Home Learning Choices for 2008-09

Everyone always asks what curriculum other people use. Here is what we plan to use for the 2008-09 school year.

BIBLE
All of the kids together will be doing Bible study. We will continue to use the Bible Study Guide for All Ages. We have made it to the fourth and final volume. This is an accomplishment since I believe I started Volume 1 when David was in KINDERGARTEN. lol I do plan to go back through all 4 volumes before David graduates.

We will also begin Volume 2 of Character Building for Families, alternating the units with the units in the BSGFAA (above).

We will continue with learning a monthly hymn and a monthly praise chorus. (I have not chosen them yet - SUGGESTIONS??)

We have recently reintroduced Bible memory - one long passage per month. We will work on that too. (Again, suggestions?)

Family prayer and devotions will also be included. I plan for this Bible Hour to be the cornerstone of our day.

DAVID will be in 8th grade and will turn 14 during the school year. He will be doing a lot of work separately for the first time, as well as doing it mainly independently.

He will be using Math-U-See Algebra I. (Once he finishes Pre-Algebra. That may occur before fall or it may not.)

A return to Sonlight is in the plans for David next year; this is History and Literature. We did Sonlight K and 1 when he was very young and I had hopes of returning to it for high school. We'll see how we like it. Sonlight Core 100 is what I've chosen and it includes lots of historical fiction, American history, and good literature. He will also be doing the Bible component in addition to our family Bible time. We will pick and choose the books, rather than do everything, as I think that will be overwhelming to David and be way too much work! lol He will be able to listen to some of the books on audio, which he will like.

Apologia's Exploring Creation with Physical Science will be his science course. It will be a more structured study than David has ever done, but that will be good for him.

Language Arts will be similar to what we have done in the past - Spelling Power, Literature Journals, English from the Roots Up, Communication Journals. We will redouble our efforts to complete IEW's Student Writing Intensive Course.

This year I am adding Easy Grammar Plus for David. (I didn't like Sonlight's Grammar Ace much at all and we only completed about half of it this year.) I am ready for him to have his grammar intensive, probably over two years.

David won't be playing soccer next year but he will take the soccer referee class and be available to ref some of the little kids' games. He also may help me coach a team. He also wants to concentrate on his skateboarding. He will take PE at co-op as well, I think.

EMILY will be in the 6th grade and will turn 12 near the end of the school year. TWELVE! Yikes!

She will be finishing Math-U-See Gamma soon and will complete Delta within the year, hopefully moving on to Epsilon before the beginning of her 7th grade year. I am hoping for a very good math foundation for her rather than moving her along and never gaining a good understanding.

Emily, along with her two younger siblings, will probably be doing Apologia's Exploring Creation with Zoology 1: Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day. I may even put her in charge of this study. We'll see.

Emily, James, and Suzy will all be studying World History through Mystery of History Volume 2: The Early Church and The Middle Ages. (Actually David will be sitting in on this as well for the information and any projects he cares to participate in.)

Emily's Language Arts will be very similar to David's, except she will be reading literature chosen by me instead of by Sonlight. She may do the Easy Grammar or she may not. I need to see how the workload is for her compared to David's. I also want her to focus on neater and correctly formed handwriting.

Emily won't be playing soccer either next year and I am looking for an idea of a physical activity to replace it - preferably one that will focus on coordination and grace. Ballet? Hopefully she can take PE at co-op.

I am thinking about piano lessons for Emily again.

JAMES will continue in the 3rd grade and he will turn NINE during the school year.

He's doing Math-U-See Gamma now and will continue that into the year, probably moving to Delta somewhere around the halfway point.

He will do the Flying Creatures book with his sisters and Mystery of History as well.

James' Language Arts will continue much the same, with an increase in difficulty as needed - Explode the Code, mom-chosen books to read aloud and silently, Literature Journal, Communication Journal. He will also begin Spelling Power at some point during the year and will learn cursive.

James WILL be playing soccer. It will be his 5th year and he will move up to the U10 League.

SUZANNE will be in 1st grade and will be six for most of the year.

Suzy has already started Math-U-See Alpha and will likely transition into Beta at some point during the year.

She will finish Alphabet Island Phonics and continue working on Explode the Code. She will read Bob Books and other appropriate readers.

