CONSTANTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Our homeschool philosophy
My mission is to provide my kid with a relaxed educational environment that fosters the development of the whole child and instills mutual respect while striving to meet her individual learning needs while nurturing her spiritual, moral, intellectual, physical, and social growth through a gently guided eclectic academic curriculum that includes the humanities, mathematics, sciences, fine arts, and varied electives that allows her to pursue her own interests and to experience and accept the diversities of all humanity.
Our Goals for 2010/2011
I used to have goals. Really I did. But now I’m focusing more on raising a happy, healthy, safe child that is kind and thoughtful of others. I want her to read, write, and be able to do math. Everything else is gravy. I’m afraid I’m becoming an unschooler….help me!
Our Curriculum
2010/2011
- Math – Singapore 2A/2B and various practice books, math wraps, computer games
- Reading / Language Arts - I’m trying to use Spell to Write and Read for spelling and handwriting; Writing with Ease and First Language Lessons Part 3 for writing and grammar. And lots of reading for comprehension, fluency, etc.
- Science – Earth Science by Science Odyssey (Pandia Press)
- History – unbelievably, I haven’t finished Ancients. But we are also travelling ALL over Europe, so history is a work in progress
- Geography – tying this into our travels by doing a book with a page per country we’ve visited.
- Art/Music – she’s taking specials at the local base school. Works well so far, but will be happy to get back to regular piano lessons for us both
- PE – have you met her? She’s outside every chance she gets. Formal classes include a semester of swim lessons. After the New Year, we’re looking at horseback lessons
- Socialization? You know you want to ask… Well, we’re kindly invited to attend class parties and assemblies at the base school; she’s in Brownies for the 3rd year; she’s in Girls Brigade at church; neighborhood kid book club; occasional homeschool group meetings and classes
We do school Monday thru Friday at this point. Usually starting about 10am but when and how long largely depends on what else is happening that day. Travel fully counts as a school day, but on other days we make sure Math and LA gets done and she goes to the school “specials” each day that is scheduled unless we are out-of-town.
2008/2009
- Math – Singapore 1A/1B and Intensive Practice
- Reading/Phonics – continue Hooked on Phonics (completing level 2 May 2008); Read-alouds associated with history and science topics; Evan-Moore Literature Pockets
- Handwriting – Continue Handwriting without Tears
- Science – REAL Science: Life Science level 1 (Pandia Press)
- History – History Odyssey:Ancients Level 1; Evan-Moore History Pockets; Five in a Row books and activities
- Art/Music – arts and crafts at home; family piano lessons
- PE – swimming, soccer
In order to accommodate DH’s new, weird schedule, we’re tweaking our schedule a bit. Our school week will usually run Thursday – Monday. SEE Co-op – Fridays. We will hit Math, Phonics/Reading, handwriting each day. History and grammar/writing/literature will be on Thursday and Monday, respectively. Co-op has now be reformatted for 2008-2009 and will fill in the holes: she has a complete science curriculum, a literature-based geography and culture class, art appreciation taught by an art history expert, and a hands-on history class that will follow along with HO. We start later in the mornings than most, but spend about 21/2 hours on the basics.
Our Favorite Resources
- www.starfall.com - reading practice
- www.fiarhq - Five in a Row Headquarters
- www.homeschoolshare.com - Five in a Row-like activities; huge selection of resources
