Always Tweaking

How other homeschooling moms can make a plan and stick to it is beyond me.  I am constantly tweaking.

The biggest change this week... we are trying Math Mammoth.  The co-op sale ended April 1st and I was able to download the books last night.  The layout is quite different from Rod & Staff, so it took dd a little longer to do her math this morning than I had hoped.  I'm sure things will speed up when she has the experience of a few lessons behind her.

Classical Studies (Memoria Press) - We've been stalled out on D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths forever.  11yo loves the book but it seems to get shoved to the back burner behind the 3r's.  I bought the audio book read by Paul Newman, Sydney Poitier, Kathleen Turner, and Matthew Broderick.  I'm not quite as in love with it as I thought I might be, but it was nice today to not have to struggle through all of those Greek names.  Eleven more lessons and reviews and I'll let 11yo love the book without studying it.

Famous Men of Rome is scheduled for fourth grade.  Many of the stories are part of history in Lively Latin, so I'm going to let that suffice and move on.

I received Famous Men of the Middle Ages Monday.  It is part of MP's 5th grade package.  The plan is to prep ourselves using library books over the summer and start the guide in the fall.  I already picked up Medieval Feast by Aliki.

Literature (Memoria Press) - I also ordered the 5th grade literature set too.  I have no idea how it is going to get crammed in as we have trouble getting around to everything already.  The order is: Adam of the Road, Robin Hood (Green), King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table (Green), and The Door in the Wall.

Science - We retired Rod & Staff 3 and have moved into R&S 4.  I hope I don't overwhelm her, but I'm going to try and move through it before summer is in full swing.

Spring Break

....is over.  Boo hoo!  Back to being sleep deprived (early morning seminary driver).  Back to chauffeuring my kids (choir, play rehearsals, doctor appointments, etc.).  Sigh.  I have enjoyed sleeping-in and relaxing.

Okay, trying to find something positive to say...

I ordered new homeschool materials and they should start arriving mid-week. : )

• Math Mammoth should be ready for download in a few days
• D'Aulaire's Greek Myths audio CD from Amazon
• Memoria Press's Famous Men of the Middle Ages set
• and MP's Grade 5 literature set (Robin Hood, King Arthur, Adam of the Road, and The Door in the Wall)

And, I ordered our "planners" (My Student Logbook) for next year.  I am super excited about those!  I used one this year and it actually worked for me.

Spring Break & Math Mammoth

I planned to homeschool 11yo during spring break.  Monday  - check.  Tuesday - laziness set in.  Wednesday & Thursday - 11yo accompanied her Dad while he manned a booth at a Maker Festival.  Not exactly what I had originally planned but a break has been nice. : )  Her sisters' Shakespeare rehearsals begin soon and life will be chaos for at least a month.

Website

Math - eek!  We will be making a big change soon from Rod & Staff to Math Mammoth.   I have appreciated and loved Rod & Staff for a number of years.  It is traditional, sweet, and practical.  But, we are bogged down by the amount of drill and I would like to have more focus on concepts rather than "memorize how to do this."  Luckily I hit the 50% off sale at Homeschool Buyers Co-op or I probably would not have been able to afford the change in programs.

Duolingo

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Duolingo

Simply Charlotte Mason: Memory System

Did I blog about this before?  Oh, well.

Simply Charlotte Mason: Scripture Memory System

My plan is to use this for 11yo with different subjects like math and science.

Math

I'll be honest.  I hate spending an hour (usually MORE) on math every day.  Yes, she needs math every day, but an hour+?  There has to be a more efficient way to tackle this subject.

• First, I plan to stick with Rod & Staff Math while keeping my eyes open for another curriculum that is hopefully more efficient.
• Preview each lesson and see if we can cut back on the number of problems.
• Focus on instant recall of the multiplication facts.  This could really speed up the lessons!
• Flashcards!  Use flashcards to keep skills and facts fresh.

Since we started our homeschool journey I have been happy to have daily math lessons laid out for me.  I never questioned it.  I do believe that skills need to be constantly reviewed but I am beginning to question the necessity of long daily math lessons.  

Mid-March

Worksheets were a great way to get back into the swing of things.  But.  Since they don't align with any curriculum we use we often come across things 11yo hasn't been taught yet.  They are becoming more of a frustration than a help.  For now we have dropped reading comprehension and grammar minutes.  We'll probably use them again next year in preparation for testing.

