Virtual Curriculum Fair: Week 5: The Nuts & Bolts: Pulling it all Together

I didn't participate in last week's Virtual Curriculum Fair.  Lack of time to write was my excuse.  The truth is that I really don't think I do a very good job in including "the arts" which was the subject of the week.  So, I didn't have a chance to write a post, but I sort of felt relieved because I didn't have to try to look as if I had it all together and working in the area of "the arts."

And that bring us to this week's final post- the pulling it all together.  I'm going to give a brief "day in the life" sketch.  But, first, I want to reiterate something that I posted the very first week I did this Virtual Curriculum Fair.  And that is this:  this homeschooling thing is not a game where we need to try to one up someone else.  It isn't a comparison where I look at what everyone else is doing and feel like the lowest of low because I don't measure up.  Homeschooling my children is a blessing and a privilege.  It is something God has called me to and which I undertake with care.  But, what I do in my homeschooling is not what you should do in yours.

I had a real life friend tell me, not so long ago, that she constantly felt guilty about homeschooling- like she wasn't doing enough, doing it well enough, covering enough material.  I told her what I'll post here.  I know homeschoolers who homeschool 8 hours a day doing "school at home."  I'm not one of those.  I know homeschoolers who are unschoolers and who don't have any regularly scheduled lessons.  I'm not one of those (though I sometimes think I'd like to be.)  Neither of those people are doing it wrong.  And neither am I.  And neither is my friend in real life.  And neither are you.  Whether you use textbooks or living books, whether you homeschool classically or have a Charlotte Mason philosophy, whether you teach Latin or Spanish or Shakespeare or none of those, what matters is that you do what's best for your family.  And that's between you and God.

So, with all of that out of the way, here's what a "typical" day looks like for us:

Between 8:30 and 9, we all get up and make our way to the table.  I'm usually serving up breakfast, which is most often cold cereal or instant oatmeal, sometime around 9.

I aim for everyone to be in the schoolroom between 9:30 and 10.

Bible is first.  This year we are alternating reading through an overview of the entire Bible with reading through the Westminster Shorter Catechism.

Next, I read history and science aloud while I allow the kids to color, draw, use blocks, etc. while they listen.  The exception is my older children take notes for science.

Now we split up and the big kids begin independent work which includes Bible reading, AWANA study, literature unit, grammar, and math.  The little girls and I have a math meeting (a la Saxon) and read from their literature unit.

Then the little girls move into their independent work- phonics, reading, math, AWANA, and copywork.  I rotate through all four at this point inspecting and answering questions.

Between 12 and 12:30 we break for lunch.  Often the younger girls are through with independent work now.

After lunch I encourage everyone to play outside unless it is hailing or sleeting.  And by encourage, I say something like, "You better not come back in this house unless there is blood involved."  I use this time to finish lunch and catch up on some housework.

Around 1:30, I'll have everyone back in and we'll do one our "extras" together- picture study, music, or Shakespeare.

Little girls then head to their room for a mandatory rest time while I do Latin or logic with the older kids- 2 days of Latin, one or two of logic and a day for catch up.

At this point, the older kids sometimes have more independent work.  They will finish up and then are allowed to watch Netflix until 3:30 or 4 when the little girls are through with a rest time.

And that is a typical school day.  Throw in days where someone is sick or we have a field trip or I just have to do the laundry that is taking over the house and you'll have our "normal" week.

I want to thank Susan at Homeschooling Hearts and Minds for hosting this Virtual Curriculum Fair.  I've enjoyed sharing what we do in our homeschool and in peeking at what others do.

Weekly Wrap Up- And Then There Was Me

This week has gone by in a bit of a blur.  The cold that was passed on to me by my dear children and that I thought was gone chose to come back in full force as a sinus infection.  I spent most of the week in a fog before finally heading to the doctor for an antibiotic today.  I think we really did get some school work done.  I think we even got quite a bit done - except for today of course.

