Homeschool (Summer 2010 Edition)

I like to periodically update what we are doing for homeschool.  (Here is last year's summer homeschool update.)  Things change often as the kids grow and learn, we discover new things, I find a great new product, I attend a HS convention, I get bored, etc.  We took a pretty big break in April and May due to our trips to PA, OH, FL, and Jax; having company; illness; appts; and helping out some friends.  This is definitely one of the huge benefits of homeschooling.  We are able to adjust our schedule as our life demands or God leads.  We can also take it wherever we go when we visit family out of town.  Being the teacher and principal definitely has its perks! Now we are back at it full speed.

Carter started his formal schooling at 3 1/2 and has worked pretty much continuously since then.  We do school year round which allows us more time for small breaks, holidays, and travel.  Julia has participated with us on and off, but never regularly.  After her cancer diagnosis last year, she stopped completely and focused on fighting the battle at hand.  For the past six months we have been giving her time to recover, heal, readjust, and relearn the things she lost.  We did not start back with actual academics until this week.

At this point, Carter would be technically a beginning first grader and Julia is doing PreK-4 and some kindergarten.  The luxury of one-on-one instruction is moving at the child's individual pace and tailoring every subject to their current level.  We do our 'table' schoolwork altogether now, usually in the mornings for 2-3 hours.  Other subjects (read alouds, art, music, etc.) are done on a varied schedule throughout the week.

A lot of people have asked where we put all of our stuff.  Do we have a schoolroom? Well, sort of.  I used half of our bonus room when I was teaching just Carter, but with two we needed more space and table top.  I have two tall book shelves in our bonus room that hold our books and materials.  Our art and school supplies are in the hall closet.  All our reading books are housed on one giant IKEA shelving system in our foyer.  Our piles of library books live in blue over-sized IKEA bags.  I have started keeping each child's core curriculum in a colored tote bin.  I have one for each and a shared bin.  This way we are portable.  If we want to work outside, in the kitchen, or while at someone's house we can just pick up and go.  I love having all their books at my fingertips!

SUBJECTS WE DO TOGETHER:
BIBLE:
Jesus Wants All of Me (breakfast devotion)
Leading Little Ones to God by Schoolland
CHARACTER:
A Child's Book of Character Building by R and R Coriell 
Emotions:Photo Learning Cards (Key Education)
ART AND MUSIC:
Artistic Pursuits K-3 Book 1
Kinderbach (piano and music theory DVDs for 2-7yr olds)
Instant Recorder Fun by Poffenberger (using $2 recorder's from Michael's)
SCIENCE:
Developing Critical Thinking Through Science Book 1 (Critical Thinking Co)
HISTORY:
The Light and the Glory for Children (book and activity book) by Marshall & Manuel
Geography Songs by Troxel
READ ALOUDS:
oodles of library books and chapter books


JULIA'S PRE-K 4:
HANDWRITING: 
Handwriting Without Tears
MATH:
Disney Learning Pooh workbooks
Mathematical Reasoning Beg 2 (Critical Thinking Co)
Active Minds Math PreK
Big Preschool Workbook (School Zone)
Brainy Blocks
Patternables (Learning Resources)
READING:
Disney Learning Early Skills workbooks
Ready, Set, Go Level 1 readers and others
CRITICAL THINKING:
Building Thinking Skills Beginning (Critical Thinking Co)
Dr DooRiddles A1 (Critical Thinking Co)
FINE MOTOR:
My First Book of Cutting (Kumon)
Easy Crafts (Kumon)

CARTER'S 1st GRADE: 
WRITING:
Writing With Ease Lev 1 (Susan Wise Bauer)
READING:
Primers and Readers (J.P. Lippincott) They were mine as a child!
Language Smarts LevB (Critical Thinking Co.)
Reading Comp Gr1 (Steck-Vaughn)
SPELLING:
All About Spelling Lev 1 by Marie Rippel
MATH:
Daily Warm Ups Gr1 (Teacher Created Resources)
Singapore Math 1B with Frank Schaffer supplemental workbooks
Word Problems Gr1 (TCR)
Math Games Gr1 (TCR)
Hot Dots (addition, subtraction)
Software: Quarter Mile Math, Mindbenders
SCIENCE :
Exploring Creation with Astronomy by Jeannie Fulbright (Apologia)
Knowledge Box Central Lapbook (for the above text)
HISTORY/GEOGRAPHY:
US Govt Lapbook K-2  (Knowledge Box Central)
Beginning Map Skills Gr 2-4 (TCR)
Around the World game (LOVE this from Dollar Tree!!)
atlases and puzzles
variety of fiction and nonfiction literature
CRITICAL THINKING:
Dr. Dooriddles A2 (Critical Thinking Co.)
Building Thinking Skills Book 1 (Critical Thinking Co)
FINE MOTOR:
Amazing Crafts (Kumon)

Whew, quite a list! Please know we obviously do not do all of these everyday. Some are only once a week and some will come later in the academic year.  With others we jump between a variety of books at once.  In looking over the list many of my most favorite resource companies are listed, definitely many of my 'go-to' favorites.  It has been exciting to finally get into all of these books.  I have been exploring my options over the past couple years- researching, trial and error, talking to friends, and finally at the Ohio HS Convention (a-ma-zing!!).  And I am happy to say we are at a good place with both kids.  One of my biggest revelations over the past year has been honing my focus.  Our three central priorities are:

• binding my children's hearts to God in every way I can and am called to do.
• character above academics.
• and teaching them how to think and learn.  The ability to think critically and process information, trumps memorizing content any day.

And the rest just falls into place.