Outside The Home {TOS Back to School Blog Hop}

Today we are blogging about what kinds of things homeschoolers do outside the home...  We do a lot!  I think it is a blessing for us to have the flexibility to go and do things while other kids are in school.  For us, we really LOVE a good field trip!  I think field trips are a fantastic way to bring learning alive!  We have enjoyed a variety of lessons through the zoo, museums, and more plus we having amazing neighbors that take the time to teach my girls things that I couldn't not teach.   I'm excited to share our Top 10 favorite ways to find learning opportunities outside of the home!

#1.  Swimming Lessons We have been taking swimming lessons at Diventures for 3 years now.  We usually only schedule swimming lessons for about one semester each school year.  Since we have to drive about 35 minutes one way, we get a little tired of all  the traveling, but we have found it to be worth it.   We count it as PE credit.  
#2.   Piano Lessons We have a next door neighbor who teaches piano!  It is wonderful to be able to send my kids next door on a bike or on foot to piano lessons.  I required 2 years of music and promised that, if they hated it, they could quit after the second year.  Well, this is their 3rd school year learning piano and I am so glad that they are enjoying it enough to continue.   
#3.  Handicrafts I outsource this kind of stuff all the time!  Kayley really wanted to learn how to sew and we were excited that a different neighbor offered to help Kayley learn how to make some Christmas gifts for her family!  She goes every other week to work on sewing projects for about 1.5 hours.  Maggie is also making Christmas gifts by completing some no-sew projects with Gramma.  We have enjoyed learning crochet with Aunt Becky in the past and plastic canvas boxes with an elderly sister from church... There are so many older sisters from church who would love to help the girls with projects.  
#4.  Zoo The zoo is such a great place to learn about animals.  (Of course!)  Animals are science...and science is cool!  Our zoo, The Dickerson Park Zoo, offers a homeschool class each semester called Zoo Keepers.  In Zoo Keepers the kids learn how a real zoo keeper works each day.  They clean out the enclosures, they brush the animals in the petting zoo, they prepare food, and make "enrichment materials" for the animals to play with.  The zoo also offers other classes during the year, but unfortunately, they fall on a Sunday and we have chosen not to attend.
#5.  Children's Museum Our local children's museum is called The Discovery Center.  They offer amazing classes each summer!  Everything from Nano Technology to Chemistry to Anatomy.  The classes are a little steep, price-wise, but they have a lot of take-home science projects and it can be logged for several hours of science.  Our museum also offers parent/child dissection labs about 4 times a year.  How cool is that?
#6.   Inflight Entertainment While traveling to and from many of these fun places, we enjoy squeezing in a little learning time by listening to audio books or having the girls watch the Inflight Entertainment.  We have a DVD system installed into our mini-van, which can be really handy for longer car trips!  Many times I do not offer choices for movies...sometimes you just have to tune-in to what is playing.  For instance, today we headed down to Branson...it is about a 1.5 hour drive and today's inflight entertainment will consist of  Getting to Know the World Greatest Artists: Rembrandt, NEST Entertainment's version of Pocahontas, and Torchlighter: The William Tyndale Story.  Art, History, and Church History!  Each compliments Week 3 of BiblioPlan Year 3.  Inflight Entertainment can also includes audio books and radio dramas.
#7.  Backyard Nature Study Sometimes getting out of the house is as simple as getting out into the yard.  We just got our Nature Journals from The Good & The Beautiful and can't wait to get started with them.  There is SO much to see and do and it is all right outside our door.
#8.  The Bucket List Many of the items on our bucket list are educational.  For example, Crater of Diamonds (geology), Fantastic Caverns (geology), The Magic House (science), Butterfly Palace (biology & botany), Crystal Bridges Art Museum (fine arts), Civil War Cave (history/science), and State Parks/National Parks.  National Parks are great because they offer the Junior Ranger Programs!
#9.  The Nature Center Our local nature center offers the Conservation Kids Club.  They hold classes a couple of times each quarter about various topics.  This month is Insect-O-Rama.  We will learn about bugs and even get a chance to "eat a worm."
#10.  The Library What more can be said about your local library?  Books, videos, games, and many other resources are found at your local library.  
And that is our Top 10 List of where we find learning outside of the home!
Thank you so much for Swinging By!
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Our Top Ten Favorite School Supplies {TOS Back to School Blog Hop}

Today we are blogging about school supplies!  I love back-to-school time when all the school supplies are cheap and in abundance.  I thought that I would share my top 10 favorite school supplies that I use all year round.  I only have a few things that I consider "must haves" but I am happy to share each one with you!  I'm sure my Type A personality is flashing with blinking lights during this post.  Haha!  Enjoy my list of Favorite "Must Have" School Supplies!

#1.  D-ring binders

Nope!  Not just any old binder will do in this house.  They absolutely must be D-ring.  They keep your pages neat and tidy and the pages turn so easily in a D-ring.  They also must have a clear plastic sleeve in the front so that I can insert a binder cover.  I require D-ring binders in various widths and colors...because I color coordinate whenever possible.  It's all about organization and looking pretty.