Monday- normal school work; science time where we talked about comets, made a comet nucleus using dry ice, and ate comets (milkshakes); gymnastics for Ashlyne
Tuesday - normal school work and absolutely nowhere to go Woohoo!
Wednesday- normal school; church activities
Thursday - normal school; gymnastics for Ashlyne
Friday- doctor for me and absolutely nothing productive in the way of school

We finished up Module 8 in our Apologia General Science book.  I've loved learning the differences between the uniformitarian and catastrophist view of geology and looking at how the data stacks up for each.

The little girls and I are almost finished with Little House on the Prairie.  We've enjoyed it, but I think we'll take a break after this one and pick up The Prairie Primer again next school year.  I'm ready for a Little House break and have some other literature units we could use next.

Charles and I had a little show down about math this week.  I had to spell out exactly what a careless mistake is and how he cannot keep making them so profusely in his math lessons.  Amazingly, the child didn't think he should be penalized "just because I multiplied wrong!".  Um, yes, that would be a wrong answer, Son, and a careless mistake.

And, that, my friends, is our week, such as it was.  I think I will now go to bed and hope for wellness next week.

For more Weekly Wrap-Ups, check out Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

Weekly Wrap Up- A "Normal" Week Edition

I am very happy to report that this was mostly a normal week for school.  Woohoo!  Unfortunately, I had the yucky crud that the kids have all recovered from, but we plunged ahead and actually accomplished quite a bit this week.

Bible: We are still skimming through the Bible with a 90 day overview.  It is taking us well over 90 days because we are alternating reading with studying the Westminster catechism.  But, we're well into the kings of Israel now.  This week we read about David and Solomon in 2 Samuel and 1 Kings.  We are also covering those catechism questions.  We aren't memorizing them, but we are taking the time to discuss them.  This week we were looking at the fact that none of us are able to keep the commandments without sin and what that means for us.

History: We read chapters 16-19 in Story of the World vol.4  We are plunging headlong into the first world war.

Science: We finished up Module 7 of Apologia General Science and began reading Module 8.  In module 7, we read about fossils and where they are found.  In Module 8, we're comparing the uniformitarian view with the catastrophist view of geology.  I love Apologia and feel like I am learning as much or more than the kids.

Picture Study: We are currently looking at pictures by Paul Cezanne.

Music: We listened to The Children's Corner by Claude Debussey.

Shakespeare: We are almost finished reading A Midsummer Night's Dream.  We've enjoyed reading this aloud together.

All of this and literature, AWANA, and math independently made for a good week.  And, we still had time to visit with friends on Tuesday, take Ashlyne to the gym Monday, Thursday, and Friday, and do church things on Wednesday.

For more weekly wrap-ups, check out Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

Virtual Curriculum Fair Week 3- Social Studies and more Science

This week's curriculum fair takes a look at social studies (history) and science.  I will confess that these are two areas where I have had the most difficulty finding a good fit for our family.

First, history:
When we began our homeschooling journey, we were using mostly ABEKA materials (as I said in my very first post).  I really don't like ABEKA (or any traditional text book I've seen) for history and science.  They tend to be very dry and a mere recitation of facts.  So, in the very first kindergarten and first grade years for my oldest, I skated by with some reading here and there and a cute little book from Christian Liberty Press called History for Little Pilgrims.

By the time we finished up with that, I had been influenced by some of my classical friends that world history was the way to go.  Because I couldn't find a curriculum I was totally happy with, I made my own.  I was young with young children and lots of energy.  I still had my years of teacher's education and my experience with teaching second graders fresh on my mind, and I set out to conquer the world.  It was lots of fun.  I based my unit on lots of Usborne books- which I had in abundance as I had started selling them on the side.  We all enjoyed that year, but I quickly realized that it was not going to be a long term solution for us because it was so time consuming.
Again on the recommendation of my classical friends, I started with Story of the World. We began the first volume when my oldest was a fourth grader.  I read aloud or we listened to the audio CDs.  We all enjoyed the stories, and I liked the way that it covered the time periods of world history.  My only concern was that it was so "neutral."  History was never presented from a Christian worldview.  Even though I could make those connections myself for the kids, I wanted more.

