I said that I was going to post our summer plans. I have several goals for this summer, some academically, some personally, and I also have some plans for this blog.
I think I will start with the plans I have for this blog. The major change I plan to undertake is to write a little bit of our background, our history. Judging by my "stats" page, I am gaining a few more readers, and for those new to my blog I feel I should "re-introduce" myself. I began writing three years ago, and just about every aspect of my life EXCEPT home schooling has changed since then. I also plan to talk a little bit more about our particular situation. If homeschooling is still an "eccentric" way of life, then how much MORE odd is it to have a single, divorced, stay at home mom doing it all on her own? No husband, no income, no baby sitters, and no family other than my daughters? Hopefully, over the next few weeks/months I can address the girls and I's own unique, personal situation in a little more depth. I'd also like to try to address WHY I am divorced, when divorce goes against everything I believe in, both as a Christian, and as a wife and mother. This part I am still having a few issues in how to approach. I have so much to tell, but I'd like to do it without "invading" too much of my girls and my ex-husband, and my own privacy. And yet, I feel it is important to write down, not only for my daughters, but for any of you moms that may be reading this.
As for academic goals....those are so much more concrete, and therefore so much easier to write about. For C, my 7th grader...our goals are relatively simple. She will be spending 4-5 days a week or more either playing softball, practicing softball, or watching her little sister's softball games. This is C's 6th year in softball. I also plan to have C continue with her violin lessons. She has only had 3 lessons, but I am actually quite amazed at how well she is doing, how hard she is practicing, and how fast her teacher is advancing her. She has passionately wanted to take violin lessons for 4 years, and so far she is exceeding my expectations. (To be quite honest, she is under threat....she knows I have NO income, and those $15 a week lessons REALLY hurt. She knows if she DOESN'T advance quickly I will consider it a waste of not only time, but much needed money, and the lessons will stop.) As for school work...C and I usually do very intermittent school over the summer break. She is already a month into HER break, and we haven't done one thing, which is fine. My goals for her school work are to maybe get one more whole chapter of Math done, and maybe one chapter of Science. And if not....well, then she and I can both enjoy a first....a summer with NO school. At least for her.
E's goals for the summer? Well, E is also in softball....her second year. She will be at the ball park on all the same days as her sister. E will also be continuing piano lessons. I am her piano teacher, and our lessons are very sporadic. I may do 3 lessons in one week, and then go a month doing NO lessons. Anyone who reads this blog knows E is just as much or more passionate about the piano as her sister is with violin. E still plays at a beginner level, but that is mostly due to my busy days and not being consistent enough as her teacher. She memorizes everything, she plays every day, hours a day, and would advance MUCH quicker if I spent more time being able to teach the "extras", like piano. I am hoping with less school work, I can do better at teaching E more.
I also have quite a few school work plans for E. As I said in my last post I hope to have her complete Level 2 of First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind, and in addition, have her finish the second half of her Harcourt Learning Language Arts workbook. I also plan to begin and hopefully, complete several of her McRuffy Science 3 lessons while we have time. Science is one of those FUN, but TIME-CONSUMING, classes, and this will be the first year I have home schooled and had the 2 girls in 2 separate science classes. They have always done the Apologia science books together till now. Because of these 2 reasons, I think summer would be a good chance to get ahead with E's science, when we can spend more time since I am not working much with C for a few months.
My MAJOR goal is to have E writing completely in cursive by August. Um....for those of you that are long-time readers....yeah, I know that I may have mentioned this goal of E writing in cursive one or two times in the past. THIS time I MEAN it! LOL E has severe handwriting issues----to the extent that I believe she may have a form of dysgraphia, and I have had to spend far more time just helping her better her PRINTING, than introducing her to CURSIVE.
This isn't necessarily a GOAL, but I have it in the back of my mind to get E through at least the first 20 or so lessons in Horizons Math 3. Math is her favorite subject, and Horizons has so many lessons that it would be NICE to get part of them done, but because she does so well with it, I don't consider it IMPERATIVE.