#2.  Bic Xtra Strong, Break-resistant lead pencils

The 0.9 mm lead is what makes this pencil so awesome.  I have 2 girls who push HARD on their papers when they are writing and we often end up with broken lead.  (And I'm always afraid that the little lead piece is going to poke someones eye out!)  Tracking down a pencil sharpener is frustrating too and they only sharpen so-so, soooo clickable pencils are great!  Plus these particular pencils erase cleanly!  We buy these pencils in bulk!

#3.  Time-Timer

We received this as a review product over 5 years ago and we STILL use it nearly every day in our homeschool!  Time-Timer has come a long way since then and is now available in more sizes and even in "fashion colors!"  It is pricey, but I cannot believe how much we have used this awesome little timer!  It is quiet so it works so perfectly for reading time and math timed worksheets and so forth.

#4.   Reading Window

(I suppose this is technically not a "school supply")  I know, most people have a reading basket or bin but we have taken advantage of this window that looks out onto our screened in porch.  This year it is decorated as Hogwarts library!  I put library books on display in the window that I hope the girls will pick up and read out of interest.  I have found that having living books on "display" makes it more likely that one will catch their eye!

#5.  Double-sided Tape

I can't believe I didn't start using double sided tape sooner.  It works great for nearly everything that kids would normally glue...only there is no goopy, sticky, white, slimy mess!  We have used our double sided tape from everything to sticking little paper thingys on worksheets to assembling entire lap books.  Loooooove double-sided tape!

#6.  White Board

Why, yes, I do have a big white board hanging in my kitchen!  Doesn't everyone?  LOL!  We use this board for everything.  Diagramming sentences?  Spelling practice?  To-do Lists?  Menu planning?  Yep, pretty much everything.

#7.  Student Planner

Our favorite is the God's Word in Time Student planner.  I got mine from Christian Book Distribution.   They are inexpensive and sturdy.  I do end up writing things in duplicate because I write one for each girl every week, but they really seem to encourage independence.  A plus: they file away neatly with each child's schoolwork giving a record of our accomplishments for the year and checking the box needed for our state's homeschool requirements.

#8.  Colored & White Index Cards

We use these for everything.  Spelling lists, flash cards, spines in a 3 ring binder, little stand ups for reminders on the table...  We like the color index cards because, well, YOU know!

#9.  Headphones

For math videos, for piano, for audio books...  Ahhhh...  blessed peace and quiet.

#10.  A good printer and printer paper

I print a lot.  And I mean, a lot a lot!  I love PDF downloadable curriculum that allows me to print something, throw it in a binder or have it spiral or comb bound.  Then I can change my mind and re-print, print more copies, or scratch the whole thing and start over if needed.  I always feel that I have to keep hard copies neat and clean, but with PDF downloads I can write all over them, file them away...and print them again later!

I look forward to seeing what the favorite school supplies of my fellow crew mates might be!  I will enjoy hopping through all the blogs to find out!  Thank you so much for swinging by at Swinging On Small Hinges!

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Our Favorite Curriculum {TOS Back to School Blog Hop}

Hello!  Welcome to Swinging On Small Hinges!  

If you are visiting for the first time from The Old Schoolhouse blog I am so grateful that you took the time to swing by Swinging On Small Hinges.  I hope you enjoy your visit!

When I first started homeschooling I was SO nervous that I immediately jumped into an all-in-one video based curriculum.  I was so scared that I would mess up.  While we still have fond memories of that first year of homeschooling kindergarten I have since, over the last 7 years of homeschooling, loosened up a bit and have felt confident enough to branch out and try many new things.   And when I say many...I mean many.  Flexibility is one of the blessings of homeschooling!  Thank goodness for that because we have already made a couple of changes this year!

Some of my readers know that I posted our curriculum choices for our 2017-2018 Hogwart's Themed school year not too long ago but, believe it or not, we have already made a couple of changes.  (I bet you do believe it!)  The problem we ran into within the first week was that I once again have tried to do too much...  Does this happen to you too?  We barely started and I realized that our lives are just too busy to try to do the amount of work I had scheduled in a week.  Oops.  Somehow it didn't cross my mind that with piano, swimming & sewing lessons, doctor appointments, and a lot of service through our church...we would not be able to do that without stress and frustration.  I guess Mom is just a little too ambitious...  I streamlined almost immediately and had to put aside my pre-done, home made schedules in favor of a week-by-week schedule.  It just works better for our family...

Either way, without further ado, this blog post marks an "update" to our curriculum choices for 2017-2018.  I would love to share what has been working great so far...and what we have tweaked (or completely changed) this school year.

History!

Click Here to share BiblioPlan! Thank You!
BiblioPlan History remains a favorite.  We have been using BiblioPlan in our family integrated history studies for 6 years now.  We love the flexibility, the readers, Remember the Days, the Maps, the Timeline...pretty much everything about it, but especially the flexibility!  BiblioPlan's family guide makes planning history so easy for all grades.  We love having both girls in the same time period at their own level and we appreciate that you can substitute books and it does not affect the schedule or literature.  I use it as a guideline and I flesh it out as I see fit each year.  This year we are studying Early Modern History, BiblioPlan Year 3.