She will listen in on History and Science and complete some fun projects.

Soccer next year will be Suzy's 3rd year and she will move up to the U8 league. (This is the one I would coach - Hey, now, I would get a big discount!)

I'm sure I've forgotten some important things, but that gives you a good idea.

Oh yeah, foreign language and art. I am going to forego foreign language this year again.

Art - The 3 older kids will do art with Mr. West, James for the first time.

I think I will be buying Creativity Express from Timberdoodle.

So, there you have it.

Adaptation

I was recently given a mostly unused Spelling Power test booklet and Emily chose to use it for her spelling work. I have not used a booklet for SP for a couple years at least, preferring instead to use an alternate study sheet I found online and plain notebook paper.

While giving Emily her words today, I was reminded of all the reasons why I stopped using the booklet originally. This led me to think about all the ways I adapt our curriculum from its original design.

Some examples?

Mystery of History is a solid and informative curriculum with a Christian perspective. Many extras are included in each lesson. Do I use them all? No. One thing I no longer require is the memory cards, although we did them throughout the whole first volume. We painstakingly (and often painfully!) wrote them out, inserted them in the special binders purchased for that exact purpose, and then... never looked at them again! Why did I put us through this? Well, the book said to! I also don't assign most of the mapwork that's included in Volume 2. To my mind, it's overly complex for the elementary crowd and time-intensive. Another way we modify MOH is to do the pretests and review pages all together, usually as a "quiz" using the white board.

With Spelling Power, the most obvious change from the program is to not do the "activities" that are recommended. We test the previous day's five words, and then go on through the lists to identify the five words for the day. The students go through the 10 step study process and write sentences for each word. It's effective and takes just the right amount of time. I like the alternate sheet because it includes some modifications from the original study sheet.

Let's see. What else? Oh yes, Sonlight. David is doing Sonlight 100. I went to great pains in the summer to obtain most of the books and locate where the others could be found at short notice. Am I using them all? No. Some of them are clearly "girl" books - girls on the cover prejudice David against the book. I don't always take his opinions into consideration, but our goal is, after all, that he learn to ENJOY his reading. So, I'd prefer to offer him reading selections that will further that end. So, we skip some books. Some books he'd already read. Do I do the books in the order they are in the curriculum? Not necessarily. Do I follow the lesson plans exactly as written? No. I feel no compunction to do the program exactly as written, but rather what works best for us.

So, let me encourage you - feel free to alter, modify, fine-tune, convert, improve, vary, adapt, accomodate, realign, adjust or revamp your curriculum choices to better suit the children you are educating!

Edu-Track Updated - Moving Along

I've decided to make the best of my software - learn to work with its quirks and strengths. I did invest a bit of money in it and just purchased the lesson plans as well, which saved me a TON of work.

So, this is how far I've gotten with lesson planning.


Entered lessons through December (or further) for the following:
Baker Bible Study Guide for All Ages - Volume 4
Character Building for Families – Volume 2
Math U See – Algebra 1 (David)
Math U See – Gamma/Delta (Emily)
Math U See – Gamma (James)
Math U See - Alpha (Suzy)
Phonics - Explode the Code 5&6 (James)
Phonics - Explode the Code 3&4 (Suzy)
Easy Grammar Plus (David and Emily)
Spelling Power (David and Emily)
Penmanship (all kids)
Composition IEW (SWI-B) (David and Emily)
Journal Writing (all kids)
Letter Writing (all kids)
Apologia Physical Science (David)
Apologia Zoology 1 (Emily, James, Suzy)
Mystery of History Volume 2 (all kids)


Still have to create plans and/or type them in:
Sonlight Bible (David)
Silent Reading for all
Instructive Reading for all
Read-alouds for all (I may not choose these ahead)
Sonlight 100 (David)
Art - Creativity Express (all kids)
Music Appreciation Still deciding on curriculum
Physical Education
Vocab Study - English From the Roots Up/Rummy Roots
Typing

It's remarkably easy to create a repeating event, such as having the child write a letter every Thursday, and include that in the lesson plans. Since often I just have the child do "the next two pages" or something equally as general, that works well in those instances.

It's also easy to copy the assignments from one child to another, and just do a group-change of the grade level, so that the subjects I do all together can be included this way.

