It's been a while since I've written. Life continues to be busy and sitting down at a computer just doesn't seem to be a top priority.
A number of people continue to inquire what our schedule looks like and what curriculum we use. This is an ever changing thing! What we started off doing has changed some. This year we tried doing distance learning and after my 9 year old son fighting daily over it, I finally decided in February, after going to the Wild and Free convention, to change his schedule.
4th Grade 2018-2019
Like I mentioned above, we tried distance learning with BJU Press. I honestly love it and think it's a wonderful program for homeschoolers. It's Biblically based and the videos speak to the child. There are lots of fun demonstrations and hands-on projects you can do as well. We bought the full grade kit at a convention last May for 25% off. I really only wanted to do a few subjects but buying the whole package was a better deal. We never used Science or Heritage Studies, although I have heard they are excellent programs. We used the Math, English, Spelling, Reading, and Handwriting. While I love the program, Caden does not. Several videos are quite long and while they have good content, a child who struggles with attention ends up zoning out. He does much better with short and to the point lessons. If his interest is peaked, he'll be happy to dive into it more. After going to the Wild and Free convention, I sat down and talked with Caden about his schedule, BJU is not all we do, I'll talk about everything in a minute. After discussing it we decided to only continue using the math and spelling program. However, last week he asked if we could change his math to go back to his old math, Math U See. We had dropped handwriting after Christmas because some of the letters are written different than what he originally was taught.
This year we are doing Classical Conversations again and my kids take a class at our Friday co-op.
Math:
Bob Jones University Press 4h Grade
However, after talking with Caden last week, he requested that he go back to using Math U See. We switched to Math for a Living Education mid-year last year and so he's finishing his Gamma book and we'll continue on with the next one after he's done with that. He also plays some math games 1-2 times a week on xtramath or on Clever Dragons.
English:
We started with BJU English 4th Grade, Language Lessons for Today 4, and Writing Skills for Today 4. We have recently dropped BJU English and are continuing with the other two programs. We also do English memory work with CC, such as parts of speech.
Geography/History:
We started the year doing My Father's World Countries and Cultures. However, after we started with CC, we started getting too busy to stick with it like we should. It's a great program and we read some of the books but don't do it as is anymore.
Instead, we have started doing blob mapping, also map study with CC, and for history we read books related to the weekly memory work which has been a lot of fun. A lot of the books are from the Who Was series. Most likely we will continue this next year.
Reading:
We have dropped the Reading program and Caden reads to me and alone. He's doing well with reading and has read around 10 chapter books this year on his own. However, I still feel like there are some phonic rules he hasn't picked up so I'm going to be started Logic of English Essentials with him soon.
We also participate in a book club with some friends and it has been really fun.
Science:
Apologia Swimming Creatures with co-op and science experiments at CC. He does not like the Swimming Creatures class but he's sticking with it.
Handwriting:
He did some of the BJU handwriting but the style was different. So I printed handwriting sheets online and he does a few a week and on the other days he practices typing.
Music/Art:
He takes piano once a week and plays daily. He loves it! He does art projects with CC and we do some at home as well.
That is basically it for his school. He has a number of chores he does and he has free time to learn about things that interest him. He's teaching himself how to play guitar and plays the piano a lot. He's also learning how to type this year and is doing great.
Pre-K
For preschool we started the year doing My Father's World for 3s and 4s. It's such a great program. We also do BJU Preschool DVD. Both excellent programs. Grace is now in Classical Conversations Foundations. We now mostly do a few days of BJU, memory work, lots of play, and books. We read the books from MFW but no longer follow it completely. Life gets busy and it's hard to teach everyone, keep up with laundry, and the house in order. Jackson watches the BJU videos some but mostly spends his days playing outside, building towers, playing trains, and listening to stories. Grace spends a lot of time drawing, painting, and playing make believe.
We have 7 weeks left until we are done for the year. We started in early July. During our "break" I'll include a few things I've wanted to teach that we didn't get to previously. We might go back and do some MFW things too.
Recently I went to the Great Homeschool Convention and was so inspired. Homeschooling is a calling. It's hard. There are days I want to send my kids on the yellow bus. But it's also a precious time. I'm so thankful I have these days with my children. We have been blessed with many homeschool friends to get together with, take field trips with, have holiday parties with, that I have not felt my kids missing out on anything. We really have been too busy to do as much as I had wanted to do. There's a great homeschool PE class that meets at our rec center. Caden did it last year and loved it. But it's hard to be gone multiple mornings as I try hard to get our CORE things done first. That way afternoons can be spent reading and playing.
