busy day!

today was my first day of class on campus this summer, and i honestly didn't expect to get much done at home, what with the general craziness of a new schedule.  i prepared to chalk today up to be one of those homeschool skip days.

but.  i got home from school and found that all i had to do was *mention* lessonpathways and beau was in.

so, we finished up the king tut unit, which turned out to be extremely interesting.  we shied around the mummies, since beau didn't really want to go there (he doesn't like to think about death in general), but we learned about the nile river and we even found a transformers reference when we started talking about pyramids!  planning to watch that movie later so we can talk about the different kinds of pyramids they show in the movie.  (i didn't know there were different kinds and that the step pyramids predate the smoother ones!  i'm learning, too!)

then he worked on a handwriting worksheet for a little while, and already we're seeing a huge improvement.  i suppose we have to give credit to all those fine motor skills it takes to play video games...beau is better at video games than most adults i know!  i don't object as long as they're age-appropriate or lego-based because the ones we have foster problem-solving skills and critical thinking. 

i'm going to order a handwriting without tears workbook; we downloaded a few sample pages and it was really fun to watch beau's reaction go from, "but mommm, i don't *want* to do worksheets!" to "hey, this is pretty fun!"

and that is why we homeschool.  'cause i get to see those moments.  and i wouldn't trade that for quiet midmornings, uninterrupted showers, or even an afternoon spent reading a good book.  how is any of that worth missing my son's big ah-ha moments?

It’s been a while.

It HAS been a while…since I posted.

That doesn’t mean that learning hasn’t taken place, though.  Beau has picked up reading SO quickly that it’s almost given me whiplash.  He has gone from not being able to read Kindergarten-level things at the beginning of the “school" year to being able to read at almost a second-grade level now.  His only problem is the fluency bit – he still sounds a little like a robot when he reads aloud.  :)  He is DEFINITELY getting there, though.

I’ve been checking my copy of “Home Learning Year by Year” this afternoon, trying to see the gaps that need to be filled in.  Beau is right on track to be considered a first-grader; he’s only behind in history and a bit in science.  I’m going to make a trip to the library (with or without the kids) to check out some books “Year by Year” recommended for history.  Science can be filled in using Lesson Pathways once we get signed up again next month.

Also, something very strange occurred to me just now.  I realized just how much I had been letting the traditional “school year” hold me back.  I’d been reluctant to consider starting new material on a new grade level with Beau because it’s the “middle of the year.”  What nonsense! 

That’s part of the beauty of homeschooling, isn’t it?  We can learn what and how we like, no matter what the school system is doing. 

So I considered making OUR school year begin in January, contrary to the traditional school year.  Or maybe I could just let go of the concept of a “school year” altogether and just focus on what the kids are learning and how much they know to classify them in “grade levels” (for the benefit of family members’ collective sanity, lol). 

I thought a bit about standardized testing.  I don’t really know how I feel about it and won’t until we actually pick a program and try it on for size.  I know I don’t personally agree with testing and grading in *general*, but for assessment purposes, I can see the appeal.  It would help assuage everyone’s worries about whether or not Beau is getting a proper education and is on par with others his age.  At any rate, I’m thinking we’ll wait until next year (or next semester) to worry about it.

I generally regroup about twice a year and assess the progress and direction of our homeschooling.  For my own purposes, I’m calling them “semesters,” because that’s a term I’m familiar with and it’s the best word I can think of to describe dividing the year into essentially two parts: Spring and Fall.

So now is really the beginning of the spring semester.  The “plan” for this semester is to get signed up with Lesson Pathways (already in the process of that) for the Science and Math sections, at least; library it for the History section; continue to be hands-off in Reading, except to possibly read more books with the kids and take more trips to the library.

Goodness, I feel like I could write TONS more, but the kids want to go outside and play and I’ve got to get them bundled up! 

Decoding the program

Today we're having a bit of trouble with Beau's online program...well, actually, we're having several problems. :)

First, our LessonPathway's subscription has supposedly run out, when it was supposed to be good for five more months. I need to get that straightened out, because we all love that program.

Second, Time4Learning is proving to be a bit more complicated than we originally suspected, haha. The "games," as we call them (always games, never lessons...I always want the kids to be having fun, not "working," so they will always have positive associations when it comes to learning), the games are great, lots of fun and great quality. That isn't the problem.

This morning, I switched Beau temporarily to the first grade program, just to see if it would be better for him. He's doing better with the first grade things...they're more challenging and he isn't bogging down in boredom because he already knew the material the way he was with the kingergarten program.

However, the overall structure of the system is something I'm having to get used to. I think that after a bit, we'll figure it out. :) It's just a tad bit confusing right now.

The Time4Learning system offers Language Arts (Phonics, for Beau), Language Arts Extensions (which we haven't explored yet, but I imagine will be something along the lines of Reading after the phonics section turns into English), Math, and Science. I feel that until this school semester is over, this is the best way for us to school.

As of right now, I'm taking the spring semester off from college. It's just proving to be too much. I might still take one or two classes a semester like I was before, but I don't imagine I'll be trying to take a full load again anytime soon.