Once the lessons are in, I can run several kinds of assignment sheets or checklists and print them out. I will also be inputting the scores for math and other subjects to keep track of grades, at least for David.

I'm going to MAKE MYSELF enjoy learning to use this program. It's GOING. TO. WORK.

::::forces smile::::

No, really, it's getting better.

"Boy-friendly" Books

Maybe you were wondering what I meant in my Adaptation post when I mentioned my fourteen-year-old son not being thrilled to read books with girls on the covers. Here's an example of four of the Sonlight 100 titles that he's not thrilled about reading.


















Do any of these look like they'd scream READ ME to a teen boy?

I actually skipped 3 of these books already, and I just may require him to read Christy.

To be fair to Sonlight 100, there are plenty of "boy-friendly" books in the reading list: My Side of the Mountain, The Red Badge of Courage, Amos Fortune, Maniac Magee, The Call of the Wild, The Cross and the Switchblade, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. That's just a sampling of titles.

No shortage of good literature choices, that's certain. Plenty to choose from, even if I decide to skip a few. And my daughters will certainly enjoy these four books even if my sons don't find them intriguing.

Curriculum 2007-08

Well, I hate to be a copycat, but Jennifer posted her curriculum choices for next year, and since I have mine mostly worked out, I thought I'd do the same. So, thanks, Jennifer, for the impetus!

For those that might not read regularly here, I have 4 children and work full time on second shift. My kids are David, age 12-1/2 in 7th grade; Emily, age 10 in 5th grade; James, age 7-1/2 in 2nd or 3rd grade; and Suzy, age 5 in kindergarten. (Only homeschoolers could be unsure of their children's grade level! lol)

Bible

All kids - Baker Bible Study Guide for All Ages - Finish Volume 3

and alternate with:

Character Building for Families – Volume 2

Math

David - Math U See – continue with Pre-Algebra, then move to Algebra 1

Emily - Math U See - Gamma and memorize all math facts

James - Math U See – Finish Beta, start Gamma

Suzy – learn the numbers and practice counting

Language Arts

Reading

All will do child-chosen silent reading and mom-chosen instructional reading (some aloud, some silent).

All will listen to Read-alouds, Mom-chosen, of general interest

Literature

David – still deciding (perhaps Literary Lessons from Lord of the Rings?)

Phonics

James – Finish Alphabet Island Phonics 2B, Explode the Code 3 & 4, & Phonics Pathways (to supplement when needed

Suzy – Alphabet Island Phonics 1 and Bob Books when ready

Grammar

David – Sonlight Grammar Ace

Spelling

David & Emily - continue with Spelling Power

Penmanship

David Self-Instruction in Handwriting (Zaner-Bloser) Cursive

Emily Self-Instruction in Handwriting (Zaner-Bloser) Neater Printing & Cursive

James Self-Instruction in Handwriting (Zaner-Bloser) Printing

Suzy - Writing the Letters and her name

Writing

All kids will write back and forth to me in their Journals, and write to others via the postal service

Composition for David and Emily will be Institute for Excellence in Writing's course - Student Writing Intensive B.

Science

David – Apologia General Science (or possible Physical Science, if co-op offers this class)

Emily, James, Suzy – Scholastic Science Mini-Journals (9 mini units on various science topics)

Social Studies

Might do From Sea to Shining Sea & Sounding Forth the Trumpet since I already own those, thus continuing our American history study.

Or we may go on to Mystery of History Volume 2....

Physical Education

All kids will play AYSO soccer in the fall & spring.

All kids will have PE at co-op twice a month.

Will include in some form: Music Appreciation, Art, Geography, Typing

May also include Spanish, which I can teach, but I might get Rosetta Stone instead.

Eruption!

[NOTE - Michele asked where David was during this activity. He is doing a different history text this year, so he usually doesn't participate with the other kids on their history. If it strikes his fancy, he may do the activity. He's usually in the room listening to me read the MOH lesson aloud, so he does get the info. But, his Sonlight U.S. history keeps him plenty occupied!]

As part of our Mystery of History 2 studies, today we erupted volcanoes in the backyard. We were studying Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius. The kids buried bottles containing baking soda, red food coloring, and dish soap. Then they poured in vinegar and WOW! An eruption!!!

I found a cool website to enhance our learning.