So...in a nutshell...our summer plans are to carry on with music lessons, get through the hot, humid days of softball, spend quite a bit of time on E's schoolwork, but not every day, and not too MUCH time that she can't be a kid and enjoy playing and being with her friends. And ideally, I will find a way to go into some rather personal things writing here on this blog, without getting TOO personal.There is, literally, TONS in my brain, just itching to get out in print, yet I have to be careful what and how I say things. And if you know me, I am NOT a censor-my-words kind of gal. So...we'll see if I am able to meet this goal.
Blessings to all of you, and Happy Memorial Day. : )
Monday, May 30, 2011
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Ok, E is FINALLY Finished With 2nd Grade
It took a little longer than I had planned, due to every one of us in the house getting sick...first her, then me, then C. We have had sore throats and fevers, sinus issues, and earaches. So, while my intentions were to be completely finished 2 weeks ago, we just finally finished yesterday. We spent many days the past 2 weeks doing NO school, but this week we finally were able to pick up the pace and get through a few loose ends.
E's main unfinished business was her English. We completed Level 1 of First Language Lessons, and half the workbook pages in our Harcourt Press language book, that I've used to give her more seatwork and extra practice for English skills. We plan to keep right on working through the summer in Level 2 of FLL and the rest of her workbook pages in her Harcourt Language Arts book, in time to begin R&S 3rd grade English by August. This is the only subject E is a little behind in. She excels with the grammar portions, but is having some handwriting delays which is causing me to move her through a little slower than I normally would.
E has also been working very hard on learning and practicing her cursive handwriting. This is not really a specific grade level subject, although my goal is to have her be able to read and write cursive fluently by the time she begins 3rd grade. Most children seem to learn cursive during their 2nd or 3rd grade school year. E has had so many issues printing, that I'd wanted her to become more proficient with THAT before learning cursive, but I finally came to the conclusion that it might be easier for her to write using cursive. There have recently been many public debates at the national level on even TEACHING children cursive at ALL anymore, but I think every child should know both printing and cursive, and they can then choose which they prefer to use for their own writing. Many public schools have done away with cursive writing altogether. E really enjoys this "new" way of writing, and although she still labors, it seems to be a little easier for her, and she definitely writes MUCH neater in cursive than printing.
Those two things are the only things we were really working on for E to finish 2nd grade. Both of those we will CONTINUE to work on through the summer, if all goes as planned, but she has worked hard, done lots, and is easily able to be considered a 3rd grader now.
E and I actually have lots planned for the summer, because while C is "on break" I just have so much more time to really concentrate working with E. She is still young enough she LIKES school, and she gets bored and still ASKS to do school, so this won't be any problem at all THIS year, at least.
I will try to get a post written in the next few days about our summer schedule. But for now, I wanted everyone to know E has worked very hard this year, and done VERY well. I am so proud of her, and when I look at all she has learned, and can do, I am very proud of her. E is the only child who has NEVER been to public school at ALL, and I can really see a huge difference between her and my other 3 daughters at that age.
E's grades:
Math------A (almost A + for the entire year)
English---A
Spelling--A (again, almost A +, but spelling LESSONS and TESTS are not transferring into any of her other writing.)
Reading---A
Handwriting----not sure what grade to give her, LOL. A for effort, C or D in actual results.
Science---B. she participated well, understood almost everything, but has not retained as much as I would have liked.
Social Studies--B. same as science, participated, did her work well, understood it, but isn't retaining as much as I'd like.
Piano--A+ for sure. E loves the piano....I can't keep her from practicing, she drives us nuts playing constantly, she works and works and works on what she learns. I couldn't ask for anything more, and in fact, she EXCEEDS any expectations with this.
Health/P.E.---A+ too. She not only knows and retains anything to do with health, she sometimes scolds ME. LOL
Wonderful job E! I couldn't ask for a better "student" or daughter. You work so very hard, and are never a problem. You are a joy to work with and teach, and I love you more than you will ever imagine. Congratulations on completing 2nd grade!