Science! We were all set to pounce on Guest Hollow for the first time this year with Kayley enjoying Knowledge of Nature and Maggie enjoying Little Otter's Anatomy.  Unfortunately that has pretty much fallen apart due to the sheer volume of living books we were trying to read for both history and science.  We were forced to streamline this almost immediately.  This is totally my fault...self-professed overachiever here!   What we are doing instead to streamline science: Kayley is still using Apologia's Exploring Creation with Chemistry & Physics Text and Notebook for her own personal study as scheduled in Guest Hollow (without the extra worksheets)...but she is also tagging along with Maggie in something we are trying that is NEW! Maggie is using The Good & The Beautiful Arthropods Science Unit by Jenny Phillips (Kayley is tagging along because she just loves science)  If you haven't explored The Good & The Beautiful curriculum yet, I highly recommend it!  It accounts for the other changes we have made this school year.... (I wish I had found this earlier!)

Language Arts! We were WAY too ambitious as far as Language Arts goes and within the 1st week I was already regretting my attempts at creating "rigor" in my homeschool....again...(Did I mention I am an over achiever?  I'm sooooo sorry girls).  Anyway.  I convinced everyone to scrap our over-kill Language Arts plans and try The Good & The Beautiful for Language Arts.   Oh. My. Goodness.  It IS both good AND beautiful.  Not kidding.  It is advanced without being painfully rigorous.  What is amazing is that levels 1-5 are FREE.  Go, check it out!   (You won't be sorry.) Now, not only is it both good and beautiful but it really takes all of our different language arts books and complies it into one (or two) neat and tidy lessons!  Reading, Grammar, Spelling, Geography and Fine Arts are all rolled into The Good & The Beautiful.  It has really eliminated some stress for me and the girls. Maggie is in LOVE with The Good & The Beautiful.  She placed into Level 1. Kayley is still unsure about The Good & The Beautiful but wants to try "another week or two" before she makes a decision on what she thinks of it.  She placed into Level 5.   Both girls are also using the handwriting portion of the program too... Mom (me!) really likes The Good & The Beautiful.   (I think I will write a review about it one day soon).

Math! We are still loving Math-U-See!  Kayley has used MUS since the beginning.  She thrives under the mastery approach and really enjoys the videos with Mr. Demme.   Maggie started with MUS as well, completing Primer, Alpha and 1/2 of Beta, but just hasn't flourished with it as well as I was hoping...so this year we are taking a break from MUS and using Christian Light Education Math 2 and so far (2 weeks in) it is wonderful!  Maggie seems to respond well to the flashcards, math drills and other tasks as assigned in the light unit.  My hope is that the more "spiral" approach to math will resonate with her and help her build confidence in math!

Foreign Language! If you remember, we had big plans to do Prima Latina (Kayley) and Salsa Spanish (Maggie) and we haven't managed to get either of those programs going yet...  But, we are just our first month into this school year so there is still hope!  Right?  Riiiiiiight....  ;) That's about it for our curriculum this year.  I wonder what everyone else is using?  I can't wait to read through all the Blog Hop link ups to find out!!!  


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Schoolroom! {Not Back-to-School Blog Hop}

 Welcome back to Week 2 of the Not Back-to-School Blog Hop!  This week we are sharing our School Rooms.  We are pretty blessed in that we have this tiny office area in our new house.  It is a tight squeeze but serves as a nice home base for our daily school activities.   So, enjoy this short tour of our schoolroom.

You can see Mom's workstation to the left, you can see the "Learning Tree" from BJU's K4 on the left wall.  The bookcase on the left is Maggie's, on the right, Kayley's.  They both have a crate for filing completed school work.  The stacker things are our "workboxes.  We love this little white table we picked up from Toys R. Us, it seats both girls and we do sometimes but more often it becomes an independent work station for just 1 girl at a time.  The bookcases house books that we are using for school right now plus a shelf of books that are for me (preserving my sanity!)  On the far right you can see the corner of a white bin, that serves as our "turn in box."

We love our little schoolroom but honestly, maybe half of our schoolwork is done in this room.  The other 50% of our schoolwork is done in the living room on the couch where we just enjoy cuddling up to do a lot of reading!   And that's our schoolroom!  Thanks for stopping by!

Our 2013-2014 Curriculum {Not Back To School BlogHop}

Can you believe it is that time of year again?  I'm excited to participate and link up with iHomeschoolnetwork's Not Back-to-School Blog Hop!  This week we are talking about our curriculum choices for this year.  This is the first year where I am homeschooling 2 kiddos, although Maggie is 3 so it is kind of relative.  We started school a couple of weeks ago and so far it has been 50/50 on the bumpy vs. smooth days.  (After a grueling move this summer and being homeless for a couple months it is probably to be expected).  We have also made a bunch of changes this year in our school that will hopefully make homeschooling a little less schooly and a little more fun!  

So, without further ado, here is our line up of fun for 2013-2014:
(affiliate links are included in this blog posting)

Kayley, age 7

Religion: 
Discover the Book of Mormon from Discover the Scriptures.  It is a downloadable .pdf that sells for $19.99.  (Bonus!  Right now you can use a coupon code "Sun13" to save 20%!  Not sure for how long but it is still good today!)  Discover the Scriptures uses the Book of Mormon Stories reader or view/listen online.  It is a lot of fun and Kayley and I are both working through the program together.  She thinks it is pretty awesome that Mommy is doing her own workbook.

