Week 1

We just wrapped up week one of school. It was a good week. I stayed on task. The house is a pit. It was a slow week work-wise but I'm already wondering how I'll manage a busy week. Probably the biggest factor will be our adventurous toddler. Right now, she is going to bed twice a day. She typically doesn't nap in the afternoon but she is very happy to have a few books and some quiet time in her crib. I'm not sure this will continue for the entire year but it makes things flow smoothly right now.

Kyrie is doing a very simple preschool program. She is bright and very interested in hand-writing so we are doing a little verbal phonics and she has her own handwriting book. We also play with Discovery Toys wonderful tiles together for a little bit. And then she jumps in on Art and Music appreciation with Ben, as well as Bible time in the morning and some of Ben's science.

Ben's second grade program consists of:

Math-Horizons. I like the color and appeal of this math program; it inspires learning in him. Right now, he's finding the beginning of the year review very easy but we are enforcing math with other projects that involve measurement.

History-Story of the World Book 2 continues World History into the Middle Ages. The activity book is a favorite. I was concerned that other homeschooling families would have checked out approximately 8-15 literature and history books that are recommended to accompany each chapter. But so far, no problem. We use the library a lot and the activity book gives us all kinds of wonderful projects-arts, crafts, and cooking. Each lesson has mapwork and a coloring page too. Last week Ben made a Roman signum. Next week he'll make a Celtic ax and we'll cook a typical monastic meal. 

Language Arts-First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind focuses on learning parts of speech and poetry memorization. We throw in Bible memory work too. It incorporates handwriting with copy-work and early recognition of the parts of speech.

Spelling-Ben loved spelling so much that last year he completed the book recommended for 2nd grade. This year I'm attempting to pace him so he does one lesson a week.

Handwriting-We are using Zaner Bloser Handwriting 2C. This is the year we transition to Cursive. Keyboarding is just as important at this stage as writing but we will continue to use something, probably until grade 4. Ben's writing is very readable and he continues to develop his computer skills all on his own.

Science-I wish I had discovered Allan Fowler's little books on every science-related topic you can think of last year. There are well over 100 and they are perfect short informational books that Ben has used to research other topics. We are reading them and also starting to use a star explorer chart to work on astronomy. Probably our biggest science project right now is studying the metamorphosis of tadpoles. We have one frog in a 10-gallon aquarium and a tadpole in a separate container who will join him when full-grown. All of the kids participate in this project but Ben is responsible for his care and feeding. 

Art -We have been using Usborne's My Very First Book of Art which has wonderful art projects based on the works of artists. So we might study how Marc Chagall used reds to make warm, bright paintings or how Edgar Degas used pastels on a black background. This subject ALWAYS happens when Everleigh is napping. We also do art appreciation by reading Mike Venezia's wonderful Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists series. These are on DVD as well and I wish our library had more of those.


Music Appreciation - I love the Classical Kids CD series. We recently listened to Hallelujah Handel but they have all been great. Mike Venezia's Great Artists series also includes musicians so we are reading these as well. Today, we read about Duke Ellington and tonight we will watch a DVD of one of his live performances. Sometimes, the best we can do is find a You Tube with a certain composer's music being performed.

I'm weak where physical education is concerned. Right now we are enjoying sunny days and just playing outside. But I need to figure out how to develop more interest in sports and fitness.

Overall, I'm happy with our program. Now to keep up on the housework.