We started school at the beginning of September. It has been a slow start for us, but I am okay with that. We had to make a few changes, but I am glad we got that out of the way at the beginning of the school year, than towards the middle or end of the year.
My oldest son is taking courses at our local community college Southwestern Community College. This semester he is taking Expository Writing, College Algebra, Spanish, Physics and Psychology. At home, we are working on Home Economics and Music Appreciation. During his spare time, he works at McDonald’s. He is also involved in the local Civil Air Patrol unit as well as plays in our Praise and Worship band at church, which practices on Sunday afternoons and Wednesday night after church. He is also involved with the youth group when he is able to get off from work. As you can tell, he is very busy. However, I am very proud of him for what all he has accomplished. If he keeps on track with his courses from SCC, he will be able to graduate in May with his AS degree in Electrical Engineering and possibly with his AA degree. He is currently studying for the ACT and SAT tests. He does plan on going to a university once he graduates from high school and the community college.
The biggest changes are with my oldest daughter. For Bible, History and English, she is using America The Beautiful by Charlene Notgrass. It is a wonderful American History curriculum that covers 1000-current time. I am excited by how it is written to cover the 3 subjects. It also have a time-line, maps and geography section. I have used Notgrass material before and I am still impressed the curriculum. My daughter is doing this curriculum with a co-op in our homeschool group. They meet once a week to discuss what they read and to go over the maps. They also get together and go on field trips too.
We were also going to do the PACES Biology with the co-op group, but I decided to continue her with the Apologia science curriculum. She is using the General Science this year and is also enjoying that. We will be getting ready for our science fair in the next week or so. The science will be held in November and will be here before we know it.
At the moment, for math, we are using Life Pacs. However, I think I am going to be switching to Teaching Textbooks. I have heard a lot of positive reviews about that curriculum and think it might be better for my daughter. She doesn’t care for math much and I want to make it as painless as possible for us!
In her spare time, she is involved with the musical theater group at the dance company in town. They meet for an hour and a half every Monday. She also takes Tap/Jazz lessons once a week on Tuesday. She is involved in the local 4-H group as well as the youth group at church.
Our youngest 2 children are in Kindergarten and 1st grade. They have been so excited about the school year. We are using Sonlight Core K for History, Bible and Science. While it has been a slow start for us, it is going okay. I am having a hard time adjusting to this type of curriculum. This is our first year using Sonlight and is a change to what I have used in the past. However, I am going to give it the old college try and do my best with it for a couple of more months. I want to say that we did give it a try if I decide to switch.
For Phonics, I am using Saxon Phonics Grade 1. I am excited about this, as I bought it used for $5 (minus the consumable workbook that I picked up for $24). The kids are enjoying trying to sound out words. It is such a pleasure to see them working so hard to read.
For Math, I do not have a curriculum yet. I still have not found one that I like that I can use for both of the kids. They are about on the same level so I want to try and find something that can accommodate both of them at the same time. For now, I am just printing off worksheets and following a course of study. So far, so good.
I was going to use the Apologia Elementary book Human Anatomy and Physiology, but decided it was a little too hard for them. We will wait another year or so before we start that series. I will let my older daughter read through it. However, we won’t be doing any of the experiments or projects.
I have an Usborne Art book that I plan on using with all of the kids. We will talk about the artists in the book and then attempt to do one of their paintings/drawings.
As for other activities for the younger kids, we have a park day once a week with our homeschool group. They are also involved in a couple of classes at our church. We haven’t started any organized sports or anything like that yet for them. I want to wait another year or so.
Overall, I think we are having a good year. I know we are busy!! I wouldn’t change a thing in the world. I love my kids and am doing my best to teach them everything I possibly can before they head off on their own.