example, if I decided that we would do math every day and school 170 days, then I will have 170 math lessons to plan. Sometimes the number of lessons is decided by the curriculum you use.

2) I make a printout that simply numbers however many lessons (170) and a blank spot to fill in what subject we will cover, and page numbers or other activities.

3) I then, over the summer, take each subject individually and look through the books. I divide it up into however many lessons I need and decide how many pages or what projects I will do for each lesson. For example, on day 27 we might do math pages 78-79 covering double digit addition, and a flash-card review.

4) Then I don't do anything until the week before! Each week I sit down and plan for the next school week. I look at each subject and put the next weeks lessons on the planner. That way, if we aren't progressing as far in Reading as we are in Spelling, I can change the week's schedule to accommodate that. If we have a dentist appointment on Tuesday followed by Homeschool Co-op, then I can plan to do Tuesday's lessons on Monday. It allows the freedom to plan each week, or day, as it comes and still keep track of how you are progressing in each individual subject. This works fabulous for me. If you are looking for a new method to getting organized but need to stay flexible (because, say, you are a homeschooling youth pastor's wife) then try this out!

What methods have worked for you??