School Schmool ;-)

Inspired by my friend GFG, I thought I would post information on our school year so far.  We started at the beginning of August and while I was a bit wary of how the days would progress with a baby  in the house, it's actually not been too bad. Granted, he's not crawling yet so I'm sure the fun has yet to come!  (He moon-crawls very well...backwards for those of you who are too young to get the Michael Jackson reference...just can't figure out the forward motion)


We start off around 8:45am every morning after breakfast on the couch with daily bible reading (we are almost done with Matthew).  Then we move on to bible study (Who Is God?).  Before we pray, we also spend just a few minutes learning about a city in the 10/40 window and pray for them as well as our day.  We then read a few poems (J reads from the book that goes with our curriculum but we also add a couple of Shel Silverstein poems everyday because they are just fun!).  

By this time, SP is usually nodding off ;-) 

J and I then read whatever extra history reader is up for that day.  We just finished Torches of Joy which was really eye opening and a wonderful book as well as Commodore Perry in the Land of the Shogun. (Japan was our country the last 2 weeks)


On Tuesdays and Wednesdays we also read our Science because we have found that both of us feel more tired after 2pm so the more we do before lunch, the better :-)


J then heads over to the table for math, Spanish and Grammar.  He gets a break at this point for chores and 30 minutes of free time. 

Depending on the day of the week, we get back together for art, an experiment or lab for science, critical thinking activity, or writing (science and writing are twice a week, art and critical thinking are once a week). 

After lunch, we hit geography and history and then he reads his "Reader" (read-alone book that goes with curriculum).  And can I just brag on my boy here?  His reading has gone back to the quickness he used to have, which is awesome!  In 4th grade, he hit a time where his reading just disintegrated before our eyes, he lost confidence in his skills...well, those skills are back and I'm not even sure he realizes how back on track he is!  He reads for fun all the time now and finishes his "readers" on time without my prodding.  It's such a great thing to see!!

At night, before bed, we read our "Read-Aloud" (read together book that goes with curriculum).  Just finished The Master Puppeteer.

After Christmas, I plan on adding in a once a week lesson in typing skills so J can become faster on the computer.  


All in all, we spend anywhere from 4-6 hours a day with school.  Add to that Boy Scouts on Monday evenings, 4H Photography once a month, 4H group meetings once a month (which we haven't attended yet b/c of scheduling but will get into the swing of things in a few weeks!), Horses every Monday afternoon, Co-op twice a month, youth group every Wed. and several field trips (oh yea...and a 6 month old along for the ride!), trips to visit cousins, friends and grandparents...and you have our daily life :-)  (And they say homeschoolers don't socialize)  And we LOVE IT!!!!!

With this curriculum, we study a different country every 1-5 weeks (China, India and Africa are 5 weeks each, others are 1-2 weeks each).  So after each country section, J and I type up 10-12 things he wants to share with T about what he has learned and we then eat something from that country for dinner.  For his first one, Grandma and Grandad were in town and were treated to his Pacific Islands report and the wonderful banana dessert we cooked up!

Our first science experiement, learning about lift and drag and flying things.  We have moved on to the insect portion for now because of the good weather.  We will go back to birds in the spring :-)