The overall goal right now is to plod along.  Just do it.

We are getting close to the end of Rod & Staff 3.  Love their Science lessons.  And, I will love shipping off another set of books.  R&S is great when money is in short supply but boy does it ever take up room in the house.

We are back to full blown math lessons.  Blarh!  They take forever.  11yo dreads them so she drags her feet.  Can't convince her to pick up the pace and get it over with.

Playing Animal Jam has definitely helped with spelling.  We've been reviewing past lessons and are ready to move on.  Still tempted to switch from AAS to Logic of English.  However, I already own most of the AAS levels and from what I can tell the phonograms are slightly different.  I don't want to confuse her.  And then there is the argument that we would be able to move through LOE more quickly.

Rambling. :)

Surgery

Surgery for my inguinal hernia was postponed due to having a fever.  I finally had the surgery on Feb. 8.  I thought I might bounce back as quickly as my husband did from his knee surgery.  Not so.  Abdominal surgery isn't the same.  Coughing is almost impossible and sneezing is a killer!

Here we are trying to get back into the swing of homeschool with 10yo.  She is totally into National Geographic's Animal Jam which has its pros and cons.  She would rather spend her entire day playing the game BUT her spelling is improving.

What we're working on:

Reading
Evan-Moor's Daily Reading Comprehension grade 3

Math
Math Minutes grade 3

Spelling
reviewing AAS level 1

English
Grammar Minutes grade 3
R&S  English 3 (Unit 2 reviews)

Writing
starting IEW next week

Latin
just started learning vocabulary B in Lively Latin Big Book 1

Christian Studies
haven't restarted yet

Greek Myths
Read about centaurs, Chiron, Asclepius, the nine Muses, and Orpheus this week

World History
Beginning SOTW Ancients....again

Geography
Memorizing states and capitals together
Memorizing North American countries with an emphasis on Central America
Started filling in CK "Rivers of the World" charts
Trying to finish Evan-Moor's Beginning Geography

Science
R&S Science 3 Unit 4 Heat and Cold
Magic School Bus DVDs

Visual Arts
?

Music
CK Preschool/K Music CDs
Brahms Cradle song
Bizet's Carmen overture - listened to and watched Arthur's episode about opera

Dec 2-8

Wondering  what happened to November?  Yeah, me too.

We have a few activities that are winding down for the holidays.  Gymnastics is finished for the term.  14yo put in almost 20 hours of service participating in a puppet show right after Thanksgiving.  We were spending 40 minutes driving her to and from the church building where it was held.  I'm glad she did it.  I am glad it is over.

This weekend the choir 17yo sings in will have two performances then she will be finished for the year too.  We will be seeing most of her doctor's over the next 4-5 days.  Assuming we won't need to see any of them any time soon, we should have at least a month's break from doctor's appointments.

The 14yo and 17yo are keeping quite busy with their TJEd co-op classes.  We are forever trying to find the time to study biology and they seem to daily have their noses in books for their leadership and American History classes.

10yo on the other hand had a lot of down time during November.  I was spending so much time going to the dentist (broken tooth and then a crown), doctor (inguinal hernia), and chauffeuring sisters that it was easy to let her education move to the back burner.  We have actually done school this week for which I am thankful.  It's hard to face up to how much time we lost, but all we can do is move forward.

For my birthday back in the spring my family gave me a few Amazon gift cards.  I found a great deal ($30) on a set of eight Magic School Bus DVDs.  Only a homeschool mom would spend her birthday money on educational materials, right?  10yo and I are enjoying watching them together.

I'll have surgery for the inguinal hernia in January.  I am nervous!  I have a feeling we'll get quite a bit of homeschool done with me stuck in the bed for a bit.

October 21-27

Fail.  That is the word for this week in terms of productivity.  I accomplished almost nada.

Have you ever had one of those dreams where you were trying to run but you actually didn't go anywhere?  That was my week.

We did do one itty bitty thing this week that was fun.  The girls poured old food flavoring extracts into a metal mixing bowl and set the liquid on fire.  Due to the shape of the bowl and the wind, the flames kept dancing in a circle.  That was cool!

This next week has to be better.