Summertime, Summertime, Sum Sum Summertime...

                                                                                                                             

July? How is it possibly already July? It seems like we just started summer. We have had a fun, but busy summer up to this point. We just got back from camping (yes, it was hot!) up in Arlington for a few days. We went to Six Flags, the mall (for air conditioning) and to a Texas Rangers game.

I am beginning to gear up and get ready for our next school year. Yeah, I'm a nerd like that. Love to learn and love to teach! Haley will be a S.E.N.I.O.R this year and Cole and Garrett will be freshman. It is hard to fathom that all three of my babies are now in high school with one about to graduate! We finished up with our history last year at the 1740's. Loved the time period that we studied, but I'm REALLY looking forward to this year and the following year. This coming fall we will be studying US/World History from the 1740's-1890's. We will continue using The Mystery of History as Volume IV will be coming out soon! I do not stick to just one curriculum- never did when I was teaching in the public schools so we will also be using Diana Waring's History Revealed: World Empires, World Missions, World Wars. I love how her curriculum incorporates all of the different learning styles and ways we learn! It honors how God created each of us differently and am excited to use that with all three of my kids. Those two curriculum will give us our "world" history and we will also be using BJU's United States History asnd Notgrass' Exploring America for our "American" history reading. In addition, I love Truthquest History and will continue to use her Age of Revolution I, II and III for her commentary. Since my kiddos are not big fans of reading, I don't incorporate much historical literature into their schedule. Haley will be concentrating on Biblical Worldview, Apologetics and Missions for most of her reading. Cole & Garrett love Minecraft so we will be using SKrafty's Mineschool Homeschool Language Arts classes to read some of J.R.R. Tolkien's books like The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. We will also finish out Bravewriter's Help for High School for Haley and One Year Adventure Novel's Cover Story for the boys.

I have created my own curriculum for Haley for government using Notgrass' Exploring Government as her spine. I found a great website called saylor.org who offers FREE classes online. They offer an Introduction to American Politics course with documents and videos. So, I merged all of that together and created something I think will work for her! She will also be using Dave Ramsey's Foundations in Personal Finance along with something I create for economics in the spring. Cole and Garrett will be using a curriculum I created for Biology. We are using Biology 101 from the 101 Series along with the text Exploring the World of Biology by Tiner, Apologia's Exploring Creation With Biology and Guesthollow's CK 12 Biology text. I used Guesthollow's Biology curriculum and Marty Sahm's Biology 101 curriculum to create my own! I appreciate all of the work these ladies did in creating some really awesome curriculum! The boys will be finishing up a Minecraft programming course from Youth Digital for their elective. All three kiddos are studying geometry this year. I decided to go with Math Without Borders Geometry curriculum for Cole and Garrett and Haley will be using Math U See for geometry. She is finishing up Math U See Stewardship Math this summer. I am still undecided on what we will be using for Bible this year...




I think we're going to have a super year! Full, but fun!

             

            
          





                           




  

March & Spring Fever

I cannot believe how quickly time is flying! In our learning we have made it to the 1600's and are preparing to hunker down and really begin studying early American history in conjunction with world history happening at the same time. Really excited for my kids to learn & understand the foundation of the country we live in. We are continuing to use a hodgepodge of materials and resources. The resources mentioned in previous posts are continuing to be used. Additionally, we are using Notgrass Exploring America for Haley as she continues to like this series, Drive Thru History American History DVD's and a book called Never Before in History.

I am currently researching, praying and trying to determine what to use for next year. All three kiddos will be learning geometry. I'm leaning toward Math U See for Haley and possibly Math Without Borders for Cole & Garrett. Nothing is finalized yet! Haley will be doing Government along with our study of US history as our government was being founded (makes sense to integrate it that way doesn't it???). We will also be using Dave Ramsey's Foundations in Personal Finance as an elective for her next year. I'm leaning toward Cole & Garrett studying Biology next year and using Guest Hollow's amazing Biology curriculum. As far as English/Language Arts, I'm thinking of using some sort of worldview curriculum such as Starting Points by David Quine or Lightbearers by Summit Ministries for Cole & Garrett. They are not big fans of reading, but reading is really important. So, why not have them learning Biblical Worldview alongside other worldviews using some great literature (C.S. Lewis, The Deadliest Monster, How To Be Your Own Selfish Pig, etc.), including the Bible?? Haley will be using Thinking Like A Christian curriculum along with some other books on Christianity, worldview and of course, her passion... missions!

