Our new school year

I just can't believe how fast these past few years of hsing has gone! H, who turns 7 tomorrow, will be doing second grade work, and my 4yo, E, will be PreK.



For school this fall, H will be continuing with her Rod and Staff for Math, and I'll be adding the Reading, English and Social Studies as well. The Bible Nurture and Reader Series will double as her Bible, but she’ll also be doing regular independent Bible reading, memorization and devotional books with me. She loves to read, and I take advantage of it as much as possible ~ we LOVE the library and I am always requesting good books to be put on hold for us.



At this point, I’m still on the hunt for a good but basic timeline, though have not found one yet. We aren’t starting formal, chronological History until next year. We plan to use Mystery of History. Once we start that, I'll be using a more interactive timeline - probably having her keep it in a 3 ring binder.We’ll probably finish up History for Little Pilgrims from last year (we have about half the book left).



For science, she’ll continue with her Christian Liberty Nature Reader which she loves. Formal science begins next year with Considering God’s Creation .



She’ll be using Draw Write Now for art (I still haven’t decided on a more formal art curriculum yet, but plan to by next year).



I am aiming to do several family field trips, some of them with a few good friends and their children, as last year we didn’t do as many as I would have liked to. Next summer we’ll continue to keep up with math and add cursive (Veritas Press is the one I am leaning towards at this point). She’ll also continue with her piano lessons and ballet.



As for E, I am starting her in the Horizons American Language Series that Hannah went through. It’s FANTASTIC! ***Warning: Huge Plug Ahead***



It’s a 2 year complete reading program that has them reading by 2nd or 3rd grade level when done. It is excellent!! I wish it were still published, but unfortunately, Alpha Omega uses a different one now (not because this one wasn’t good….they just had to keep up in the “new curriculum every few years” trend in the hs field right now – sigh ) . The great thing, however, is that Children’s Books has gotten permission from AO to continue to copy this curriculum. I’ve already purchased the worksheets for I, whose only 3mo right now. ;) I love it because it is incredibly thorough, teaches the brain right the first time, and literally taught me how to teach (or more accurately, to tutor). I would recommend it to anyone, but often I do not for 2 reasons. 1. The general trend with hs reading programs is to teach a child to read fast. To have a 2 year reading program that covers spelling, vocabulary, phonics, comprehension, reading, encoding and decoding doesn’t always appeal to people kwim (even though they are reading by lesson 2, and by lesson 26 have really taken off). 2. Because it is photocopied (Children’s Books has been, unfortunately, unsuccessful in getting copyright rights to it, so they basically photocopy the materials as they are ordered, since they cannot reprint them). So for instance, because the 6 readers it comes with have been sold out entirely, they must now copy them in a 3 whole punched 8 by 10 format. Basically, it ain’t flashy. ;) There is no advertising and very scant information available on the curriculum out there, which is disappointing to say the least. It is a fantastic program to learn to read, and it's really too bad that most hsers don't even know about it. Most people only know about it by word of mouth - a friend did it and told another friend etc. It covers all learning types, and is probably the best reading program out there. Yes, I’m biased. I keep it to myself though (well, till now anyway).



I went through half the R&S preschool workbooks with E last year, and will probably continue through them this year. We won’t start “official” math until Kindergarten. And of course, lots of coloring, drawing, crafts and reading will be added as well.



And my 3mo son, well, I gotta get him used to his playpen and try to do most of my schooling during his naps (which right now, are still hit and miss). So our schedule might be a bit scattery for awhile until he gets on more of a predictable routine…which would be?????


I’m so excited to start, and yet, the reality of it is that H’s workload is heavier (which means more prep and tutor time for me), I’ve “added” a student, and also have an infant to care for. So many moms successfully home school with many more children than I have right now, so I can do this…right? I sure hope so!