Looking Ahead to the fall with Tank

This fall will begin Tank’s pre-kindergarten year. However, she is beyond the scope of most programs geared toward typical 4yr olds. She has spent majority of the year sitting in on Monster’s lessons. She can now count to 20, sound out CVC words, and is beginning to form letters and numbers. Tank also knows all of her shapes, colors, and can create patterns. Do you see the dilemma of placing her in any pre-kindergarten program?!

There is also the added factor that I may need to pass schooling on to my mother at times throughout the year. It will just be a day here and there, but I would like to have an easy program that she can jump right in to. I know that we will start AAR 1 and RightStart A which are very scripted programs. I could simply leave my mother with a sticky note placed on the lesson we are working on. Simple and easy. However, Tank is never content with just reading and math. School is part of life and fun. I want to encourage that and provide more opportunities for her to learn and grow. Monster will also be gone at school all day, leaving her without her playmate.

Programs I am considering: My Father’s World , Heart of Dakota, Sonlight (no idea which core as she is sitting through P4/5 with Monster this year), or Memoria Press. Each program has pros and cons. I’m still searching for more.

I am also considering putting together my own plan, but planning it out for the year. This way I could just hit the print button and my mother could check off each item as it is completed. Unfortunately I am a terrible planner and burnout quickly.

I’m simply thankful it is only February

February Burnout

I have officially hit the point of homeschool burnout. I am exhausted. I don't want to spend the night planning lessons, I want to sleep or read something for pure entertainment. The schedule is packed and this mommy needs a rest. The kids are progressing and actually enjoying their lessons more, but my enthusiasm fades before lunch. More screen time has happened then I care to share with everyone.

It is time for a change. I need a schedule created by someone else and I need simple quick activities that I can actually find the supplies to. I need.... Sonlight P4/5.

I bought this curriculum back in September, but set it aside in favor of FIAR and a home-made schedule. Planning was fun and I was riding on newbie adrenaline. That adrenaline is gone :). I was so happy to look over and see the teacher guide that has planned read-a-louds, science, Bible, and world studies. The suggested activities are simple and use items already lying around the house. This also means much less trips to the library. Putting items on hold and picking them up each week has just become a big mess. I forget what I have on hold and hardly use all the books once their home. It also dampens my spirit when the kids could care less about the books I find fascinating.

I also want to incorporate Bible stories into our homeschool. This is a new journey for my family as well. This past weekend we found a church we all love. I am so excited to introduce my children to God. I went to church as a kid, but became torn on my feelings as a teenager and as an adult. I've found my way back and am now ready to help my children find him as well :)

I'm also going to leave more time for Monster to pursue his interests. He loves learning about the human body so we will spend many days discussing every function and part. When he has fulfilled all of his questions, we will move on to something else. I am not planning any science or history outside of our Sonlight readings. I've seen Monster learn so much more through discussion about his interests than anything I plan out.

Wish us luck! Summer cannot come soon enough!

Weekly Update 2/11 – 2/15

Reading: Monster completed lessons 7, 8, and 9. Long vowel sounds tend to throw him for a loop. It is going to be a slow process for him, but I know that he can do it. Tank is going to start at the beginning of AAR Pre-1 again and work at about 3 lessons a day. She can sound out words, but I really want to give her time to grow a bit more before we start AAR 1. I also need to order another student activity book and the extra games for level 1. I wasn’t planning to put her through AAR as she picks up reading much easier than Monster, but she wants to follow the same process as her big brother.

Math: Monster completed lessons 17 – 23. RightStart is still a love for both of us. I can’t recommend this program enough for a child that needs short and fun lessons. Monster enjoys all the games and repetition built in. I don’t have to remember to review concepts he’s already learned because the teacher’s manual lists it under the warm-up everyday. Tank still sits in on the lessons, but more of the material is going over her head. She likes to play the games, but she is back to working on Singapore K A which is more at her level. 

Handwriting: Monster practiced numbers 1- 7. He still gets frustrated when he can’t form a number correctly the first time, but his fine motor skills are definitely improving.

