Home schooling thus far has been a learning experience for ME. I started out homeschooling Kelsey and then put her in 1st grade in November of that year. Charissa started out in public school, attending K and 1st grade. When we moved from the 'burbs we took the leap back into homeschooling and it has been interesting to say the least. It is a far more colossal job than I imagined but at the same time I know it is the best for us. We just finished our 2nd year and the girls had their annual assessment done by a certified instructor. And despite the lackadaisical schedule we kept this year they actually moved forward in their academics! Kelsey is above grade level in everything and in a couple things way above grade level. Charissa is above grade level in everything except math, which she really doesn't like. Maybe there is something to be said about a more unschooling approach.
All of that to say, I hope to spend more time sharing with you what we are doing in our home school adventures.
I'm researching some curriculum for this next year. The children LOVE history and so I am thinking about going to a history based classical approach and found a curriculum I am hoping will work well for us. I'll tell you all about soon.
Except for a little math, we are taking the next month and a half off to be outside! Lots of gardening, farming and raising frogs. :)
6 comments:
Sophia,
It can be overwhelming yet, we know it to be the right choice for our family -- our children!
I'm curious what you're deciding on for History. We use "Story of the World" by Susan Wise Bauer -- it is, in my opinion, fabulous!
It follows what you are looking for as a classical approach. We started with Tapestry of Grace but it became too daunting for me, right away. However, many Orthodox love it.
FDR loves "The Story of the World" and he was a hard nut to convince because he wants to stay "true" to history.
Our first daughter, Hannah, struggles in Math as well...but all in all, she did fairly well with her testing. I just recently blogged about this.
We also tend to go with the "un-schooling" approach...it seems to work the best, at times, but with 4there are many times I need that schedule -- I am bound to it :)
From one HS mom to another...may we continue to glorify God in all our efforts.
Sh. Kelleylynn,
First, I've been meaning to ask you what the Sh? stands for. I've not seen that one before.
2nd, TOG is the curriculum I've been looking at seriously for next year. I've used SOTW and I do like it. The one thing I don't like is that it doesn't go move above elementary age...as far as I can tell. If it does, please share.
Please tell me what you felt to be "daunting" about TOG? What draws me to it is the schedule of work for ALL ages.
I'd love to discuss this more with you if you want to email me.
susansophia.f (at) gmail (dot)come
The whole size of material that needed to be purchased blew me over...this was the very first curriculum I looked at when I started and I felt so overwhelmed, then (6 years ago).
It is true that SOTW does not go beyond elementary but SWB does give reference to more in depth studing corresponding with the KingFisher History Encyclopedia, which you would need to purchase. My sixth grader won't put it down. I find it easy with all age groups, which we have and you as well. I think it comes down to preference...
We still own our TOG and now that I have some years in Homeschooling -- I plan to look it over again. Still, the classical approach is our desire and both curriculums offer this.
Please do not feel that I am telling you which to follow...it really does come down to each household.
"Sh" stands for Shamassey (or drop the "y" as I've seen it spelled) and means "Deacon's wife" in Arabic. FDR calls me this, as well as, some of the Arabic men at church. It is not commonly used since it has not been common, in recent years, to even have Deacons. Most are Deacons for only a short time before ordination to the Holy Priesthood.
The name has turned into an endearment from hubby.
I could have emailed you but I was signed into Blogger...
I look forward to reading what you have to say about HS. My little ones are very young, but I'm "thinking ahead" at homeschooling (possibly) and I love learning about everyone's experiences with it.
Hurray for you and a great year of homeschooling! We homeschool, too. (and we also like "Story of the World"!)
Your fresh garden goodies look great! Please stop by my blog; I have lots of info about what we do for homeschooling, nature study, and so on, and I love gardening, too.
I have a 2nd grader and kindergartener. We're going to do a program through the State of Ohio called the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow (ECOT for short), last year we did 1st grade and it went well. It was hard at first, seriously it took us about 4 months to get "into" a groove (you know?), but then found that we could get the required assignments done in 1-2 hours and then do what we wanted, including trips to the park, baking together....unschooling things that are fun, yet you learn, still!
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