Pompeii: Unraveling Ancient Mysteries (Harcourt)

Also, just a warning - lots of extremely inappropriate pictures were painted on walls in Pompeii. If you just google image-search "Pompeii", you'll probably want to preview the results. A word to the wise!

Curriculum Shopping

I went to some garage sales today and came home with a cursive workbook and a placemat with the cursive formation. I think the placemat will be helpful to Emily who has trouble with cursive letters. I think I'll use the workbook with James, who is ready to learn cursive in the upcoming year.

This week I also finally bought Sonlight Core 100 along with a great number of the necessary books for the program. She gave me a GREAT deal on this package. I am very excited about using this. David? Not so much, since it will require a HUGE amount of reading for him. I will get as many audiobooks as possible to make it easier on him.

From the same lady I got Apologia Physical Science. I have the first edition of the science, however. I do plan to get the read-along CD or the multimedia CD (or both?), even though they go with the second edition. This is also for David. The younger kids will be using one of the elementary Apologia books.

I have nearly all my curriculum now. Still need to acquire Mystery of History 2 and the art curriculum I want from Timberdoodle. Also need to stock up on construction paper.

How are YOU doing with your purchases? How about selling?

Language Arts Plans (partially complete)

I worked on literature plans for David and Emily this afternoon, as well as their Grammar lessons.

For Grammar, we are using Sonlight's new grammar curriculum, The Grammar Ace.

I listed out the lessons and the activities we will do. It takes us two days to do one lesson. I was doing grammar two days a week, but I think we'll increase to three days a week so we can finish on time.

I make up my own reading and literature "curriculum", following the philosophy that it's better to just READ. Now that David's in junior high, I have instituted a little more structure. Emily is a good reader, so I've started having her do a little more as well.

Here are the books that they will read for the rest of the year.
David - 7th grade, second semester
Adam of the Road - Elizabeth Janet Gray (finishing from before Xmas)
The Book of Three - Lloyd Alexander
Captains Courageous - Rudyard Kipling
C.S. Lewis (Heroes of the Faith) - Sam Wellman
The Bulletproof George Washington - David Barton
The Life and Times of Washington - Enzo Orlandi (reading these two together)

Once a week or so, he will do an exercise from Adventures in Greatness: Speed and Comprehension Reader (A Beka).

Emily - 5th grade, second semester
Pilgrim's Progress (A Beka edition) - John Bunyan (finishing from before Xmas)
The Secret Language - Ursula Nordstrom
Meet My Friends - Joni Eareckson Tada
Amy Carmichael (Women of Faith) - Kathleen White
Island of the Blue Dolphins - Scott O'Dell
Plain Girl - Virginia Sorensen
The Midwife's Apprentice - Karen Cushman

Once a week or so, she will do an exercise from Read and Think Skill Sheet 5 (A Beka).

I need to find some online reading guides for some of these books, but I didn't have time to do that yet.

For their literature study, they write every day in their literature journals to respond to what they've read. They can write a summary (which they usually do) or they can respond in some other written way to the selection. (James does this too on a smaller scale.)

If there are comprehension questions, they answer them in the lit journals as well. Any book reports are also written in the literature journals. They will do a book report for each book, I believe.

They will do one entry a week from English from the Roots Up and play Rummy Roots once a week or so as well.

They will do Spelling Power four times a week. David will do handwriting once or twice a week. Emily will do handwriting three or four times a week. They are both working on their cursive.

I think that's it. I am going to find some online reading guides (free!) and then work on James and Suzy's plans, which are much easier. Then I just have History and Math to do, I think. Oh yeah, Art and Music.

Weekly Review - Seventh Week

OK, I think I'll try the weekly review in a different format, just to shake things up.

Bible
We fell apart on Bible this week. We got late starts every day, and despite my best intentions, we only did Bible twice. We read 1 Corinthians 10-13, practiced our hymn and praise song, and did family prayer on those days. I still have not instituted Bible memory, but I would like to.

Math
David did 5 lessons in Lesson 27 in Math-U-See Pre-Algebra. He's nearly to the end!
Emily only has 5 multiplication facts that still give her trouble! GO Emily! She did 4 pages in Gamma Lesson 22 and I think she did Test 22.
James finished Lesson 7 in Gamma and began Lesson 8.
Suzy finished Alpha Lesson 8 and began Lesson 9.

