What we do all day

Well, it's October, and we have a pretty good idea of what we're doing, curriculum-wise... mostly. I did manage to score Oak Meadow second and fourth grades, and while I like them, it's just not practical to do two completely different curriculum with four kids running around. I need to consolidate and teach them all together whenever possible. I also needed some independent materials they could work on if I was doing a one-on-one lesson with another child. One thing I learned last year was that if I "lost" someone during school, it took a good half-hour to get them back. For us, it works better to chug away at the work and then break for play.

I'm not 100% pleased with it. There's some stuff here that's a compromise between the ideal and real life, and there's some stuff we do that I really want to change. All in all, though, I feel pretty pleased with how I'm juggling home, life, parenting, and homeschooling.

Christian Ed: We're working through Our 24 Family Ways right now. We also do liturgical year-based projects and are keeping a saints main lesson book again. One thing we're doing is making a "Great Cloud of Witnesses" display, and we print out a classic picture of each saint we study and hang it up.

Math: I've said here before, I can't think creatively about math. I used a very tradition curriculum, Progress in Mathematics. I do try to "gnome it up" when I can. We have a heavy emphasis on hands-on experiences, manipulatives, literature, and art, not just on worksheets. A lot of what the teacher's book considers to be extension activities, we use for the bulk of the lessons. As I grow more confident with homeschooling, I may not even buy the workbooks. We've also been using Calculadder for drilling math facts. I'm going to try to bundle a few math units together--measurement, money, time. The rest we have to do as separate lessons.

Handwriting: Copywork a la Charlotte Mason. I also have A Reason for Handwriting for when I'm in a pinch.

Reading: For Katie Grace, we're finishing up with Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading. Michael is just reading. He keeps a reader response journal and a vocab journal. We also started a book club for homeschoolers at our public library. We have read-aloud every day.

Grammar/Writing: Somehow, I ended up with copies of Learning Language Arts Through Literature for all the grades. I'm using it as a foundation, but I really want to work in some of the Waldorf main lesson blocks as a vehicle for teaching grammar and writing. Katie and Michael both also keep a journal.

Spelling: This is another area I had a hard time thinking about creatively. I want to pull spelling lists from reading and writing but frankly, I just don't have the time. So, we've been using A Reason for Spelling. I'm not crazy about it. I like the word lists, but some of the exercises are silly. And my kids both hate word boxes. On the other hand, they can work through it fairly independently, which is a plus.

Social Studies: Story of the World and History Odyssey. We're enjoying learning about the middle ages together. Michael is also taking a side order of PA History for 4th grade. Both of them also do Daily Geography.

Science: Still struggling with this. Right now we're doing a nature study on trees, and Michael is going further and studying Pennsylvania trees. I actually started a thread here asking for science help.

Art: We do a lot of the tradition Waldorf handicrafts, handwork, and art projects. Every other week or so, we pick an artist, learn about their work, and do our own project inspired by that artist.

Music: Katie Grace is learning piano. Michael is learning drums and takes cello/orchestra at his old school. They're both in children's choir. Both my husband and I were music majors and music is a huge part of our lives, but we aren't terribly intentional about music appreciation/music education, which is something I've been thinking about.

Phys Ed: Soccer for all, basketball is coming up, Katie Grace is in dance.

Latin:Prima Latina. I'm kind of blah/apathetic about it.

Preschool/Kindergarten: I'd say we remember to do circle about 3 times a week. :bag: We've started some math concepts with Nick, but mostly I've been picking a nursery rhyme each week and trying to find some projects that go along with it.