Math:
BJU Math 3.  We had been doing Singapore for the last 2 years but were burned out on the workbook approach and so we are trying something new and a bit different by taking Math 3 as video-based class through BJU.   Honestly it is pretty awesome so far.  I sit back and let Kayley handle it pretty independently.  Admittedly the price tag was steep, but for me, this year, it has been worth it as I have really felt like I need to focus a bit more on some other things and we've been overwhelmingly busy!

Social Studies:
Sonlight.

 

We are at the tale end of Sonlight Core B and will be starting Core C before Winter.  We love the living books concept of Sonlight and I really, really like that it is open and go.

Story of the World.  We are also intertwining with Story of the World (finishing up Volume 1 (ancients) and moving into Vol 2 (middle ages)).  I buy the student pages as a .pdf download from Peace Hill Press, print them out, create a cute cover and then have them spiral-bound at Staples to make cute workbooks.  Story of the World compliments Classical Conversations so well that even though we are not going back to our community this year (a later story) we will continue to use it.


Science:
Apologia.  We wrapped up Astronomy at the end of  June.  This school year we have moved into Apologia's Exploring Creation Through Botany series.  I am torn on Apologia.  I was terribly annoyed with the company after the big anti-Mormon article came out in April on Apologia's blog.  They've made it pretty clear that they think we (Latter-day Saints) should burn in hell but yet, they are pretty cool about taking our money if we still want to buy their curriculum.   I had already purchased Botany before the big blow-up.  The thing is:  their curriculum is awesome.  It is really, really good and I really, really like it.  So, we press on with Botany for now.  The notebooking component of Botany is fun and Kayley LOVES it. 

Language Arts:

Total Language Plus.  We have started this year using Total Language Plus.  So far it is OK.  It is more work (a lot more writing) that we've had in the past but I attribute that to the fact that TLP covers ALL your Language Arts Subject in one book.  We are reading The Courage of Sarah Noble and your spelling, vocab, grammar and all that come from the reading. 

A Variety.  TLP only lasts about 8 weeks and there are only 2 series for Kayley's age so when we are done we will be moving back into Explode the Code book 7 for phonics,  BJU Grammar 3 & Reading 3 for English & Literature, A Reason for Spelling, and we are going to be trying out Word Wisdom Level C & Word Ladders for Vocabulary.  Sounds complex but its not. They are all simple, open and go.  Some of them we will just do orally.


Reading:
Sonlight plus Kayley's Choice.  Reading is the MOST important subject in our house.  I expect Kayley to read at least 30 minutes a day and she does, without complaining, a LOT of times without me even reminding her.  We've created a bookworm and she is always asking for this or that from the library.  She does the reading associated with Sonlight's Grade 3 readers and will be moving onto the Grade 4-5 Reader list by Winter.  We also do the Read Alouds associated with Sonlight Core B and C (and she tags along with all of Maggies Sonlight Reading as well). 

Classical Studies:
Prima Latin by Memoria Press - This is our first year really using a language program.  We had a swift introduction to Latin at Classical Conversations this year and we are going to press on with this language.  We are using Prima Latina.  It is simple and I love that it is video based.


Classical Conversations:  It is unfortunate that we will not be returning to our Classical Conversations Community this year.  I was torn.  After moving our community is about 45 minutes away.  While the time commitment wouldn't be too bad the drive would be killer on the gas tank to drive into town 2x's a week (not to mention the hefty $500.00 price tag associated with tuition and fees).  I have already let our director know that we won't be returning but over the last few weeks I've been feeling regret.  The program is awesome!  It is a shame that I can't tutor to offset my costs but seeing as how Latter-day Saints are heathens they won't let me!  (Funny, I don't feel like a heathen?).

Anyway, I am going to try hard, hard, hard to do the program at home so next year if we decide we missed it too much then we can go back!  Classical Conversations at home might be tough but I really love the program!  On the upside, Kayley didn't enjoy it that much so she is relieved we are not going back and, a 2nd upside...CC really takes over when it is in session and I didn't enjoy the competitiveness and stress that came with "having to" be prepared every week.  It'll be nice to stay in control of our curriculum all year, take a break when we want, etc.

Memoria Press D'aulaires Greek Myths:  We will be slowly working our way through one other program that looks so good!  Using D'aulaires & Memoria Press to work through Greek Myths.  I haven't started this yet but it looks good!

Electives:
Swimming.  I asked Kayley to choose a couple of things that interested her that she would like to work on this year.  She choose "learning about animals" and "swimming!"  Easy enough.  We are doing swimming lessons at Diventures in Springfield.  It is a great program.  We do have to drive into town and it is a 45 minute drive (which is part of the reason we nixed CC - too much traveling).