Language Arts - Literature and Reading
David finished the Sonlight book Stink Alley, answered comprehension questions, and wrote a short report on the setting (England and Holland in the early 1600's). Emily read several chapters in Anne of Green Gables and wrote answers to comprehension questions, as well as definitions for vocabulary words. James finished the Gold Fever book and started The Story of Ships. Suzy avoided reading any Bob books. lol All the children did silent reading every day (their choice of books).

Our new read-aloud is The Family Under the Bridge and we read several chapters from that.

Language Arts - Writing
David and Emily watched the IEW SWI-B Lesson 7 DVD and did Assignment 1. All the children wrote in their Communication Journals and wrote a get-well card for their uncle who was in an accident. James and Suzy did 2 penmanship pages.

Language Arts - Other
David and Emily did two pages in Easy Grammar - prepositions still. They also did 4 days of Spelling lessons. (James will begin Spelling in January. He is ready.) Suzy did 8 pages in Explode the Code 2. James lost his workbook, so he did only 4 pages. I printed him off 2 worksheets from the internet on compound words. Suzy completed a few pages in her ABC Journal.

Science
David was to have finished Module 2 of Apologia Physical Science and done the Study Guide, but I haven't gone over that with him yet.
Emily, James and Suzanne started the insect unit of Apologia Flying Creatures and did a couple insect experiments.

History
David finished History of US Book 1 and did all the map work for that book. He began Book 2 - read Chapters 1-4 and did the mapwork for those pages.
The younger children did not do History this week.

Other activities
All the children did Creativity Express art appreciation software for 30 minutes and typing instruction one day. James and Suzy had soccer practice and a soccer game. David assisted with soccer practice and refereed one game.

We'll be doing one more regular week of school before NaNo. The last week of October we will be doing some preparatory work instead of some of our Language Arts lessons. November 1st we will begin our novel writing!

Ninth Grade Planning Lunch

Today I took David to lunch at McDonald's (his choice) to discuss his high school curriculum. I thought it wise to include him in the planning rather than just telling him what I want him to do.

So, here's what we ended up deciding for his 9th grade year and some ideas beyond that.

MATH - He is doing Algebra I already and should finish before the end of his first semester of 9th grade. He will begin Geometry in the fall and will do two math courses in his ninth grade year. As soon as he finishes Algebra I, he'll begin Algebra II. He should finish Alg2 by December of his 10th grade year, giving him 3 math credits in those two years. I want him to have as much time as possible to do Trigonometry and Calculus. He likes Math-U-See and so we'll continue with that curriculum at least through Algebra 2. Four credits are required.

LANGUAGE ARTS - He likes IEW well enough and so he'll do SICC-B for the composition segment of his 9th Grade English. We'll also get an ACT/SAT prep book and choose vocabulary out of that. For literature, he wants to read The Silmarillion and I suggested Beowulf as a companion piece of literature, since Tolkien wrote the Sil and translated Beowulf. We'll fill in this study with short stories and poetry if necessary. (I was impressed he picked The Silmarillion, even though he knows it is challenging!) We'll plan the rest of his Language Arts at a later time. Four credits are required.

SCIENCE - David was quite satisfied to follow the suggested course of study from Apologia. He likes the Apologia textbook he is using now and so he'll be doing Biology in the fall. 10th grade will be Chemistry, 11th grade Physics, and 12th grade Advanced Physics, since he likes to understand how things work and move and this will help him in his career goals, possibly computer programming or engineering. Three credits are required, but we'll do four.

SOCIAL STUDIES - David is completing a 9th grade level survey of American history right now (Sonlight 100). He'll finish that up next fall, thus earning his 1 required American history credit. He plans to take a World War II class at co-op next year and we'll flesh that out into a half-credit study. A Career Explorations class is also planned for co-op and we'll also work that into a half-credit for social studies. In 10th grade, he'll do World History (required) and in either 11th or 12th, he'll do Civics and Economics (also required). History is one of his least favorite subjects, but he will end up with four credits rather than the required three.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION & HEALTH - This is the sticking point. David is going to give it some thought and come up with a plan. He thinks he could run several days a week and come up with some other activities to include in a PE class to equal the necessary 150 hours for his one required credit. I've asked him to have that planned by the end of the month.

