Reflection

You will notice it has been some time since my last post. This is because our family has been super busy preparing our home for visitors. My sister brought her 3 kids out for the summer so combined with my adult nephew and my own children I now have 6 monkeys swinging through the jungle here. Schoolwork has been set aside for now needless to say. The timing worked out well though as the other mom's in our PP co-op group needed a break for life activities as well. We are planning to resume in July and the extra monkeys will have the option of joining in with us. I'm thinking by then they will enjoy being around a new group of kids. So besides going crazy and cleaning 80 times a day what have I been up to? The first order of business was to catalouge all of my storage books. I had 5 big Sterilite tubs full of books in my garage that aren't immediately needed. Using an online program- GuruLib I entered the books into my online library by their Isbn #'s. I love that I managed to get this accomplished, though I do intend to get the books on the shelves in my living room entered soon too. As I catalouged I did a quick sort as well- weeding out books I had duplicates of or didn't think we'd use. I plan to sell/trade/ and give away these books at future HS events. Now all I need to do is log-in to my Gurulib account and I can immediately see which books I have, where they are located and additional info such as a summary of the book with used and new prices which is perfect if I decide to sell  any of them. There are other features available but I will let you check them out yourself. Here's a link to this program which I feel every homeschool family should use http://www.gurulib.com/
I have also been trying to decide on curriculum for next year. This has been made more difficult as my son announced a while back that he may like to go back to P.S. next year.*sigh* This is something my husband and I are allowing him to decide on his own. We feel he is old enough to make an informed decision and know we always have the option of bringing him back home again if necessary. I have conflicting emotions about this. I'm sad because I have really enjoyed having my son around more. We reconnected on a level that I think most P.S. moms don't get from son's his age (12).Also, this would mean my daughter would be by herself during the day. I know she will miss him,too. On the other hand it may be good for my daughter's sake. She has always been a struggling learner and I am beginning to think she has some learning disabilities. I have had a hard time getting her to stay on track with any work and it constantly interferes with my son's work. I need time to devote to her to figure out what works for her individual needs. I am also worried. His previous PS experiences were not always positive- in fact he pretty much hated school. He would be going back to seventh grade and I personally feel that middle school kids are the cruelest beings out there very judgemental. My son's self esteem has improved so much since he "dropped out of PS". I would hate for all that hard work to be trampled on. I also worry that he is not up to par academically. I am the first to admit that so far I haven't given him enough in this department. I know that I haven't really "failed" him as there are so many other things he gained during this past year and a half -but the school system will not care about his improvement in self esteem, or about his transformed family bonds. They won't even think of his spiritual growth or his newfound maturity. No notice will be given to an increased sense of accountability and responsibility. In short, his character does not matter to them. Test scores and group think are what matters. He will be one of  hundreds of kids. If he dares to suggest that maybe a particular method of teaching isn't the best way to learn will he be scolded by his teachers? If he doesn't wear the right clothes or say the right things will he be ridiculed by his "peers"? If so, has he learned enough about his self this past year to be able to handle it? So, yes, I worry. I have always said I would never send my kids back to P.S. but this is not my choice, it's his. I know he is struggling with indecision and I can't say much for fear of swaying him one way or the other. That will defeat the purpose of giving him the choice. So, for now, all I can do is pray that God will guide him to the right decision for him. In the meantime, I have been concentrating on my daughter's curriculum for next year. So far here are my tentative choices:
Phonics- Hooked on Phonics program. We tried this before but were not consistent with it. I am going to make this an everyday activity
Reading- Abeka Readers.- I have this set and am going to give it a go- I love Abeka's wholesome stories but am not sure about implementing it with her. She is not a good reader and from looking over the curriculum it seems a bit rigourous. If it isn't  working for us by November we will be finding a different program.
English-Rod and staff third grade-Beginning Wisely. I love the layout of this curriculum. It is a no nonsense book with what I consider a "just-right" amount of work for this age level. It's also a Christian curriculum which I like. I don't HS for religious reasons but we are Christians. If I can find a book that appeals to me on an academic and spiritual level it's a bonus! The student textbook is visually appealing to me although I am not sure it will be for my daughter. There are pictures but they are black and white which lend to a "clean" look overall.. I like this because my daughter is easily distracted when reading and has a tendency to get "caught up" in the pictures. The Teacher's book also provides clear instructions on how to use the curriculum which is a requrement for me this year!
Literature- We will continue following the Prairie Primer for this portion of Language Arts.
History-Mystery of History Volume 1- I am in love with this curriculum and I hope my daughter will be too!  It is a multi-age curriculum with a classical approach to it. This is awesome to have if my son stays home because they can do this together at their own individual levels.There are so many benefits and features but here are some of my favorite things about it-
1. It has audio cd's of the text- we are constantly in the car headed somewhere. the kids and I enjoyed listening to Story of the world cd's as we went places just for fun. They begged to listen to the "stories". Also, Denim is definately an auditory learner so I want to capitalize on this as much as possible.
2. It gives secular and biblical history in a chronological order! Again- a bonus for our family
3. I love the hands-on ideas suggested including the awesome timeline figures to use with it which is from Homeschool in the woods.
Science- This year we will be trying out Christian Kids Explore Earth and Space Science. This is also a christian, multi-age, classical approach curriculum that I like for the reasons stated above. It follows a day by day format which seems like it will be easy to follow/use/implement. It is full of hands-on experiments and even has coloring pictures incorporating each unit's theme. I will allow them to color a picture during lesson time and each new unit's picture will go in each child's picture frame hanging in the school area. I hope this will increase ownership of their work.
Math- we will continue using Math U See and this year we will be consistent! I LOVE this curriculum's hands on approach and she loves it, too. Last year we got caught up in too many projects which kept us from following our plans. Next year I can't allow this to happen.
 That is her basic Curriculum for next year. In addition I am going to implement a lot of "centers" to encourage independent learning. I did NOT like the way centers were used in her P.S. in First grade but I can see the benefits for our HS. At P.S. the teacher was busy with other students and couldn't watch each child to ensure they were working rather than playing. Some kids naturally did what they were supposed to do. On several occasions I saw my daughter flat out doing whatever she wanted to during this time, rarely did she complete what she was supposed to be doing and several days never even attempted to. At home, though, I can keep a watchful eye on her to see she completes each tasks. There will be some "I must" center activities which she will be graded on and some "I can" activities that she can do when the I musts are completed. I have been collecting ideas so watch for updates on our "centers" later in the summer. I am also gathering ideas to make our school area environment more inviting and functional. I am so jealous when I see the inviting spaces featured on other HS moms blogs. I want the children to feel there is a space for everything. It's hard when you are trying to keep your home from LOOKING like a school room. Organization is the key here I think and for someone who thrives on clutter this is difficult to get the feel for. Thankfully, there are  organized people on the internet who are willing to share their secrets so watch towards August for the Grand Opening photos of our home-school. I am planning to  have Dad take the children away for a day or two when I am setting things up so it will be a complete surprise to them when they come home. I will also have "raffles" for neat new school supplies (think scented markers, cute erasers, colored writing paper ect.) and refreshments for those I invite to come celebrate with us. I want them to take pride in our school. I'm also hoping it re-inforces the idea that homeschool is still school and should be taken seriously. That being said I want it to be fun for them, too! Anyhow, that is what we have been up to lately. I will try to continue posting weekly. Please check back next week- I am planning a post where I will share some of my favorite links with you!