Sonlight Core B Science.  For "animal science" I decided to have her try Sonlights Science B - I found this used at Redeemed for about $20 with its activity pages.  It is a study of animals, magnets and astronomy.  So far it is ok.  It is really light compared to Botany but it is an elective course so, I didn't want it to be difficult.  Just fun.  She has done some really neat experiments with Magnets and they read out of Usborne books.

Maggie age 3 (and 1/2), PreK4

Phonics/Math:
BJU Footsteps For Fours.  I found this little program at a steal of a deal on eBay a while back.  After finishing up BJU's Pathways for Preschool in the Spring we were excited to move into the next level.  BJU does such a great job of creating curriculum.  I have always used something BJU every year.

BJU Foundations.  On a last minute whim I decided to sign Maggie up for an online BJU course too.  Can you believe they even have classes for kids this small?  Well, they do.  The foundations course, while vintage animation that is sort of, well, cheap (and some really ugly puppets)...the course is FABULOUS.  It is like an episode of Mr. Rogers/Sesame Street/Online Class rolled into one.  Kayley took Kindergarten through BJU Distance Learning and we loved it and I was glad to see Mrs. Lawson and Miss Liston (the K5 teachers) also teach K4!  Maggie looks forward to her class every day.

Social Studies/Science:
Sonlight Core 4/5 - Its hard to believe that I have my 3 year old in a 4/5 level but, no kidding, Core 4/5 is really light on the academics and just a lot of fun reading.  I love, love, love Sonlight but it is just too light for my academically starving children.

Electives/Other:
Five in a Row w/free lapbooking materials from HomeschoolShare.com - more fun reading and craft projects.  Can I just say that PreK is so fun?  Of course, Maggie tags along in all of Kayley's subjects as well.  She participates in Book of Mormon, Story of the World, Botany and Latin.  When she gets bored she wanders off and comes back when we start doing something interesting.



So there it is!  Thanks for stopping by! 


*There are affiliate links in the post.  I hope that if you find any of my recommendations worthy of purchasing that you will help our homeschool by buying through my links.  ;)

Back to Homeschool Blog Hop Day 4 - Co-ops

Today is already the last day the Back to Homeschool Blog Hop!  I've had a lot of fun posting about our homeschool experience and I'm grateful to those that stopped by!  Todays topic is Co-ops!  I've been eluding to this topic in several postings this week because this is a area that is about to change for us!

Some background:
The first year we homeschooled I tried to get into 2 different co-ops in our area.  Both rejected us due to the facts that we are Latter-day Saints.  Citing "incompatible religious differences" in both cases they told us in polite terms that we were not welcome there.  It was hurtful.  I cried.  It seems that many people (at least in this area) are concerned with the fact that Latter-day Saints are not Christian.  Excuse me?  For the record Latter-day Saints, (aka the Mormons) are really, and truly, Christians.  There is a lot of misinformation floating around in the media right now and a lot of mainstream church leaders and politicians are feeding the public fear of Mitt Romney and the evil Mormons.  Just for the sake of clarity, we believe in God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Ghost and in doing good works & sharing the good news.  So.    If that doesn't make us Christians then I am confused as to how one defines a "real" Christian?  Well, either way, I digress and that is a posting for another day.

We did have one co-op offer us a spot but told me up front that we were welcome to attend as long I understood I would not be allowed to teach in any capacity.  Oh, well, ok then....  I wasn't really gunning to teach anyway.  In then end it was kind of a far drive and I wasn't sure how badly we needed the social interaction so we decided to just forge ahead - sans co-op.

The second year we homeschooled I said "no way" to co-ops.  I was enjoying the flexibility of not having to be anywhere on a certain day at a certain time.  It was also nice that I wasn't at the mercy of someone else's curriculum for a semester or more.

This year...Kayley and I had a heart-felt talk in which she expressed that she was lonely.  I can see why.  Her only little girl-friend in church moved away, leaving her in a class of boys.  And as she is getting bigger...she wants to do girly things and play dates with the boys aren't fun anymore.  I could have just as easily enrolled her in swimming lessons, music/dance, etc but in the end I decided to take a chance and try the co-op idea one more time.

What did we decide?
Well, long-story-short:  Classical Conversations.   We are Charlotte Mason all the way - but when it comes down to our options for co-ops in this area our choices are limited.  I had been looking at the Classical Method and there are some aspects of it that I really like.  Mainly that the kids turn out to be brilliant!   :)

We went to an open house for CC about a month ago and were blown away.  The hubby thought it looked amazing, I had been leaning toward it a bit in our homeschool anyway.  We had already started doing some memory work at home working on character qualities and the Articles of Faith and I was seeing the value of memorizing scripture and other sing/song things to help Kayley remember days of the week, days in a month, and so on.

At the open house the director told the group up front:  "We let anyone in regardless of religious affiliation.  Part of being a good Christian is sharing the gospel.  How can we do that if we don't let non-Christians into our co-op?"  BAM!  I instantly loved her!

We went home and prayed about it and signed up about 4 days later.

Classical Conversations:
We are pretty nervous.  Classical Conversations requires a lot of memory work and it will be very busy.  But-I think Kayley will love it.  She will have a chance to meet other kids - hopefully girls - and learn a lot in the process.  I hope I get to meet some other Moms and maybe even make friends.  Maggie will get to go too.  CC has a nursery for the littles.  I will be blogging about this new adventure throughout the year so check back to see how it is going.  We start mid-September!