VISUAL, PERFORMING & APPLIED ARTS - David has already planned to learn stop-motion animation, so he will plan out a year-long course in this. I'm looking at a couple different resources to buy. He won't be taking the monthly drawing class next year, so I'll use that money to invest in what he needs. He will be keeping a log of what he does to earn his credit and will have one or more stop-motion videos at the end of the class. 1 credit is required and this will fulfill it. However, I'd like him to continue studying visual and applied arts since his career path will likely go that direction.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE - We are deciding between Japanese and Danish, with Spanish as a back-up plan. Japanese because it is one of the top 10 languages in the world and with David's interest in computer programming and animation, it could come in handy. Danish would be a possibility since he'd love to work for Lego and all Lego development happens in Denmark. Spanish is the second most widely-spoken language in the world (far behind Mandarin Chinese) and thus another wise choice. He considered Chinese and also thought briefly about German. We are going to do a short exploration of Japanese using a resource at our library, to see how it clicks with him. We'll probably buy Rosetta Stone. Two credits are required. (Well, they will be eventually.)

Heart of the Matter - Learning Styles Meme

Friday is past, but I found this neat online homeschooling magazine that evidently offers a weekly meme. This week's is about learning styles.

Welcome to the Heart of the Matter Online meme. Every Friday we will feature a different topic for our meme. Please share with us your Your Children's Learning Styles.
We discussed curriculum and would love to hear how these choices best teach your children according to their specific learning styles. Are they visual learners? Auditory? Kinesthetic? Give us your best teaching methods!




I guess that's my cue! I've done quite a lot of study on learning styles and multiple intelligence theory. Learning Styles are generally divided into 3 categories - visual, auditory, kinesthetic.

Learning Style Quiz
Learning Style Chart (changed link 6/10/2013)
Learning Style Questionnaire

Multiple Intelligence Theory goes a little deeper to define eight or more areas in which learning takes place: Verbal/Linguistic, Logical/Mathematical, Visual/Spatial, Bodily/Kinesthetic, Musical/Rhythmic, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, Naturalist, Existential. The theory is based on the belief that we all possess at least eight unique intelligences through which we are able to learn/teach new information. Although we each have all eight, no two individuals have them in the same exact amounts.

Multiple Intelligence Inventory (changed link 6/10/2013)
Survey for Children (changed link 6/10/2013)

Ok, so what about my own children?

David (age 13) is very clearly an auditory learner. He adores listening to audiobooks and will listen to his favorites multiple times. He is not much for reading or writing, but math is a favorite and he likes to build things (Legos, models). I would categorize him with high levels of logical/mathematical intelligence and spatial intelligence.

For his schoolwork, this means that I try hard to offer many auditory experiences for him - books on tape, reading aloud, etc... Practically, this year, I've sought out his Sonlight books on audio recordings, as well as obtained the audio of his Apologia textbook. I think this will make it a more pleasant experience as well as increase his comprehension.

Eleven-year-old Emily's learning style is more like mine - visual (linguistic intelligence). She loves to read and is good at writing and spelling. Math is much more difficult for her, as it was for me. (I didn't learn to tell time until I was 10!) Her interpersonal intelligence is at a high level, as is her musical intelligence.

The visual/linguistic style is the easiest to teach in a traditional manner - books and paper/pencil tasks come naturally to this learner. She also loves learning songs to go along with her memorization. I am trying to use her musical strengths to help her learn her math facts.

James (age 8) is mainly a kinesthetic learner - he moves and moves and moves. And moves. He does enjoy books, however. This is the hardest for me in some ways, because the constant movement drives my ADD self nuts! However, because we are not in a traditional school setting, James does not have the stricture of sitting still all of the time. He can do his math on the floor, upside down hanging off the couch, or out on the porch. He can take a break to ride his bike up the sidewalk. This all helps and James, on the whole, enjoys his lessons.

He also seems to be quite spatially aware and also more intrapersonal than I often expect. James also is very interested in nature especially animal life, which probably rates him a high level of naturalistic intelligence. He is also my child who delights in asking me deeper questions - perhaps an existential intelligence?