History: This week we started our unit on Ancient Egypt. We talked about life along the Nile River and created a model of the river. This model wasn’t very successful, but I think the kids understood the concept behind it . We also covered ancient writing and Monster and Tank wrote their names in hieroglyphics. This was a big hit even though I had to help out quite a bit.

Art: Monster and Tank worked on Lesson 3 from Home Art Studio. I did most of the cutting in this project as it is Monster’s least favorite thing in the world. If he never had to cut another thing in the world, he would be happy.

Weekly Update 2/4 – 2/8

Reading: Monster is still progressing wonderfully with AAR. Reading is still a challenge for him and he tries to avoid it, but I can tell that his confidence is growing. He is starting to recognize words we haven’t covered in the program and likes to point out words he knows on TV or in the store. Monster finished lesson 6 and started lesson 7. The lessons have a lot of components and tend to take longer for Monster to finish, but I don’t want to rush him. Tank still participates in reading time and can usually decode faster than Monster. I will probably begin working through Ordinary Parents Guide to Reading with her as she doesn’t need the incremental approach that Monster does.

Math: Monster completed lessons 13-16 of RightStart A. He is still excited about the program and I love the short lessons. They are just long enough to keep him engaged and learning without losing his attention. I love that it has a variety of topics presented, but constantly reviews previous lessons. Tank joins in on all of his lessons, but I can tell that some of the concepts fly over her head. We work on Singapore K A when she wants her own math time and will switch to RightStart A in the Fall.

Handwriting: Monster is not complaining about practicing handwriting!! He still gets frustrated when he doesn’t form a number correctly, but he keeps trying :) Tank and Monster are also fascinated with mail. They love sending and receiving mail so I bought them cardboard mailboxes to use as their own. Mail has been flying all over my house!



 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Story of the World Ancients: We took a detour this past week as Monster wasn’t enjoying listening to me read from the book. I’ve decided to continue learning about ancients, but use the Magic Tree House books instead. Monster loves these books and can’t wait to start learning about Mummies next week.

I didn’t capture many good photos this week, but I promise to have a ton for next week!

2 Week Update

We are having so much fun, I forgot to blog last week :)

All of the new curriculum is working out extremely well. I couldn't be happier with the direction our homeschool journey is going! Monster still wants to play more than anything else, but he is starting to enjoy his lessons more and more! He is my typical boy and I think he will enjoy playing outside rather than being in school for a while and that is ok with me :)

Math: Monster is now up to Lesson 13 in RightStart A. The lessons are quick and entertaining and Monster is really starting to understand numbers more and more. He could add and subtract before we started the program, but he seemed so confused all the time. Now he is starting to really see the numbers in his head and absolutely loves working with the Abacus. Tank sits through every lesson with us and is picking up most of it with Monster, but I will repeat her through the same level this fall.

Reading: Monster has finished the first 6 lessons of Level 2. He is picking up everything easily, but there is a lot of material to cover. I've slowed it down and break it up into several days per lesson. I'm still confident Monster will finish this level before August. I'm crossing my fingers that Level 3 will be out by then! Tank still sits in on every lesson, but she prefers to just pick and chose stories from Level 1 to read to me and I won't push for any more than that until the fall.

Handwriting: Monster is finally starting to make some progress with his handwriting. The problem is that he is easily frustrated. I don't correct his handwriting outside of our instruction time so I don't diminish his attempts at writing throughout the day. We finished numbers 1-4 this week. Next week we will finish up numbers and then we will move on to lowercase letters. I am hoping to finish all of the lowercase letters before summer.

History: We worked through the Introduction and Chapter 1 in Story of the World:Ancients. Monster loves history time and is actually retaining a lot of information. Tank participates as much as she likes.

Art: We finished Lessons 2 and 3 in Home Art Studio and we still love it. Monster is becoming more confident in his artist abilities.

We visited the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History and did our very own Dino Dig at home with a kit we purchased there. Monster is now in love with dinosaurs and fossils :)