So, this year we began with Truthquest.  I was much happier with that. It is not a text book but is a spine with reading lists of real living books for each time period.  And, best of all, it is from a Christian worldview.  So, while the kids are learning about the time period in history, they are also learning why worldview is important.  I was so excited with Truthquest!  But, after a few months, I realized the problem.  Many of the suggested books are not available in my library.  They all had to be requested, and many were not even in my library system.  And, because of the rules for checking out books, if I requested a set of books, picked up the books, and didn't finish them before they were due back, I had to turn them back in and request them again.  So, it was very difficult and time consuming, and I found myself always without the books we needed when we needed them.

So, by default, we've come back to Story of the World.  We are on the last volume which covers the Modern Age.  I am really hoping to find something different before next year when it would be time to cycle through and begin ancient history again.  I've heard wonderful things about Mystery of History, so I plan to check it out in person at the homeschool convention this spring.

And science:
I found myself in the same predicament with science text books- too dry, a list of facts, lots of memorization. The same year I developed our history curriculum, I used Usborne books to study science by developing my own plan.  As with history, it worked for that year but wouldn't be a long term answer for us.
I came upon Answers in Genesis many years ago when I was teaching in a Christian school and heard Ken Ham speak at a convention.  I knew I wanted to use their materials for much of my science because I am so impressed with their literal, six day creation teaching and their emphasis on the importance of worldview.  Early in our homeschooling life, I found their science books that can be used for elementary grades.  We enjoyed those, and I was especially impressed with the worldview, but I didn't feel that they were complete enough.  They seemed too shallow.

I supplemented for a while with some other resources- Apologia's elementary books (which I loved but thought a little difficult for the age),  a very hand's on, project, science curriculum that I picked up at a used curriculum fair, and library books.  But, I wanted a complete curriculum that I could love.
This year, based on recommendations from Simply Charlotte Mason, I started with Apologia's General Science.  I am reading the material aloud for the most part, so even my younger girls are listening and learning.  I absolutely love this material.  The depth of the reading is amazing.  They are not just memorizing a bunch of facts spouted off.  They are hearing the whys of science, and most importantly, learning that being an intellectual in the field of science and being a Christian who believes in a literal six days of creation and a young earth are not mutually exclusive. For this year, I am doing almost all the reading and am teaching Kathryne and Charles to take notes.  I plan to transition to them doing more of the reading on their own before Physical Science next year because I think that will be too much for Ashlyne and Rachel to listen to.  Then I am hoping that next year, Kathryne and Charles will do the Physical Science on their own, while I begin one of the elementary Apologia books with the younger girls.

So, science is something I feel really good about right now.

I must add in here my experiences with the Weaver curriculum from Alpha Omega.  I used this curriculum- which covers all subjects except math and phonics- one year in the midst of my older children's elementary years.  Weaver is a wonderful curriculum and I've known many families who love it.  If you love a unit study that is complete and all planned out, you should probably check it out.  It is perfect for multi-aged families like ours.  My only problem with Weaver is my inability to stick with something without supplementing.  It was waste for us because I like the flexibility of supplementing with other books or leaving out things I don't like.  Because I really wasn't going to use the whole package, I ended up paying for the full Weaver curriculum and still wanting to buy the other things I wanted to supplement it.  Not a very frugal, financially conscious idea.  If you are thinking about a whole package curriculum, see if you can put your hands on one for a while to see if you really are going to like it before investing much money.

The key to both science and history for me is worldview.  I do not want any curriculum that just presents facts and says "this is the way it is." I want my children to always be able to think and formulate opinions and defend those opinions.  I think history and science taught in a vacuum as a list of facts is meaningless.  Knowing the whys and the worldview is what makes those subjects alive and vital. (Just my two cents worth.)