As a family on Sundays we have a family meeting after our Real Life Group is over. We have decided to incorporate Operation World: The Definitive Prayer Guide For Every Nation & a book titled, Understanding World Religions in 15 Minutes a Day: Learn the basics of: Islam Buddhism Hinduism Mormonism Christianity And many more... by Gary R. Morgan. Excited to use these and I'll update on what we think in a later post!

So, that's where we are. I am so extremely grateful God called us to homeschool our kiddos & grateful for my husband who works so hard to allow me to be home...

Until next time-

Thanksgiving is Upon Us

Well, we have made it through to mid-November and I wanted to update how things were going thus far. I have been really pleased with what we have been doing for our study of the Renaissance & Reformation periods. We have really enjoyed Truthquest History as our "guide". Mystery of History has been nice for all three kiddos to do independent reading and related activities. We have also REALLY enjoyed all of the mapwork that came with Mystery of History! The Story of Liberty and Renaissance & Reformation Times have been nice to use for read-alouds, as well as for Haley to use for some independent reading. Haley likes the Notgrass books Exploring World History & Exploring America as well. All in all, we have enjoyed learning up to around the 1530's!

As for math, Haley began using Math-U-See's Stewardship math program and has enjoyed it. She is learning some very practical math that she will use in her daily life for the rest of her life! Cole & Garrett are using Math Relief Algebra 1 and have finished the first phase. They are both doing well. They are not thrilled with the program, but it's done the job. We may be looking for something else for Algebra 2...

One other curriculum that has been FABULOUS that we started about a month into school was "Cover Story" by One Year Adventure Novel. The boys really like being able to choose what they want to write about and they are getting to create their own magazine in the process. I really love that it's not me teaching directly to them...they get tired of mom all the time! Daniel Schwabauer (sp.?) is a great teacher and he holds their attention! I must say that they are definitely learning good writing skills and techniques! Yay!

Haley is using BraveWriter Help For High School. She really enjoys it as well. She enjoys Julie Bogart's writing style and is also doing well with her writing skills! It's a keeper!

Science is not my favorite...the boys are studying astronomy this year & we are using a couple of different things, but I'm not thrilled with it and neither are they! Will be on the hunt for something more hands-on next year!

We have been blessed this year and are looking forward to a nice Thanksgiving break!

2013-2014 Philosophy & Curriculum

So...my last post ended with me saying I would be writing about my philosophy of homeschooling and how it has morphed. Let's just say I have decided we are a little delight directed, a little eclectic and somewhat relaxed in our homeschool. Letting go of 19 years of public school was a little bit difficult. But, I needed to do it. I truly believe that God created us unique and that our "schooling" should not look the same. This year instead of purchasing curriculum with everything already completely planned out, I am using a hodgepodge of different things. Here goes...

Haley will be a junior and Cole & Garrett are in eighth grade this year (I CANNOT believe it!). We will be studying history and bible/biblical worldview all together. I am using an amazing resource called TruthQuest History as my guiding piece de resistance! I LOVE Michelle Miller's commentary and thoroughness. We are using the Renaissance/Reformation/Exploration guide for the bulk of the year and then will head into Age of Revolution I. Cole & Garrett will be using another FABULOUS resource called Mystery of History Vol. III. Haley will be using a combination of several different things, but nothing in its entirety. Some of the books/resources she'll be using are: Exploring World History by Notgrass, The Story of Liberty & Sweet Land of Liberty by Charles Coffin, Heroes of the Faith, Renaissance & Reformation Times, and a few other books. Biblical worldview is woven beautifully into Truthquest.

It only makes sense to integrate geography into our history studies so we will be using the maps from Mystery of History as well as Map Trek. We will be creating a timeline this year using a timeline book from Miller Pads and Paper and the timeline pieces from Homeschool in the Woods (I just adore all of Amy Pak's stuff!). I also plan on incorporating some lapbooking and notebooking using resources I have found all over the internet! All 3 of my kiddos like hands-on stuff and despise reading (I, for the life of me don't know where they got such a distaste for reading, as I LOVE to read. It just kills me!).