Back to Homeschool Blog Hop 4: Our "Classroom"

Day 4 of the Back to Homeschool Blog Hop is sharing what our "classrooms" are like.  I know when I first started homeschooling I wondered what homeschooling looked like in every one else's house.  Some people had everything from re-created classrooms, complete with desks in a row and chalkboard.  Some people used the whole house as their classroom with science in the kitchen, reading in the living room, spelling in the kitchen, etc. 

We've tried it both ways now and I'll admit that I much prefer to have a designated area set up specifically for school work...  When my girls are older and can work more independently I don't see any reason that they couldn't do their school work wherever they wanted, but for now, we will stay together.

Originally, we started out with school stuff in the spare bedroom, but we didn't like it, it was too dark and lonely back there.  Then we moved into the kitchen, and that worked out great but we found that we ended up packing everything up, and putting it away, to stop for lunch and then dragging it all back out again.  We were also constantly shuffling things/piles around once the day was over.  We couldn't add any more shelving because of the doors and windows in the kitchen.  I wanted an area that we could leave out art projects to dry or spread out our math, etc.  I also wanted more wall space for maps and a white board.  So we took over the dining room.  It wasn't being used anyway...we always eat in the kitchen unless we have company.

So, to make things interesting I thought I would give you a virtual tour of our dining room!

In the big picture you can see Mom Central on the left...  Back left is Maggie's School Shelf and back right is Kayley's School Shelf.  The view out our back door is awesome.  I finally had room for a whiteboard, map, chorepacks, bulletin board, and calendar.   Maggie has the booster seat and she is always thrilled to join us at the table.

Here is a closer look at Maggie's Shelf.

I described workboxes yesterday.  As the girls get done with their work they put it in the "turn in box" and move on to what is next in their workbox.   Even Maggie has this figured out now and it is so easy to keep everything together.  Plus I can walk away to fix lunch and the girls can just grab what is next and turn it in when they are done.  The school supply boxes are just plastic shoe boxes the girls decorated with stickers.  Inside you have typical supplies: pencils, glue, crayons, etc.

Kayley's shelf has a lot more stuff.

In fact, I guess she has 2 shelves.  We are at the tail end of Core A in Sonlight and about to move into Core B so the smaller shelf holds all of our living books for both A and B.  Kayleys workbox system is Blue, (Maggie's was red).  The file box color coordinates.  I have to have several teachers guides for Kayley's school this year...although I admit this is my first year using them.  They are really necessary for spelling and Sonlight. 

Here is Mom Central.  Of course, my desk becomes the dumping ground for everything else in this room.  You can see my cubbies are overflowing with...well...I have no clue exactly what is in there right now.  During school my swivel chair turns around and faces the table.  During other times of the day it faces the computer and gets pushed in.

I think that is about it!  If you want to know what other homeschool families use as their classroom have fun clicking through the links below!  I know I will!

Back to Homeschool Blog Hop Day 3: Planning

 

Ok, so many of you are going to think I'm a total geek when I tell you that I LOVE planning.  Oh...I was born to plan!  When it comes to planning I am actually pretty darn organized or close to it anyway.  I am meticulous when it comes to picking curriculum, books, supplies, and so forth.  Now, with that being said I'll admit that sometimes I go a little over the top.  I've been known to become frozen with the analysis paralysis while trying to decide full subject matters.  Take History for instance...whatever we choose for history will impact all our other subjects.  I view homeschooling as a piece of a whole, not just something we do for a couple of hours a day.  I freaked out over history for months before finally deciding on Sonlight.  It was rough!  LOL!  I've also been known to buy something, look at it for several days and return it or resell it because I decided it wasn't going to be a good fit for our family.  I absolutely refuse to use something that we are not going to enjoy.

Now, when it comes to planning our homeschool day I do NOT follow a schedule.  I wish I could, but I found myself stressing out over being "on time" so I quickly dropped the schedule idea and now I just follow a general "sequence of events."  So our typical homeschool day looks a bit like this:

7:00/8:00 Kids up & Dressed
8:30 Breakfast
9:00 Start Schoolwork
12:00 Lunch
1:00 Finish up any remaining schoolwork
1:30(ish)-4:00 Naps/Quiet Time
4:00-5:30 Free Time
5:30:  Clean Up
6:00 Daddy gets home/Dinner

You may notice that "chores" are not part of our school day.  Cough-cough...we are working on that.  Right now laundry gets done during breaks in the morning routine and other things just happen as needed.  We do have one morning a week (it fluctuates) where we have "house cleaning day" and start school a little later and sometimes a second morning where we run errands and go to the library.  We only do 4 full school days per week and on Fridays (for now) we usually only do Math, Spelling and Electives keeping school to about an hour.  (This will be changing in September when we join a (GULP) Co-op!!).