Suzy (age 6) is harder to figure out. She isn't a workbook-y girl like Emily was at 6. She has a low tolerance for any activity that she is not the boss of. That's not so much learning style as a Type A personality. Suzy talked well at an early age, which hints at a high level of linguistic intelligence. She's not reading yet, but probably could have been with a little more diligence from me during her kindergarten year. She likes to dance and move, which indicates a bodily-kinesthetic awareness. She doesn't particularly like music, other than as an impetus to movement. So perhaps her kinesthetic style is higher than I might imagine.

Children under the age of 8 or so are hard to label, because most children are, by nature, kinesthetic. They learn by doing and touching. So, I will have a clearer picture of Suzy's intelligences in a couple more years, I expect.

Perhaps you noticed that my first three children all seem to be different learning styles! That makes it interesting here at Cornerstone Academy - lots of moving, singing, dancing, talking, building, writing, and reading going on here. How about your home?

Simple Woman Daybook - September 8

For Today... September 8, 2008

Outside my Window... the pavement is wet and the sky is overcast. No rain at the moment, but it did rain earlier. Cars are going by because school just let out at the elementary school one block away.

I am thinking... that I am so glad to not have a job! lol (I know that sounds backward!)

From the learning rooms... Edu-track assignment sheets (I've gotten the hang of the program). Some bad attitudes (hopefully nipped in the bud). Spelling survey tests to determine the placement in Spelling Power. Little phonics books for my first grader to read. An organized supplies shelf!

I am thankful for... being able to be home with my kids again

From the kitchen... haystacks (chow mein noodles, butterscotch chips, peanut butter)

I am wearing... yellow t-shirt with flag on it, black exercise pants (but not for exercising - all my jeans were dirty this AM!), white socks, white slip on shoes

I am reading... Mansfield Park by Jane Austen (still!)

I am hoping... that one of my query letters will result in a contract with an agent, and soon!

I am creating... more query letters and working more on that new novel

I am hearing... cars driving by, silverware clinking in the kitchen, people talking upstairs and in the kitchen, light footsteps

Around the house... things are getting organized. Over the past year and a half, while I was working, things got very very disorganized, grungy, and just plain put away wrong! I've been setting things to rights!

One of my favorite things... Diet Coke!

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week... going out tonight with friends, soccer practices and games, our first homeschool co-op on Friday, lots of writing

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you...

At one point today I looked around and saw children with books, so I grabbed my camera.

Here's Suzy, reading to herself.


And Emily, reading to herself....


And, yes, that's David hiding behind that (Sonlight) book!


But I noticed JAMES was not around. He was not reading either. This is what I found HIM doing. (The red stuff on his forehead is part of a rub-on tattoo, a present from his brother while he was asleep last night! lol) He was out in the 'barn' with his dad, doing some kind of something with tools. lol

Simple Woman Daybook - October 27

For Today... October 27, 2008

Outside my Window... .Wet pavement and puddles showing raindrops, drifts of wet golden leaves, our empty recycling bin, jack-o-lanterns on the neighbors porch, the other neighbor's deflated huge pumpkin, another neighbor walking by wearing a pink coat.

I am thinking... we need to find some affordable pumpkins since Bob's brother didn't grow them this year.

From the learning rooms... working in our NaNoWriMo workbooks this week to prepare for our novel writing. Also Colonial House (PBS) DVD's to enhance David's learning for Sonlight 100.

I am thankful for... Math-U-See

From the kitchen... well....... not much. There is a bag of dry beans laying on the counter! lol

I am wearing... Black stretchy shirt with 3/4 sleeves and some kind of flower applique, pale yellow tank top, jeans, black socks, white house shoes, grey zipper hoodie, yeah - no makeup, hair in a barrette

I am reading... The Bible (Psalms) and nothing else yet. I finished Northanger Abbey on Friday and haven't chosen another book yet, although there are certainly many choices available! I might try to read my OVERDUE Artemis Fowl book today.

I am hoping... I get a GREAT NaNoWriMo idea very soon!

I am creating... a month's worth of everything that I can do ahead of time (see below).

I am hearing... a political message being recorded on my answering machine. Does anyone really listen to those calls!? How much more annoying can the politicians be?