Here are some other families and what they have found to work for science and social studies:
Science and Worldview by Beth @ Ozark Ramblings
http://www.oramblings.blogspot.com/2012/01/science-and-worldview.html

Nature Study as Science by Christine @ Crunchy Country Catholic
http://crunchycountrycatholic.blogspot.com/2012/01/nature-study-as-science.html

Curriculum Fair–Exploring Our World by Angie @ Petra School
http://pebblekeeper.wordpress.com/2012/01/15/curriculum-fairexploring-our-world/

Paths of Exploration by Jen @ Forever, For Always
http://www.foreverforalwaysnomatterwhat.com/2012/01/paths-of-exploration.html

Learning Geography at Our House by Jessica @ Modest Mama
http://www.modest-mama.org/2012/01/learning-geography-at-our-house.html

Mapping Out Our Social Studies by Susan @ Homeschooling Hearts & Minds
http://homeschoolheartandmind.blogspot.com/2012/01/mapping-out-our-social-studies.html

The Fascinating World Around Us by Cindy Horton @ Fenced in Family
http://www.fencedinfamily.com/blog/2012/01/the-fascinating-world-around-us/

More Heart of Dakota Praises by Nicole @ Schooling in the Sun
http://schoolinginthesun.blogspot.com/2012/01/more-heart-of-dakota-praises.html

Our History by Melissa @ Grace Christian Homeschool
http://www.gchomeschool.com/2012/01/this-weeks-topic-our-world-social.html

Playful US Geography for First Grade by Pam @ Everyday Snapshots
http://everydaysnapshots.blogspot.com/2012/01/playful-us-geography-for-first-grade.html

Heart of Dakota-The Fine Details-Part 3 History by Lynn @ Ladybug
Chronicles http://ladybug-chronicles.blogspot.com/2012/01/heart-of-dakota-fine-details-part-3.html

Exploring Our World Through History & Science by Brenda Emmett @
Garden of Learning
http://myhomeschoolgarden.com/2012/01/16/exploring-our-world-through-history-science/

Two History Must-haves by Letha @ justpitchingmytent
http://justpitchingmytent.blogspot.com/2012/01/history-must-haves-maps-and-timeline.html

Learning About The World Around Us by Laura O from AK
http://daybydayinourworld.com/2012/01/learning-about-the-world-around-us/

Social Studies and Science - What do we do? by Joelle @ Homechooling
for His Glory
http://homeschoolingforhisglory.blogspot.com/2012/01/social-studies-and-science-what-do-we.html

Weekly Wrap Up- The Still Sick Kids Edition

Ah, a new week with potential to accomplish so much.  And yet, we were up most of the night for several nights with coughing, coughing children.  Charles has had bronchitis, and the girls have had colds (Ashlyne's was an upper respiratory infection) with coughing. Nevertheless, we plunged bravely on into school work each day.

Monday: We had science group.  This was before Charles was diagnosed with bronchitis, so we still were able to attend.  Even though the day was incredibly cool and gloomy, we enjoyed talking about the planets and their orbits.

Tuesday: I spent part of the day taking Charles to the doctor, but the kids still managed to accomplish their independent work.  I had a planning meeting for our Field Trip Friends group, so I got to get away from leave the sickies for a while and go talk to adults.

Wednesday:  It was a mostly normal school day.  We're trudging along in our fossils module in science.  I don't think it is just me, but this chapter of Apologia General Science has seemed very laborious reading.

Thursday:  It was my turn to have a doctor's appointment.  This was just a regular check up, and I scheduled it early, so we could actually get work done after the appointment.  It was also Charles's birthday, so I took my boy out to lunch to celebrate his turning 11.

Friday:  Today was another ordinary day.  Hooray. We finished up the science module.  Hooray.  And things actually went pretty smoothly.  Hooray.

We have a friend to spend the night tonight and a day of birthday parties tomorrow.

For more weekly wrap-ups, check out Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

Virtual Curriculum Fair Week Two: Discover Patterns, Mathematics, Logic and Some Science

This is week two of the virtual curriculum fair. Last week , we looked at the good and bad of language arts programs.  You can find my post on that here.  This week, I'll share what has worked (and not) for us for mathematics, logic, and some science.

