We have a little over one month under our belts this year, and I have to say things are going well. My adaptation of the Workbox System is working well for us, my tweaks early on to make the most of attention spans has proven to be the correct move, and it's amazing the amount of information the kids are retaining... all of them! Three year old Bud has been pulling our random facts about the states in the northeast we're studying and amazing those that hear him. The Bug beat her grandfather in a game of "What's the Capital City?" It's fun to see the things that stick in their brains adn the strange times they sometimes come out. It truly proves that they are paying attention, even when you don't think they are!
We've gotten through the first several lessons of Math U See Alpha. The bug is doing really well with it and loves the format, as I thought she would. So far it's really pretty easy for her, but we are also going quicker through some of the lessons I know she can do pretty well already. I have bought my teacher's books for Beta already as I plan to start that at some point this year since I know Alpha won't last us all year. I also hope to stick in some supplemental time telling and money lessons as we go to get her more up on those.
Our reading is working well for us. We both like how it is set up. It is better suited for a classroom, but I'm finding she enjoys it. I am looking into fast-tracking some of the material though as it is all pretty easy for her. She's reading at a pretty high level already so I hate to bore her too much waiting until we get to more challenging material.
For spelling she's doing really well. We started out the year with some themed lists which were a bit challenging for her (we took a couple of the tests 2 or 3 times) but now that I've gotten into the regular lists, she's doing really well with them.
Science is going well. I'm enjoying it as well. So many things I didn't know about that I'm picking up from her book as we read it and do the activities. We're at a fun part right now as we have finished the reading in the chapter about the sun and will be doing activities such as play with UV beads and make a sun pin viewing box.
Writing was a subject I was frightened by but it's also going well. The Bug is the type of person who hates being wrong. She's very creative but when given a writing prompt, she is looking for exact direction so that it is completely correct and isn't too big on the "write what you think" type of thing. It's starting to come out, but we have to get her out of her fear that it's not perfect zone!
Geography is going well. We're really enjoying our Roadtrip USA and looking forward to an upcoming trip when we'll be able to see some of the things we've been talking about. I'm even throwing in some extras of interest to them so that we can talk about them when we're actually in that area of the country.
For art so far, we've been doing some letter crafts. Paste together type of activities. I'd like to do a bit more, but for now, this is all I have the prep time for and I'm tying it to the letter the Bug and Bud are working on at school (and thus at homeschool on their days home).
I started out with some computer basics with Bug, and we're now working on typing. I'm amazed at how fast she's picking that up. She'll be typing better than Papa Goose soon!
The younger ones are having a great time with the letter of the week activities and doing really well keeping busy while Bug does her work. It's a challenge keeping up with who is home on which days and it does actually limit us some. There are many more times I wish they were home more and home at the same time than wishing they were not here, which is a good. I have Clifford magazines from Scholastic that I would like ot do with the younger ones but am actually trying to find a good time to get them done! It seemed like such a great idea to get them and they are so cute and fun that I'm excited. However I only have enough for Bee, Bud and Bird so it's hard to find a time for them to do them that Bug won't get upset because she doesn't have one!
So far I'm finding homeschooling is so much easier when you have time to prepare and plan (go figure!). This is a far less stressful year and I am so thankful to be able to do this for and with my children. The time we're spending is invaluable and the time we're getting as a family is even better! What started out as a last ditch effort last year and as a we have no other options for this year, has been one of the greatest things to happen to us!
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