For me part of planning...is planning to be flexible.  But--I have to, absolutely HAVE TO, be organized or I will go into crisis mode.  Using Sonlight has been simple, they have a wonderful daily schedule to follow (but it's flexible, do a little or a lot...and it is NOT strict).  I do use it faithfully.  It keeps me on target and provides a great tracking tool for our file that shows what we have accomplished.  I liked the Sonlight planning pages so much that I created my own.  It looks like this:

 

So, tell it to me straight.  Am I obsessed?  ;)

Yes.  The subjects are color coordinated and do match up with same-colored folders and binders.  I couldn't help it.

Notice that I did end up naming our homeschool...  It was past due, everytime I filled out a Book-It form I was tired of just listing "homeschool" and I wanted to have a name on my Teacher ID for all the groovy discounts I get in town!  LOL.

Also notice that I tacked "classical" onto our name...  I think it is the wave of the future in our homeschool.  (A blog posting for Friday will explain all of this).  Like I mentioned in my last posting, we are Charlotte Mason lovers and will continue to use Sonlight...but we are definitely making moves toward a Classical Education.   Hence the Latin in our planner.

So, notice the planner page is NOT a schedule.  Merely a sequence of events and a great way to track what lessons we did on which days.  Here in Missouri we have to "do school" for 1,000 hours per year.  600 from Core Subjects (400 of which have to be in the child's home location) and 400 hours from Elective Subjects.  We have to keep a portfolio of the child's work.  Now, I know a lot of people who probably don't do this...but I do.  Just in Case.  You never know.

So, at this point maybe you are wondering how I keep the kids organized?

Workboxes my friends.  Workboxes.

 

I bought these handy little organizational dealies at Mardel about 2 years ago.  They are made out of a sturdy cardboard.  I load up the workboxes with schoolwork the night before and this gives the girls autonomy in getting their schoolwork done.  They can see, up front, all that has to be done and they have the gratification of watching their workboxes empty as they put their completed work in the "turn in box."  We usually tackle hardest subjects first then let them get easier through the morning as Kayley wears out.

I didn't forget Maggie!  She has her own workbox already too.  For 2 years old she has already gotten into the groove of joining us at the table for part of the morning.  She loves it!

Of course they are color coordinated.  I couldn't help it.  The file box on the bottom is for filing completed work.  At the end of the year I just stack it up, put a big rubber band around it, label it and put it in the big box in the attic.  So easy!

So now you know how I plan what we do each day, maybe you'd like to get an idea of how I plan our topics for the year?  That is the easiest part!  I try really hard to follow Kayley's interests.  I give her choices and run with it.  I do not sit down and plan out a whole years worth of material at a time.  I don't think they would make an eraser large enough to help me with all the changes I would want to make when we decided to run down a rabbit trail.  For example, in August in Branson the Titanic Museum offers special rates and activities for homeschoolers...so I think we will study the Titanic in August.  I may plan out a few weeks and that'll be it.  By September I may find something else that we want to do?  or Not.  Kayley has become interested in learning about Space so we will be trying out Apologia's Exploring Creation with Astronomy series...  Maybe she'll like it, maybe she won't.  Child-directed learning is a good thing and I try to encourage it as much as possible.  Unfortunately for Kayley, some things are non-negotiable.  Like Math.  Spelling.  Reading.  Brushing Teeth.  But, I am flexible in areas where we can and I think it helps make our days more fun!

Well!  I think that about sums it up!  Tomorrow we will be blogging about our homeschool "classrooms" or lack of!  :)

Back to Homeschool Blog Hop Day 2: Curriculum

Welcome to Day 2 of the Back to Homeschool Blog Hop!  

Today I get to share with you all the details about our curriculum!

Choosing curriculum is tough.  Well, at least it is for a Type-A personality like me.  We have tried a lot of different things (thanks in part to the TOS Crew) and I am always willing to make changes if we are using something we don't enjoy.

When I first began homeschooling 2 years ago I was so worried about doing it "right" that I chose a boxed curriculum.  Kayley had been going to preschool since she was 2.5 and by the time she was 4  she was completely bored.  She was ready to read, tired of learning colors and shapes.  It was about this time that my heart strings were tugged toward homeschooling so I took that opportunity and at the end of preschool we jumped into homeschooling.  I started Kayley in Kindergarten at the age of 4 and I don't regret it a single bit.  I bought Bob Jones University Press Kindergarten complete with the DVDs.  I was so nervous!  We would sit down, watch the DVDs and do the cooresponding work text pages.  It was, in all honesty, a really good choice for us.  After about 6 months we ditched the DVD portion and finished up the year on our own.  We loved it.  It has a very easy, learn-to-read program and I intend to use it again with Maggie.  In fact, I've even been looking at the K4 program they have as well.

For first grade we used BJU again for Language Arts and Math.  We skipped the DVD portion all together and just did our own thing.  For Science & Social Studies we flew by the seat of our pants and enjoyed whatever came to mind.  That year we took a trip to the Butterfly Palace, Hershey, PA, Virginia and Washington D.C.  We visited the Smithsonian, Discovery Center, and Zoo.  Kayley participated in Zoo-school, Silver Dollar City Homeschool Days, and the D.C. Bookclub.  It was fun and completely unstructured.