For our bible we are using  Life in the Word from Simply Charlotte Mason. We will be learning how to do a book study, Word study, Topical study, Doctrinal study, Narrative study and Character study in the bible. Really looking forward to that!

For math we are using Math Relief Algebra I and II. We really like how he explain things so clearly!

Haley will be integrating science into her study of photography this year learning about light, aperture, color, etc. She will be using the videos from Lynda.com as well as some books and curriculum given to her by a photographer who is mentoring her. The boys decided they wanted to study astronomy this year so we are using Our Universe from Answers in Genesis and Christian Kids Explore Earth & Space from the Christian Kids Explore series along with Khan Academy and some other cool websites and books.

Reading & writing will be integrated into history as much as possible for the boys. I'm also using Traits of Writing: The Complete Guide to Middle School. Haley is really feeling like God may be calling her to some type of mission work, so most of her LA will be using missionary biographies and other books, along with BraveWriter's Help For High School.

We are also spending a couple of hours one day a week at the Round Rock Serving Center and PE will be at the YMCA.

Whew! That's a lot, but I'm really excited about this year. I can't wait to get started.                                                                                                                                  

Homeschool thoughts

We finished our first year of homeschool. We began in August of 2012. Haley began her sophomore year and Cole & Garrett began their 7th grade year. After teaching in the public schools for 19 years, it was quite a change. I began with your typical "school at home" mentality. After all, that's what I'd been used to for so many years.

But, slowly God began revealing to me that one of the reasons we chose to homeschool was to do things differently. So, I gradually began letting loose of my created schedule and chilled out on needing to control everything...it was a battle I didn't want to fight any more. My children are gifted by God with unique abilities and passions. Why not allow them to pursue those things that are interesting to them rather than studying what the "schools" think they should study? One of the things I have learned over the years is that you can't MAKE someone learn something if they aren't interested.

I'm really speaking more for Haley here than anyone. She's the one who dislikes (that's putting it quite mildly) school. She is my strong-willed, right brained, creative, smart child who wants to be a photographer and possibly a missionary. For the first half of the year we were butting heads on her biology course. She HATED it. I did everything I could to make it fun and interesting, but she just DID NOT care about it. So, I began praying...and decided that not every person needs to know biology! I know, I can hear a gasp! What???? That's crazy. Doesn't everyone need to study biology, chemistry and physics? My answer to that is a resounding NO!!!

One of the things I struggled with in the school system was how every child was expected to learn the same things at the same time just because they were the same age. I knew in my heart that just wasn't right, it didn't make sense. I worked my butt off making sure I pre-tested, differentiated learning for each student and made sure my kids learned. But, that sucked every bit of time and energy out of me. I was EXHAUSTED! I also had my own 3 kids who needed me & many times they weren't getting what they needed at school. I can't tell you how many parent conferences we attended that I left feeling so irritated because I knew there wasn't anything wrong with my child. There was & is something wrong with the system. It was so frustrating to be working so hard for other people's children and not having the same thing being done for mine. So, I quit. I knew my children deserved better.

Boy, have I made mistakes this year with them! They learned a ton, but it wasn't always easy... We've had to learn how to be around each other 24/7. We've had to learn how to give each other space (I'm an introvert, so this has been really hard at times). We've had to learn how to try and not annoy each other. But, we have gotten to be much closer to each other. Our family life is much less chaotic. Our family is much less stressed. My kids are beginning to like learning...a little.

My next post will be discussing the overall philosophy of our homeschool heading into year 2 & the curriculum choices that emerged from that philosophy . It's kind of a combination of a few...stay tuned!

My Aunt Kristy and Mrs. Mulbrade and our assistent Prinsable all went to McDonalds to raise money for our school. That night the chior was their and some cheerlearders!!

We marched in the Pflugerville Parade with us the cheerleaders and spirit team. We had soooo much fun this year and cheerd our teams into the championship and met a lot of people on the way!!!!