Around the house... we got out the winter gear this week and sorted through that. Also sorted blankets and made sure everyone had proper cold weather bedding. Sorted girls' tights. (why oh why do most of them NOT have sizes in them?) Freecycled a bunch of stuff. Have some coats and snowpants to donate to a charity. Still have piles of sale stuff that I'd like to list online this week. We'll see. That's always the thing that doesn't happen.

One of my favorite things... my very favorite youtube video. OK, I'm a geek, but I am a geek with a soft spot for Regency-era heroes. :-D

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week... regular lessons M, W, R, F, a field trip to a TV station on Tuesday, service project raking leaves on Tuesday, older 3 have art class on Wed afternoon, Harvest Party at church Wed night (no Financial Peace class this week), Trick-or-treating Friday night. NO SOCCER on Saturday! Soccer is DONE!!!! NaNoWriMo begins on Saturday!

This week I will be getting ready for NaNoWriMo by outlining my novel (if I have a good idea soon), cleaning, doing lesson plans for the whole month of November, listing sale stuff, planning my two co-op classes for both Nov. sessions, and also my Sunday School lessons.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you...
My father-in-law, my husband, and my youngest daughter at our hayride (see the wagon) and cookout out at the family farm.

Weekly Review - Second Week

All the kids:

• Practiced our hymn (The Solid Rock) and praise chorus (Mighty is Our God)
• Family prayer each day
• Read and discussed 1 Corinthians 1-6
• Re-read the first few pages of Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends by the Mallys
  
• Attended the first session of homeschool co-op
  
• Listened to several chapters from our read-aloud: Spiderweb for Two: A Melendy Maze by Elizabeth Enright
• Completed Module 1 in the Creativity Express software (art history & appreciation)
• Completed 1 session of typing instruction (using Mavis Beacon Teaching Typing software)
• Read one letter from Mom and wrote one letter back (in Communication Journals)
  

David - 13yo/8th grade:

• Did Math-U-See Pre-Algebra - 3 pages in lesson 24 and Test 24
  
• 4 pages on prepositions in Easy Grammar Plus and played Preposition Bingo
  
• Did silent reading for 30 minutes (or more) 4 days.
• 2 spelling placement tests and 2 days spelling study
• Reviewed IEW SWI-B lessons for Weeks 1-4 on DVD
• Read the History of US Volume 1 (Hakim) - chapters 1-8 - and discussed with Mom
  
• Helped coach soccer and refereed one U8 soccer game
  
• Read Cameron Townsend Chapters 4-8
  

Emily - 11yo/6th grade:

• Worked on multiplication facts
• 4 pages on prepositions in Easy Grammar Plus and played Preposition Bingo
• 2 spelling placement tests and 2 days spelling study
• Reviewed IEW SWI-B lessons for Weeks 1-4 on DVD
  
• Read some of Sarah, Plain and Tall & did comprehension questions and vocabulary for Chapter 2
  
• Silent reading - 30 minutes (or more) 4 days
• Did 2 pages of penmanship - cursive review
  

James 8yo/3rd/4th grade:

• Math-U-See Gamma - Test 4 and 3 pages in Lesson 5
  
• Finished Monster Bugs and started reading Terror on the Amazon: Quest for El Dorado
  
• Wrote in literature journal - one sentence about each day's reading.
• Silent reading - 15 minutes (or more) each day.
• Explode the Code 5 - 2 pages each day
• Read and Think Skill Sheets 3 (A Beka) - 1 lesson
• Penmanship - cursive introduction - 4 pages
  
• Went to soccer practice twice and played one soccer game
  

Suzy - 6yo/1st grade:

• Math-U-See Alpha - 4 pages
  
• Alphabet Island - 4 phonics lessons on short vowel words
• Practice learning sight words
  
• Explode the Code Book 2 - 2 pages each day (consonant blends)
• Silent reading - 15 minutes each day
• Wrote in literature journal - one sentence about each day's reading.
• 4 pages in her ABC Journal
  
• Went to soccer practice once

I had assigned the 3 older kids to begin English From the Roots Up this week, but I decided to wait another week or two to start it. We haven't started our Science or History yet either. One of them will start this week and one the next.

I think I'm going to have David take 2 years to do Sonlight 100. It's far more work than we are used to doing - so much READING. But I don't want to give any of it short shrift, so I think we'll just take our time doing it instead.