E's main unfinished business was her English. We completed Level 1 of First Language Lessons, and half the workbook pages in our Harcourt Press language book, that I've used to give her more seatwork and extra practice for English skills. We plan to keep right on working through the summer in Level 2 of FLL and the rest of her workbook pages in her Harcourt Language Arts book, in time to begin R&S 3rd grade English by August. This is the only subject E is a little behind in. She excels with the grammar portions, but is having some handwriting delays which is causing me to move her through a little slower than I normally would.
E has also been working very hard on learning and practicing her cursive handwriting. This is not really a specific grade level subject, although my goal is to have her be able to read and write cursive fluently by the time she begins 3rd grade. Most children seem to learn cursive during their 2nd or 3rd grade school year. E has had so many issues printing, that I'd wanted her to become more proficient with THAT before learning cursive, but I finally came to the conclusion that it might be easier for her to write using cursive. There have recently been many public debates at the national level on even TEACHING children cursive at ALL anymore, but I think every child should know both printing and cursive, and they can then choose which they prefer to use for their own writing. Many public schools have done away with cursive writing altogether. E really enjoys this "new" way of writing, and although she still labors, it seems to be a little easier for her, and she definitely writes MUCH neater in cursive than printing.
Those two things are the only things we were really working on for E to finish 2nd grade. Both of those we will CONTINUE to work on through the summer, if all goes as planned, but she has worked hard, done lots, and is easily able to be considered a 3rd grader now.
E and I actually have lots planned for the summer, because while C is "on break" I just have so much more time to really concentrate working with E. She is still young enough she LIKES school, and she gets bored and still ASKS to do school, so this won't be any problem at all THIS year, at least.
I will try to get a post written in the next few days about our summer schedule. But for now, I wanted everyone to know E has worked very hard this year, and done VERY well. I am so proud of her, and when I look at all she has learned, and can do, I am very proud of her. E is the only child who has NEVER been to public school at ALL, and I can really see a huge difference between her and my other 3 daughters at that age.
E's grades:
Math------A (almost A + for the entire year)
English---A
Spelling--A (again, almost A +, but spelling LESSONS and TESTS are not transferring into any of her other writing.)
Reading---A
Handwriting----not sure what grade to give her, LOL. A for effort, C or D in actual results.
Science---B. she participated well, understood almost everything, but has not retained as much as I would have liked.
Social Studies--B. same as science, participated, did her work well, understood it, but isn't retaining as much as I'd like.
Piano--A+ for sure. E loves the piano....I can't keep her from practicing, she drives us nuts playing constantly, she works and works and works on what she learns. I couldn't ask for anything more, and in fact, she EXCEEDS any expectations with this.
Health/P.E.---A+ too. She not only knows and retains anything to do with health, she sometimes scolds ME. LOL
Wonderful job E! I couldn't ask for a better "student" or daughter. You work so very hard, and are never a problem. You are a joy to work with and teach, and I love you more than you will ever imagine. Congratulations on completing 2nd grade!
Thursday, May 12, 2011
C is Officially DONE with 6th Grade
C is officially done with her school year. She completed Saxon math 67, and the first 4 chapters, 28%, of BJU Math 7 (Fundamentals of Math). She will work once or twice a week in this book from June through August, and then we will get back to full time school. She, E, and I completed Apologia's Anatomy and Physiology. She completed BJU English 6, actually she finished that first about 2 months ago. She completed the first third of HOD RTR in the fall, and then we switched to BJU 7 World Studies in January. She will continue with that next school year.
She earned:
Math---B
English A-
Science A
Social Studies/ History A
Reading/Literature A-
Art A
Congratulations, C, on a good year...even though you some days didn't feel you were doing well, and on completing 6th grade. You worked hard, and I am especially proud of your improvement in writing, and how hard you have worked in Math when we switched curriculum. : ) We have had a lot of schedule upheavals, unexpected missed days, and 2 major curriculum switches, but you have done very well.
AND....we just found out today she will be beginning her VIOLIN LESSONS in 2 days.
E is ALMOST done with her "official" school year, but we have hopes to do lots of extras through the summer, so I will post her update in a separate post.