Let's begin with math. Math has never been one of my favorite subjects, so it is something that I wanted to make easier, better, and more relevant for my children.
What didn't work for us:
* ABEKA- When I began our schooling using all ABEKA resources, math was one of the things that led me away from ABEKA.  There is sooo much busy work in the elementary curriculum.  And, my oldest child could memorize the way to do things and get most of the answers correct, but she had no idea of the concept that she was learning.  I was very concerned about what that lack of concept was going to do when she reached the upper level maths.  So we switched to:
* Math-U-See- This was one of those curriculum choices that I made based on gushing recommendations from friends.  It looked so good at the homeschool convention.  It worked for others.  And, when we began using it, I did see how it helped my children to grasp the concepts better because of all of the visuals and manipulatives. But, the biggest problem I found with Math-U-See is that it is not cyclical.  So, all year is spent on one main concept- addition and subtraction, multiplication and division, etc.  But, other topics are not covered that year. So, Kathryne hit fifth grade science needing an understanding of working with decimals and percents, but she hadn't covered that.  And, Charles, my child that needs variety, was so bored that he hated math.
What I love:
* Saxon- I turned to Saxon in desperation.  I had heard some criticism that Saxon was very time consuming.  But, I found it to be just what we need.  There are plenty of hands on opportunities- especially in the early grades.  The lessons are cyclical, meaning that some of the same information is repeated year after year in increasing depth.  There is a great combination of new material and constant review, so my easily bored learners have plenty of variety in each lesson.  I do admit that after the first year, I haven't bought the teacher's guide for the lower grades, and we don't go through every single word for word step like the teacher's guide lays out.  We do have a math meeting each day where we cover the calendar, counting, patterns, and new concepts for the day.

Logic: I had never pondered teaching logic as a school subject.  I wasn't taught formal logic.  But, at a convention a few years ago, I heard a speaker talking about the importance of logic and giving some suggestions for beginning with middle schoolers.  I haven't tried a large variety of resources here.  I've mostly stuck with her recommendations, but they've worked for us.
* The Fallacy Detectives- This was a fun and interesting book that gave some beginning logic instruction, particularly in the area of recognizing logical fallacies.  The kids had lots of fun with this one, and even my little girls got into listening and identifying logical fallacies.  They've remembered it well, and now enjoy calling themselves and others on the fallacies.
* Intermediate Logic- This is the book we're using this year.  It is much drier than The Fallacy Detectives and not as enjoyable to the kids.  I like it because I personally like the study of logic.  It is organized into short lessons with plenty of chance for practice and review, so it is doable for the older kids, though not their favorite.  They are 7th and 6th grade, and I think I probably could have waited a year to start book one and it may have been easier.

Now, because my children are relatively young- 7th grade being my oldest, we haven't really ventured into the more math related sciences, so I'll save our discussion of science until later when we deal with general science.

You can read about other language arts choices at these blogs:
Math Lapbooks---Virtual Curriculum Fair Week 2 by Angie Wright @ Petra
School - http://pebblekeeper.wordpress.com/2012/01/06/math-lapbooksvirtual-curriculum-fair-week-2/

Our Choices For Math by Melissa @ Grace Christian Homeschool
http://www.gchomeschool.com/2012/01/our-choices-for-math.html

A Magnificent Math Manipulative by Letha Paulk @ justpitchingmytent
http://justpitchingmytent.blogspot.com/2012/01/magnificent-math-manipulative.html

Our Math Choices - Virtual Curriculum Fair by Tristan @ Our Busy Homeschool
http://ourbusyhomeschool.blogspot.com/2012/01/our-math-choicesvirtual-curriculum-fair.html

Math Using Hamburger Paper by Debbie @ Debbie's Digest
http://debbiesdigest.blogspot.com/2012/01/math-using-hamburger-paper.html

Math Literature?!?! by Christine @ Crunchy Country Catholic
http://crunchycountrycatholic.blogspot.com/2012/01/math-literature.html

Learning Math at My House by Jessica @ Modest Mama
http://www.modest-mama.org/2012/01/learning-math-at-my-house.html

1st, 2nd, 6th Grade Math in Our Homeschool:  How We Got HERE by Susan
@ Homeschooling Hearts & Minds
http://homeschoolheartandmind.blogspot.com/2012/01/1st-2nd-6th-grade-math-in-our.html

