Testing 1, 2, 3 ...

Should I move my blog here from its current home? Do I like how blogger works?


What does this template look like when it has a post on it?


It will be quite a challenge to move all my content. At least, the good content.


Is it the right move to make?


April E.

Rowing The Story of Ping This Week

My younger children and I have been "rowing" The Story of Ping by Marjorie Flack this week.  (Five In A Row, volume 1)  We've been having a lot of fun learning about China and its culture along the way.  I own Passport To The World: Your A to Z Guided Language Tour by Craig Froman  and Children Just Like Me by Anabel and Barnabas Kindersley.  We used those to learn more about the people that live in China now.  We also found a page with Chinese letters on it and figured out what our names would look like if written in Chinese.  I think they're both happy they only have to learn to write in English.  Chinese looks hard!

 

I had checked out a few supplemental books to add to our study of China.  We looked at the pictures in The Great Wall of China book by Leonard Everett Fisher, though I didn't read the whole book to them.  We also read White Tiger, Blue Serpent by Grace Tseng and The Real Story of Stone Soup by Ying Chang Compestine.  The first one was a traditional-style Chinese tale with beautiful artwork, and the second one was a more humorous story.  We enjoyed both books.

 

I found a Scholastic DVD with Tikki Tikki Tembo on it for the children to watch,  and an IMAX movie called China: The Panda Adventure which is a true story about Ruth Harkness who continued her deceased husband's work to study pandas and protect them.  We all enjoyed watching China: The Panda Adventure!  I'm so glad I found it when randomly looking at the library's DVD shelf.  My 5 year old daughter added her own movies to the repertoire, though, as she watched Mulan one day, and Kung Fu Panda a different day.  I explained to her that Mulan is a Chinese legend but that Kung Fu Panda is just pretend, but she wanted to watch it anyway.  At least she's enjoying our week with Ping in China.

 

It's fun to be "rowing" with my preschooler, kindergartener, and 2nd grader again.  :-)  Now I need to work on planning next week's FIAR lessons.

 

April E.

 

Here, there, and everywhere ... a peek into our school room.

I've shared pictures of our school area before, and I've posted about how my children use different parts of the house for their schoolwork.  But for the "Not" Back-To-School Blog Hop I'll share again. Just be forewarned that it's crowded, as we are a family of ten living in an 1800 sq. foot home, with 6 homeschool students and 2 preschoolers/toddlers.

 

My 11th grade daughter (almost 16) has started doing her schoolwork in the kitchen.  She has a table beside the fridge where she can work away from the play areas, the tv, and other students.  (She now has her milk crate of books sitting under the table.)



Our school area is also our dining room.  You can see how it's arranged in the following picture, complete with maps on our wall.  Most of our children USED to do their schoolwork here, but last year they started spreading out more. Now, only my 9th grader uses this room on a daily basis.  She sits right in front of the window.



This room is open to our living room, with only a built-in buffet dividing them. The nice thing is that the buffet has built-in bookshelves that we use to hold school books and supplies.



Those clear dish pans have been replaced with colorful milk crates.  The milk crates were part of our adapted workboxes, but we have since quit using them for that.  Each child still has their own, though.



Behind the table, under the window, we have a long, narrow table that holds more files and school supplies.  And by the way, the plants on the table are dead now.  This was taken two years ago, and our cats and kids killed them.



As I said, most of my children no longer do their schoolwork here.  My 5th grade son usually does his in his bedroom, and my 7th grade daughter usually works in her bedroom.  The 2nd grader sits near me, wherever I am. This Fall, my kindergartener will also need to sit near me, so I will probably put those two at the end of the dining room table again, the furthest end from my 9th grade daughter.

We do read aloud on the couch (in the adjoining living room) fairly often, and this will be even more true when I start using Five In A Row with my little ones again this Fall.  And of course, all of my kids take their literature and history books with them as they scatter all over the house to read in quiet cozy corners.

 

And that's just a little peek into our homeschool area.  You can see more school rooms at the "Not" Back-To-School Blog Hop.

Loving Learning at Home,
April E.

2011-2012 School Plans

I'm beginning my 12th official year of homeschooling this Fall, though there were also a couple preschool years before that when we considered ourselves to be homeschooling already.  It feels more like my 14th year of homeschooling than my 12th.

 

This year we'll have six official students, one preschool student tag-along, and the baby.  We're mixing things up a bit this year.  My 9th grader has decided she doesn't want to continue using Tapestry of Grace, so she will be using Mystery of History for history and Total Language Plus for literature this year.  We'll evaluate that and may change texts next year.

 

I also realized how much I've missed using Five In A Row with my younger students, and didn't really feel they were getting as much out of Tapestry of Grace as they would out of Five In A Row.  (I love TOG for third grade and up, but not so much for the K - 2nd grade ages.)  So we're returning to Five In A Row with my youngest students, though they'll read some of the TOG picture books so they can glean from that curriculum, as well.

 

5 yo L - Kindergarten

Five In A Row (social studies, language arts, art, science, applied math)
Tapestry of Grace tag-along (will read some of the history picture books with me)
Mathematical Reasoning Book A
cheap handwriting workbook first
A Reason for Writing handwriting workbook A  later
The Ordinary Parent's Guide To Teaching Reading
21 Rules of This House

 



7 yo M - 2nd Grade

Five In A Row (social studies, language arts, art, science, applied math)
Tapestry of Grace tag-along (will read some of the history picture books with me)
Horizons Math grade 2
A Reason For Writing handwriting workbook B
WriteShop Primary A
Spelling Power
Christian Liberty Nature Readers
21 Rules of This House

 

10 yo J - 5th Grade

Tapestry of Grace (history, geography, literature)
Saxon 54 math
A Reason For Writing transition handwriting workbook, followed by Cursive D
Spelling Power
WriteShop Junior Level F (beta testing)
Scott Foresman Grammar
Christian Liberty Nature Readers
Apologia Astronomy

 

12 yo C - 7th Grade

Tapestry of Grace (history, geography, literature)
Saxon 76 math
A Reason For Writing handwriting workbook
Spelling Power
Easy Grammar Plus
WriteShop Junior Level F (beta testing)
Apologia General Science textbook

 

14 yo R - 9th Grade

Mystery of History 2 (history, geography)
Total Language Plus (literature, spelling, vocabulary, grammar, writing)
Institute For Excellence In Writing (possibly adding this to TLP)
Saxon Algebra 1
Apologia Biology
Physical Education
Cooking and Nutrition (Nutrition 101 textbook)

 

16 yo A - 11th Grade

Tapestry of Grace (history, geography, literature, writing)
Saxon Algebra 2
Institute for Excellence In Writing (to supplement TOG writing)
Editor In Chief (grammar)
Apologia Chemistry
Spanish (on-going from previous year)
Art (on-going from previous year)
Music (on-going from previous year)
Physical Education
Cooking

 

We're looking forward to this school year.  To be honest, one of the best things I've heard my kids say lately came from my daughter entering 9th grade.  (She has pushed to switch to public school in the past.)  She told me she's so excited for the new school year and is looking forward to her curriculum changes.  That was so encouraging to me.  Of course, I also loved it when she recently said, "Sometimes I'm glad I don't attend public school.  Sometimes."  I'll take that.  It will do.

 

Are you making any curriculum changes this year?  What are you most looking forward to?

 

Loving Learning with my Kids,
April E.