Second Quarter in Review, and Our Plans for Spring Semester!
I can’t believe we are over half way done with our school year. As of today, we are at 111 days of school completed….. so that leaves us with 69 school days for this year left. So many big things have been happening!
Mr. Man has started to read CVC words, thanks to the Logic of English Foundations program. We have been Beta testing it, and it is the best thing that has happened to us. Teaching Bug to read was so stressful for me, and it was hard to really measure progress when I was teaching him “off the cuff” (and without a solid plan). This time, I feel like Denise Eide of Logic of English has laid out such an easy to follow, sequential program that even I can’t feel lost. We are 24 lessons into it, and I can’t believe how easy it is for my not yet 5 year old to follow.
Mr. Man is also working on finishing up Saxon K, and will begin Saxon 1 when that is finished. His other work at this point includes Explode the Code A, some random preschool workbooks when he feels like it, and lots of playtime with his sister.
Bug is doing really well too. He is right on track with Logic of English Essentials- I ended up dropping the schedule I had made, because he surprised me and doesn’t need an alternate spelling list- the one in the book works just fine with him. We are going at his pace, and are spending about 2 weeks per lesson. His reading skills have greatly improved right along with his spelling, and he is now reading books like Nate the Great, Magic Tree House and My Fathers Dragon with ease (those are the last 3 books he read independently 🙂 ).
We are almost finished with Evan Moor Daily 6 Trait Writing 2 and Essentials in Writing 2, and will be moving on to IEW’s SWI A when those finish up. We have stopped using Michael Clay Thompson for now, and instead are using First Language Lessons 2 for grammar. Neither of us really felt the love for it (I think it was just too loosey goosey for my tastes) but it’s on the shelf to be picked up again eventually.
Math with Bug is still making me a little crazy. I keep trying to slow him down, and every time I feel like we are at a good pace, his skill level jumps ahead. We finished Saxon 2, and since I am starting Saxon 1 with Mr. Man soon, and it’s such a parent intensive program, I am moving Bug to something us. Really, he doesn’t need the spiral nature of Saxon, and would do better with a Mastery program, so I am not too heart broken about it at this level. He started Beast Academy 3a today, and really liked it. I liked that it appeared to challenge him, so hopefully that will slow him down. I don’t really feel comfortable using it as a “spine” though, so we’ll see what happens with that Math. Bleh…. decisions.
Bug and a Right Angle
History and Science for both boys is going great. We have finished the first half of our SOTW 1 schedule, and will be digging into Ancient Greece and Rome, as well as Mythology in the new year. I like how we finished the first half a little early, this way we can really enjoy Christmas activities and I can do some holiday focused lessons without feeling guilty about missing something else!
Our Nature Study with The Nature Connection is going well too. Well, I think it is. My science incline Hubby doesn’t love it, and really wants me to look into a more structured Science program. I agree that it would be NICE…. but boy, are they expensive. We’re looking at maybe adding Nancy Larson Science in the new year? We’ll see on that one too.
In other school news, I found us a German tutor, so the kids will start with her once a week. We are also still attending Homeschool PE on base, the kids are doing Tap, and Bug goes to the art classes I teach with me once a week. He is still learning Piano with KinderBach.
We’re doing great. I have some decisions to make with Math and Science, but other than that, I am happy with our school year so far! It’s been a strange one since we technically started First Grade with Bug last January, and then I took a break to re-evaluate in early spring, and then started back in July as a “new school year”….. so, we’re a little off the normal schedule. I suppose that’s what happens when you school year around and just do the next level when you are ready for it!
Have you looked at Foundations of Scientific Understanding? I cannot say enough good things about these books. They are very planning intensive, but so, so, so solid as a curriculum.
We have it…. and I like it. I even planned it out. But- I think I need to go through it and write my own lesson plans from it, because it still just isn’t happening around her. Part of the problem is I bought the 5 dollar PDF which makes it harder to use. I’ll take another look back at it 🙂 thanks for the reminder!