She earned:
Math---B
English A-
Science A
Social Studies/ History A
Reading/Literature A-
Art A
Congratulations, C, on a good year...even though you some days didn't feel you were doing well, and on completing 6th grade. You worked hard, and I am especially proud of your improvement in writing, and how hard you have worked in Math when we switched curriculum. : ) We have had a lot of schedule upheavals, unexpected missed days, and 2 major curriculum switches, but you have done very well.
AND....we just found out today she will be beginning her VIOLIN LESSONS in 2 days.
E is ALMOST done with her "official" school year, but we have hopes to do lots of extras through the summer, so I will post her update in a separate post.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Mother's Day
Just a short, little, sentimental, feeling-sorry-for-myself post today.
Mother's Day growing up was always spent going to church, going out to brunch with our entire extended family, and then my parents and I would usually just drive around for awhile. I have never had a Mother's Day with my mother while being a mother. My mom died when C was only 2 1/2 months old, so MY first Mother's Day as a mom was the first Mother's Day without my OWN mom.
The next 12 years I spent Mother's Day usually the same way. It was always my pick of what to do, what to eat, and where to go, of course, and usually my choice went like this: go to Hometown Buffet for breakfast, go to Barnes and Noble to buy books, go to Best Buy to buy a CD or video game, drive around for awhile, come home, open my gifts from everybody, and then fishing. I haven't fished for almost 2 years, but it is so peaceful, relaxing, and who wouldn't love to just spend time enjoying nature surrounded by their whole family?
This year....well....my daughters both made me beautiful hand-beaded bracelets, colored me pictures, and made me cards. I went to Wal-Mart and spent $167 on groceries. Anyone who knows me knows I DETEST Wal-Mart, and it is the LAST place I would choose to go ANY day, let alone Mother's Day, but home schooling kind of puts a damper on errands during the week, and I guess at least I don't have to go back to Wal-Mart for 2 weeks now. Too bad I couldn't afford a fishing license while I was there, and at least I could go fishing! LOL If the grass ever dries out enough I'll go mow instead...oh yippee! LOL
Hope the rest of you all have a wonderful Mother's Day!
Mother's Day growing up was always spent going to church, going out to brunch with our entire extended family, and then my parents and I would usually just drive around for awhile. I have never had a Mother's Day with my mother while being a mother. My mom died when C was only 2 1/2 months old, so MY first Mother's Day as a mom was the first Mother's Day without my OWN mom.
The next 12 years I spent Mother's Day usually the same way. It was always my pick of what to do, what to eat, and where to go, of course, and usually my choice went like this: go to Hometown Buffet for breakfast, go to Barnes and Noble to buy books, go to Best Buy to buy a CD or video game, drive around for awhile, come home, open my gifts from everybody, and then fishing. I haven't fished for almost 2 years, but it is so peaceful, relaxing, and who wouldn't love to just spend time enjoying nature surrounded by their whole family?
This year....well....my daughters both made me beautiful hand-beaded bracelets, colored me pictures, and made me cards. I went to Wal-Mart and spent $167 on groceries. Anyone who knows me knows I DETEST Wal-Mart, and it is the LAST place I would choose to go ANY day, let alone Mother's Day, but home schooling kind of puts a damper on errands during the week, and I guess at least I don't have to go back to Wal-Mart for 2 weeks now. Too bad I couldn't afford a fishing license while I was there, and at least I could go fishing! LOL If the grass ever dries out enough I'll go mow instead...oh yippee! LOL
Hope the rest of you all have a wonderful Mother's Day!
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Curriculum Review: Horizons Math 2
For my younger daughter, E we needed something that moved faster and could hold her interest...something that would challenge her, yet not frustrate her. Something where she was able to learn new things, yet remained fun for her.
Horizons, by Alpha Omega Homeschool, is widely known for use with children that are "gifted" or "accelerated" in math. I began E in grade 2 when she was 7, and she just completed it a week ago, at age 8 yrs. 2 mos. We completed every lesson, every test, and every speed drill. Horizons math lived up to its reputation.
E and I both LOVED using Horizons. We both want to continue with it. E says, "I LOVE math. It's my favorite subject. It's FUN. " As a teacher, and mother of a child who excels in math, I also loved it.
