Homeschooling...

The title of my blog describes our life perfectly. We are hardly ever home and I guess you could call us "carschoolers" more than homeschoolers. It is almost Christmas time and even though we have had more interruptions and busyness than any other year... our school year is going pretty good.



I started the year off with a plan in every subject...just a broad outline, more than a plan, of things I wanted to accomplish this year. We are actually doing a fairly good job of sticking to the outline. I feel more organized with the outlines and thus am able to give the boys work to do on those days when I am running like crazy or even let Daddy accomplish some of the items with the kids.



Math are going well for everyone...

Haley is midway through the 2nd grade Saxon book we started mid-September. She was moving at breakneck speed until we found some new information for her like money and adding double digits and now is going more lesson by lesson more for the practice than because she is having difficulty. Besides, I am not all that keen on having to move to the next level every 4-5 months. Also, it is not about speeding through so much with her than it is about being solid on the concepts and branching out in more depth where she feels the need or has an interest.



Dylan is working in Saxon 76. He has had a little hiccup and re-did a number of chapters. He is always seems to know what he is doing in the lesson but when given a test, not even for a grade but just to see what he needs more help on, he freezes up. I want him to have a good solid foundation before moving on and he is already so far ahead of where he needs to be that I felt slowing down would be a good idea.



Newt is in Geometry. He does great on most of it but having a little trouble putting it all together for the proofs. He just started doing proofs in the last chapter so I think he just needs more practice in thinking that way. I am going to have him work on Logic to see if it helps.



Language Arts is moving right along for everyone. I finally have a program that is working for Dylan. Since he hates to read, a program with stories to read and questions/activities to follow is his best bet. Newt is reading and writing a lot on his own. He has been working on his own novel. Haley is just reading tons and started First Language Lessons. She loves to read and write.



I am most pleased with our progress in Science and History. The kids have been doing CyberEd for science along with DVDs from The Teaching Company for both which are a little dry like college lectures but filled with good information. We also have lots of supplementary books and activity books for both subjects. My outlines have been great for not missing any information or leaving out any books. Our trip to Wyoming planned for this summer will be perfect for the science we are studying.



All the kids and Daddy have been plugging through Rosetta Stone Spanish each at their own pace. The lessons are long so the older, the more they wade through. I had the writing portion turned off for Haley and although she was angry with me because she says it is her favorite part, it is working better for her (the accents and tildas were impossible for her to remember).



Everyone is making great progress in music. They are now playing together here and there which is really neat.