Tuesday, March 1, 2011

All About Reading


Finally, the author of All About Spelling is releasing a reading program, All About Reading
I am so excited. All About Spelling is an amazing multi-sensory curriculum. It incorporates sight, sound, and touch, into the teaching of spelling. I have always wanted to use it as a reading program but never had the time to make it work. Now I don't have to. The first level, Level pre-1 is being released tomorrow! Yeah! You can check it out at All About Reading

Friday, January 28, 2011

Getting Back into Routine

I has been a rough couple of weeks for us. I have been trying really really hard to us back on track. I picked a bad time to do that because of various appointments we've had the last couple of weeks but I am determined. Now that this week is over things will slow down and we can start focusing more on our studies. I'm really excited about the curriculum I've chosen for us this year. I think it will be a great fit for our family.


Math
Artist and Nerf Dude are in RightStart level C. There are 150 lessons so if we did one lesson each day it would take us about 30 weeks. I'm planning on us doing two lessons a day so we will be done in about 15 weeks. Level C covers addition and subraction up to 4-digit, beginnig multiplication, some money and geometry, time, measurement and frctions. A lot of it I think they will be able to handle easily. I started with level C hoping to give them a solid foundation in place value and addition and subtraction.
Casanova is in Level A. I'm hoping to cover this in about half the time as well. There are only 77 lessons so if every thing goes well he will be done in two months. If not, that's ok, my goal is to have him finished with Level A around the same time Artist and Nerf Dude are finishing with Level C.
I'm planning on sitting down with the Teachers Guides this weekend to write up my goals. I also have Math Mammoth 1-A and 3-A to fill in on busy days when I don't have time to sit down and work with them.

Friday, January 7, 2011

Gearing up for a new year of homeschooling

After a little break I'm pulling things together to start our lessons again. My hope is to keep track of what we do with this blog. I'm excited for this new year. I have some new curriculum plans and high hopes that this will be a turning point for our family. It's been a really rough year for us. I think getting back into a good routine will be good for all of us. So, without further ado, this is what I'm planning on using.



Reading/Spelling: Reading Reflex and All About Spelling

Math: RightStart Math and possibly Math Mammoth plus our new Zillio

Writing: Writing Tales and possibly Write Shop A for Casanova

History: Trail Guide to Learning: Paths of Exploration

Science: I haven't decided on science yet. The above curriculum for history includes science but from what I've read it is pretty light. I'll wait and see how it goes and if I think we need more we'll add something separate for science.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Song for a Fifth Child by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing and butter the bread,
Sew on a button and make up a bed.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I’ve grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue
(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
(Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).
The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew
And out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo
But I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo.
Look! Aren’t her eyes the most wonderful hue?
(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
For children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.

This poem is very dear to my heart today. I fill like all I ever get done is cleaning and I'm completely missing out on my children's childhood, especially my fifth one. It is going so fast, and soon they will be grown and gone. I want to savor every moment of it. I want to be more like the mother in this poem.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Crazy Life

Life has sure been crazy these past few months. I can't believe all that has happened. My husband lost his job in the middle of September so we decided to move back home. We are staying with my grandparents out in the country. It was a hard move, a hard decision but it had to be made. We saw it as a good opportunity to be closer to family. We had a great life where we were living. A lot of good friends and neighbors were left behind. I find myself trying to get settled back in to the place where I was born and raised but too afraid to set roots too deep in case a job comes far away. My husband is going on his third interview today. He had one yesterday and it went well. He was really impressed with the company and has high hopes of getting the job. It's about an hour and a half away from where my family is. It would be perfect for us. We are keeping our fingers crossed. I'm wanting to reach out to the homeschool community but find myself waiting because I don't want to have to pull my kids away from their friends again. They seem to be adjusting well. The really haven't mention missing home or their friends much. Today I showed them a couple of Christmas cards that came in the mail from some old friends and I found out how much they really do miss them! I found myself missing 'home' to when I saw the pictures that were sent. I try not to think about it too much. I'm just going through the motions hoping a job will come along soon and we can have our own place again.
We found out that I am pregnant two days before my husband lost his job! It was a complete surprise. I am due May 11. My ultrasound last week showed that we are having another boy. What a crazy life!

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Wow! Is summer almost over already?

This summer has really flown by! It seems as I get older time just keeps speeding up. I guess the busyness of life makes time go by at lightning speed.

I am aiming at the beginning of September for us to officially start school. We've been dabbling in it for a couple of days. I'm trying to get my act together as well as get the kids ready to start back. It's seems to be easier said then done, especially with two very active little ones. I've come up with a few ideas to keep them occupied while I work with the older ones. Casanova has shown an interest in doing school work. When I've been working with the older two he will often ask if he can do some school work too. I've been using Bob Jones University math with Casanova and he loves it.

I started reading aloud James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl this week. They love it! My kids usually hate when I try to read to them from a chapter book. I've been reading The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease. He listed James and the Giant Peach as a great read aloud so I thought I would give it a try. I'm glad I did. Fairy is always asking me to read more after I close the book. She even said she wished there was another book like it. Skywalker even giggles and follows the plot. Casanova has even been listening in some which really surprised me! I'm happy to finally have found a great book to keep them captivated and hopefully turn them on to the love of reading!

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Getting Ready

I'm starting to prepare for our new school year. I'm aiming at our start date for the beginning of September. I still haven't gotten all our curriculum yet. I'm hoping to buy RightStart Math in September. We've never used it before but it has gotten some great reviews. It uses a different approach than most math curriculum. It incorporates a lot of games and hands on manipulates that I think my kids will love! No more drill and kill for us. The link to it is in my right sidebar.

I'm also waiting on some readers to come for Skywalker. He has been struggling with reading since we started homeschooling. I took him to a development optometrist in June who diagnosed him with saccadic eye movement deficiency, which is the ability to look from one object to the next quickly and accurately. In other words he has issues with tracking. The doctor has given me therapies to work with him on at home, and I'm suppose to take him in once a month to be reevaluated. Skywalker hates the therapy but has made some improvements. He used to rub his eyes a lot when he was reading and now he doesn't do so much any more. It just hard keeping him inside to work with him when the neighborhood kids keep coming over!