Math Facts or Fun?  Why Not Both! by Beth @ Ozark Ramblings
http://oramblings.blogspot.com/2012/01/math-facts-or-fun-why-not-both.html

Heart of Dakota- The Fine Details- Part 2 Science by Lynn @ Ladybug
Chronicles http://ladybug-chronicles.blogspot.com/2012/01/heart-of-dakota-fine-details-part-2.html

Learning Math Block by Block by Laura O in AK @ Day by Day in Our
World http://daybydayinourworld.com/2012/01/learning-math-block-by-block/

Plugging Along with Math by Cindy Horton @ Fenced in Family
http://www.fencedinfamily.com/blog/2012/01/plugging-along-with-math/

What's Working and What's Not:  Math Edition by Leann @ Montessori Tidbits
http://montessoritidbits.blogspot.com/2012/01/whats-working-and-whats-not-math.html

Math Anyone? by Cindy @ For One Another
http://www.for-one-another.blogspot.com/2012/01/math-anyone.html

Ahh, Math. by Nicole @ Schooling in the Sun
http://schoolinginthesun.blogspot.com/2012/01/ahhh-math.html

Flying Without a Parachute: Math with no Curriculum by Pam @ Everyday
Snapshots http://everydaysnapshots.blogspot.com/2012/01/flying-without-parachute-math-with-no.html

Math in Our Homeschool by Christine T @ Our Homeschool Reviews
http://ourhomeschoolreviews.blogspot.com/2012/01/math-in-our-homeschool.html

Math, Math, and More Math by Dawn @ tractors & tire swings
http://tractorsandtireswings.blogspot.com/2012/01/math-math-and-more-math.html

Thinking Mathematically- How I Choose Math Curriculum by Kristen @
Sunrise to Sunset
http://sunrisetosunsethomeschool.com/2012/01/09/thinking-mathematically-how-i-choose-math-curriculum/

Discovering Patterns:  Math, Logic, and Some Science by Christa Darr @
Fairfield Corner Academy
http://christadarr.blogspot.com/2012/01/discovering-patterns-math-logic-and.html

The Science of Math by Brenda Emmett @ Garden of Learning
http://myhomeschoolgarden.com/2012/01/09/the-science-of-math/

"Mom, did we do math today?" by Chrissy at Learning is an Adventure
http://learning-adventures.blogspot.com/2012/01/mom-did-we-do-math-today.html

Math, Math, and More Math by Joelle @ Homeschooling for His Glory
http://homeschoolingforhisglory.blogspot.com/2012/01/math-math-and-more-math.html

Weekly Wrap Up- The Sort of Back to School Edition

Let me just say that I had every intention of plunging eagerly back into school on Monday morning.  But, it came to my attention at the end of last week, that Jason was going to be home on Monday.  So, there was much pleading and cajoling(mostly by the kids but also by Jason who wanted to use them as cheap labor working in our rental house) to persuade me not to start back until Tuesday.  Then, we babysat on Tuesday and Wednesday (which is a whole nother story), so we did do school, but I'm not sure it was high quality school.  Thursday morning Ashlyne was running a fever and I had to take her to urgent care where we ended up with an antibiotic.  So, of course, not much school was done then either.  Today rounded out the week with an extremely productive day.  One out of five isn't bad is it?

Really, we did get some things accomplished, and I suppose that easing back into a schedule is not a bad way to begin.

* We did two different experiments to look at two different ways that fossils can form.
* We (big kids) did a Latin review, and I found out that maybe they did learn some vocabulary and a small bit of Latin grammar the first semester.
*  Rachel started her new phonics book and picked up with Saxon math- two books that had been too difficult for her at the beginning of the year, but that she is more than ready for now.  Woohoo!
*  The little girls and I read along in Little House on the Prairie.
*  Ashlyne started her new spelling book and only missed two words on the first pretest.  (I know, she's a genius.)

So, perhaps the week wasn't a total wash.  And, at least next week won't be completely starting over.  Right?

For more Weekly Wrap Ups, check out Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.