Did yall get nervous I wasn't coming back, again?
We have been going non-stop this past week. My mom came in last weekend to watch the girls while I went to our state homeschooling conference and for a Rice event that Daniel had Friday evening. She stayed until Monday and we went to the downtown aquarium to celebrate her retirement and school starting for both Daniel and the girls. I was planning on starting school this week, but I was enjoying my mom's company and didn't get anything done over the weekend. I debated about starting next week, but I decided just to bite the bullet and go. Really, everything has been open and go, so I haven't had any issues. I really just missed the mental build-up that I was planning. Lame, right?
The homeschooling conference is always exciting -- a lot of great speakers and more curriculum displays than you ever want to see. I took James with me, and he sort of kept me from truly enjoying everything I could the one day I was there, but I was asking a lot from him. I listened to two audio lectures on the way to and from, and after everything was said and done, I got more out of the CD's than the actual conference. They were just that amazing, though. In case you are wondering, it was
this and
this. Seriously amazing. I borrowed them, but I want to own the whole set myself to listen to again and again and again.
Now for what nobody has been looking forward except me -- the 4th Annual "Not" Back-to-School Blog Hop. (Maybe when this whole blog hop is done, I will have more people reading my blog than just my mom.)
(I just want to say that I figured out how to get that icon centered. It's amazing how quickly your computer skills disappear when you spend all day changing diapers.)
Bible: This is the most important in our book. At the core of our decision to homeschool is our desire to train up our children. This year we will be going through a character study, using
Kids of Integrity. So much is packed into this curriculum and I am excited about it working in my faith walk, as well.
All About Spelling: I first heard about AAS before we even started homeschooling. I was planning on using it when Emily got into 1st grade, but I started to realize we could use it now given Emily's reading level. I was thinking it might be too much, but a couple of days before it arrived, she started walking around the house spelling words. At the core, it is a phonics program. I want her to really know all the phonics rules, since this was not a part of my education back in the day. She already has learned so much! I love that the program is multi-sensory, so it works for auditory, visual, and kinesthetic learners. Our lessons have been very short and enjoyable, and I can't wait to get deeper in this program
RightStart Math - I researched tons of programs, and as another visual, auditory, and hands-on program, I thought this would be a good for for a 4 year old. Once she had 1-10 cemented, I wasn't sure where to go next. I knew I didn't want my children to just memorize their numbers. Obviously, kids have no problem memorizing -- you see an 18 month old who can sing their abc's, but does that child truly know what "r" is? The RightStart program is based on Asian math and seems to build a strong foundation. And I will be honest, I even count on my fingers sometimes. Hopefully I can give my children more.
A Reason for Handwriting - I picked this program because it matches my own style of handwriting and the children practice writing Scripture at the higher levels. Working through the Kindergarten level, kids just practice a single letter each time. Despite being able to print something off for free online somewhere, it has a sweet animal picture on the other side that I let Emily watercolor. She loves getting to paint her picture, so this is the only reason I don't feel this was a waste of money. Verse work starts in the next level, so it will be more beneficial then.
The Way They See It - Emily is very artistic. This has been her passion since she turned a year old. I'm not saying she is amazing, or anything, but even at 18 months, she would spend an hours coloring each day. I want to be able to develop this in whatever way I can. I bought The Way They See It and think it will be a great fit. It goes through different art techniques and also uses real world examples to point out artistic ideas, all while being geared specifically for 3-5 year olds. We haven't used this yet, because I know I have to mentally prep myself for a mess, especially when I have a certain 2 year old who does not like being left out.
Geography - So, I don't know where this all started, but Emily sometimes draws maps in her spare time.
Do you see the streets, buildings (dark blobs), and the airplanes (the crosses in the middle of the right side)?
I decided to buy
Beginning Geography and do a couple pages each week. We are also doing a country study which just consists of read-alouds each week from a different country. The only thing I want her to grasp by the end of the year is that not everybody lives like we do and we are so blessed to have everything the Lord has graciously given us.
Science - I bought the
First Encyclopedia of Science, which has a different topic on each two-page spread. Each week we will be covering a different topic and checking out extra read-alouds from the library on that topic. My main goal here is just exposure. It gives me some sort of game plan, otherwise we just keep checking out the same type of books from the library.
As far as Olivia goes, I have some easy activities planned for her from
Pinterest. Oh, Pinterest, what would I do without you? There really are some brilliant things I would have never thought about.
This is the core of what we will be doing this year. I'm excited to be using stuff that already came pre-packaged (for the most part) this year. Last year, I spent almost as much time printing and laminating everything than we did actually using the materials. Although, when I pull it all out for Olivia, I shouldn't have to do anything :)
Well, that is it for now. Next week... our school room.