This year has seen things change up quite a bit.  As Kayley has gotten older, I keep becoming more and more accountable to the state for the schooling we do.  I'll talk about this more tomorrow in planning but each year we have to "do school" for 1000 hours.  600 from Core Subjects - 400 from Electives.  All documented.  I have found it easiest and natural just to keep a portfolio of completed work and a loose tracking document showing our extra-activities.  Also, as Kayley has been moving into the second grade over the summer I am wanting to fill some of the "seat-of-our-pants" activities with a little more structure so we are filling a few gaps with real curriculum and living books.

Not to mention that Maggie has become very interested in what we are doing and had been anxious to get involved, so this has been my first year homeschooling 2 children.  Yes, believe it, Maggie has started what I call Nursery-school.  She loves it.  She is thrilled to sit with us during reading time and always asks for her own school to do when we are at the table.  She is whip-smart like her big sister and unless something changes I will start Maggie in PreK at 3 and Kindergarten at 4 just like Kayley.

So that leaves us with the ultimate idea behind todays topic and that is:  what curriculum are we using this year?  We are about 2 months into the new school year so I think we finally have it all figured out.  So, here it goes:

Kayley, 2nd Grade

Character Development
The Learning Parent - Character Trails
We Choose Virtues
Devotional Studies from:  Christian Hero Tales and Princess Stories
Scriptures

Language Arts
Phonics - Explode the Code Book 5 & 6
Vocabulary - Wordly Wise 3000 Book 2 & 3
Grammar - BJU English & Grammar 2
Spelling - A Reason For Spelling Book B
Handwriting - BJU Handwriting 2, Queen Homeschool Copywork for Little Girls and Lessons in Manners Copybook
Creative Writing - WriteShop B
Reading - BJU Booklinks & Sonlight 2nd grade readers (moving into 3rd grade readers mid-year)

Math
Singapore Standards Primary Mathematics 2A and 2B
Math-U-See Beta

History
Sonlight Core B & C  Intro to World History
Discover the Scriptures - Old Testament & New Testament
MapTrek Geography - Ancient World

Science
Sonlight Science B
Apologia Exploring Creation - Astronomy with Jr. Notebook
Christian Liberty Press - Nature Reader Book 1 and 2
Simply Charlotte Mason - Outdoor Secrets & Nature Companion
Burgess Bird Book for Children, James Herriot's Treasure for Children, 1001 Bugs to Spot, and whatever strikes our fancy.

Health and Fitness
AOP's Horizons Health 2
Vintage Remedies for Kids
Homeschool Family Fitness

Fine Arts/Elective Studies
Song School Latin
Abeka Art 2
Kinderbach DVD based Piano course
Reading Eggs
Home-economics, Pearables:  Lessons in Responsibility for Girls

Memory Work
Classical Acts and Facts
Articles of Faith

Now!  I know it looks like a LOT but, keep in mind that we do not do all of these things at once and we make a lot of them a family affair.  For example we do Singapore Math daily but Math-U-See only once or twice a week as a supplement.  We will do Sonlight History and reading daily but most often we do the read alouds at bed time as a family so we do not squeeze into our homeschool day.  Same with the devotional studies & Scriptures, we do them as a family at bedtime.  Many of these programs are so bite-sized too that we are done with the entire subject within 10-15 minutes.  Language Arts is so incremental that Kayley can have all of her L.A. subjects completed within 30 minutes.  We really work well with short, short, short lessons daily.  (A Charlotte Mason thing!)  Science will alternate topics.  I'm a little undecided how to do it still.  We may finish one, then start the other or alternate.  We will do nature studies on our short day - but not until it cools off! 

I've also made a few changes this year.  I've dropped nearly all BJU except for Grammar and Handwriting.  It was a good change and cheaper too!  I have also added in Health and Fitness, Lessons in Responsibility, Manners and more Character Development.   (An area sorely needed to be worked on).  You'll notice at the end I have added on Memory Work.  This will coincide with our Co-op...I'll admit, I'm nervous!   Adding Latin should be fun...it is all music based and I also downloaded the Articles of Faith songs (and several other childrens hymnbook favorites) as well and put them on a CD.  Kayley listens to the CD during quiet time and right before bed.  James and I laughed and wondered if we couldn't put subliminal messages in there as well like, "you love to clean bathrooms...."  lololol.

Ok, so next up:

Maggie, Nursery School

Sonlight Core P3/4

Before Five in a Row

Abeka Nursery Products
Nursery Arts & Crafts
Learning Numbers with Button Bear
Letters and Sounds for 3's
Child Art for 2's
Preschool Bible Coloring Sheets

The great thing about the Abeka stuff is it is consumable -I just rip out a page and let Maggie go nuts with crayons.  They are easy - you don't need a teachers guide and it is pretty self explanatory at this age...you know, starting with A and working your way through the book until you get to Z.  They are inexpensive - so when Maggie uses up an entire book I could just buy another one with minimal investment.  The crafts are simple and easy for little hands to do.

Maggie also uses a lot of fun goodies like file folder games, magnetic letters, counting bears, matching cards, puzzles and so on.

So, I think that is about it.  That is our curriculum for 2012-2013!  Thanks for stopping by!  If you want to explore what my crewmates are using this year, have fun clicking through the links!