Horizons begins with a speed drill 4 out of 5 days of the week. Then we move on to the lesson of a new concept daily, with an oral lesson, board work for examples, although E never needed these, as she catches right on, so we skipped examples and we would go straight to her assignments. Each lesson took me about 5 minutes to teach, and then took E anywhere from 15 minutes to maybe 45 minutes tops to complete. She got 2 B's on her work (160 lessons, 16 tests) and straight A's the entire rest of the year.
The program covered basic addition and subtraction, and by the middle of the year she was doing 3 and 4 digit addition and subtraction with borrowing and carrying, and "columns" of adding. She began learning her multiplication facts by mid year, also, and has them all down pat by now, a full year earlier than most math programs used in home school, public school, or private schools. Horizons math 2 also covered money, fractions, different kinds of graphs, decimals, thermometers, and basic geometry concepts such as area and volume, and 3-D shapes. One major thing that helped tremendously when she began learning her multiplication facts was the first half of the year the child learns by rote "skip-counting" by every single digit number. The 2 workbook set for students was in full color, which captured my child's interest with the pictures, while each assignment had her doing anywhere from 60-100 separate math problems. EVERY assignment had at least 1, and usually 2 or 3 story problems in which E had to figure out which operation to use (add, subtract, or multiply.)
As each concept is introduced, it is practiced in-depth for the next 5 lessons, while still daily introducing another new concept. Once a concept is learned, it is never forgotten, but touched upon again and again throughout the daily assignments and on tests, and built upon.
Horizons is not for everyone. If your child needs more time with new things, I would not recommend Horizons. I would also not recommend it for children who are distracted by colorful worksheets, or by constantly switching topics in one lesson. But for a child who likes math, who excels at it, or who is considered accelerated, Horizons definitely has been the best math program we have tried, and we will definitely be sticking with it.
Horizons, by Alpha Omega Homeschool, is widely known for use with children that are "gifted" or "accelerated" in math. I began E in grade 2 when she was 7, and she just completed it a week ago, at age 8 yrs. 2 mos. We completed every lesson, every test, and every speed drill. Horizons math lived up to its reputation.
E and I both LOVED using Horizons. We both want to continue with it. E says, "I LOVE math. It's my favorite subject. It's FUN. " As a teacher, and mother of a child who excels in math, I also loved it.
Horizons begins with a speed drill 4 out of 5 days of the week. Then we move on to the lesson of a new concept daily, with an oral lesson, board work for examples, although E never needed these, as she catches right on, so we skipped examples and we would go straight to her assignments. Each lesson took me about 5 minutes to teach, and then took E anywhere from 15 minutes to maybe 45 minutes tops to complete. She got 2 B's on her work (160 lessons, 16 tests) and straight A's the entire rest of the year.
The program covered basic addition and subtraction, and by the middle of the year she was doing 3 and 4 digit addition and subtraction with borrowing and carrying, and "columns" of adding. She began learning her multiplication facts by mid year, also, and has them all down pat by now, a full year earlier than most math programs used in home school, public school, or private schools. Horizons math 2 also covered money, fractions, different kinds of graphs, decimals, thermometers, and basic geometry concepts such as area and volume, and 3-D shapes. One major thing that helped tremendously when she began learning her multiplication facts was the first half of the year the child learns by rote "skip-counting" by every single digit number. The 2 workbook set for students was in full color, which captured my child's interest with the pictures, while each assignment had her doing anywhere from 60-100 separate math problems. EVERY assignment had at least 1, and usually 2 or 3 story problems in which E had to figure out which operation to use (add, subtract, or multiply.)
As each concept is introduced, it is practiced in-depth for the next 5 lessons, while still daily introducing another new concept. Once a concept is learned, it is never forgotten, but touched upon again and again throughout the daily assignments and on tests, and built upon.
Horizons is not for everyone. If your child needs more time with new things, I would not recommend Horizons. I would also not recommend it for children who are distracted by colorful worksheets, or by constantly switching topics in one lesson. But for a child who likes math, who excels at it, or who is considered accelerated, Horizons definitely has been the best math program we have tried, and we will definitely be sticking with it.
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