The Homeschool Journal

In my life this week…

Once again I am trying to rework my daily schedule. We implemented a new daily schedule. It  has a column for myself and each child. It worked out fine this week let's hope it continues. I always have such a hard time to keep up with a schedule. My hubby also has endeavored to get me up and running before 8:00 every morning. I do need it. We know the power of being up and ready for the day before the kids are. I read somewhere recently that we need to wake for the kids, not to the kids, and I definitely agree.

In our homeschool this week…

In our homeschool, things are going well. Any time you put a new schedule in, at least at our house, things tend to go well. I do not know if it is the excitement, or the hope, or the renewed determination, but it helps.

So, we have been able to cover our regular subjects, Math (we are tackling money these days), English (pretty straightforward), History (we are learning about the time of Solomon and the divided kingdom), Science (we learned about magnets),  handwriting and Bible.

I am so excited we had a nice spelling session. I decided to go back to my Natural Speller and try something different. I pulled out some letter tiles I had and I decided we were going to go over the rules of phonics. We started with the vowels (he knows his single consonants sounds well). Then, as we were experimenting with our c-v-c words,  Zach decided to add the suffix - ing to his words, so we went over 2 of the rules about adding suffixes that start with a vowel. He was really engaged and that was great. What I  have decided to do as well is to start a little file where I will record the rules we learn as we learn them. I am really hoping that this way of doing spelling will help him get over his spelling Phobia.

I think working from the sounds, that is using phonics, and experimenting with different words, and then, showing him the rules,  will work better rather than starting with the rules. He has always been a whole to part kind of learner, he has to see the why of things before it sinks. It has to make sense for him, otherwise it does not sink. That is why he learned to read at 4 without me even knowing, he just read. Then, I taught him to read phonically, (should I say Starfall did ;-).

Anyway we will see how it goes in the next few weeks.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

Well this week is busier than usual. On Thursday we had electives, then we went over to some friends for playtime. It was 3 moms and 6 kids total. No need to say the moms had a good time and so did the kids.

Friday we had a Good Friday Service and Sunday will be our Easter cantata followed by a luncheon at the church.

My favorite thing this week was… Zach's violin lesson which went smother than usual. He really does not like to practice and the rigorousness of the lesson sometimes. This week was a good week though.


What’s working/not working for us…

School activities on CD ROM which I get at the library, such as Scholastic Animal Genius, School Zone Math, seem to be working well for Joho.

Homeschool questions/thoughts I have…

It would seem that I am moving away little by little from Textbook learning, for which I am excited and at the same time anxious, more because it does demand that the parent be prepared.

I like the textbook model because it is easier for me, but it is definitely not my kids' way of learning. So here I am. I am already using Tapestry of Grace, I have bought Math on the Level for next year, and I am currently looking into Elemental Science.


A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

Since it is Easter week-end, here is a song of praise thanking God for the cross:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00Nci1ATvPg[/youtube]