Year 2, Week 21

     Happy New Year and happy back to school!  We are back on track with homeschooling and Classical Conversations.  For those of you interested in Classical Conversations, this is the month to start checking for Open Houses or informational meetings in your area.  Next month will be the time to sign up and register and if homeschooling is growing, much like our community did from when we first started (It went from two groups to 7!) then you're going to want to get informed and get signed up asap.  You can look for a community close to you by clicking here.  If you'd like information from a tutor's perspective, feel free to post questions in the Comments section and I will answer them as best as I can.

     The New Year brought some changes in our homeschooling routine.  I use a mix of the Charlotte Mason method and Classical Education in our homeschooling, so in order to really nail in the kids' memory work from CC, they read what I've written on the board and then copy it down.  For all the subjects in CC except math, I've either created or found a double-sided sheet for them to do their work.  (This gets placed in a notebook which I'll share later on.)  They would do one side on one day and the other side later on in the week.  History and English would be done on Monday and Wednesdays, Latin and Science on Tuesdays and Thursdays, leaving Geography and review on Fridays.

    However, the kids would often jump ahead and just complete both sides.  This would also, unbeknownst to them, make their school day longer.  So, I changed it so that they complete both sides of the copywork/worksheet on one scheduled day instead of coming back to it later in the week.  This also made it easier for me (and them) to track what was done or still needed to be done.  Now our schedule now looks like this:

Monday:  English Grammar
Tuesday:  History
Wednesday:  Latin
Thursday:  Geography
Friday:  Science and Review

     It's more streamlined and they're done with all their work earlier.  Applause all around!

     Week 21 we also finished our reading of The Wind in the Willows.  My kids LOVED this story, even more so than Peter Pan, which we finished prior to this book.  I don't think I ever read The Wind in the Willows, or at least I don't remember reading it, but we thoroughly enjoyed it.  This is just another reason why I love English Lessons Through Literature by Kathy Jo Devore.  I like that we get to read great classics together and that the kids' work comes directly from the books we read.  My kids even put on a skit for their dad showing him one of their favorite parts of the book.

     That's about it for now.  I'll be back soon, hopefully!

   

Year 2, Weeks 8 and 9

     So, I'm seeing a steadfast pattern; writing up two weeks in one post.  In my defense, I hurt my leg a couple of weeks ago and was stuck on the couch icing, compressing and elevating.  Thank God it's on the mend!

     Anyway, Week 8 brought us to the First Thanksgiving.  My kids thought it was funny that there was pumpkin present at the the First Thanksgiving, but no pumpkin pie.  Suggesting that we do the same in a couple of months for our Thanksgiving meal was not so funny to them.  I also suggested we have deer, since that was served during that First Thanksgiving as well.  That didn't sound appealing to them either.  I was just trying change things up.  Hashtag fail?  By the way, I make a fantastic Paleo pumpkin pie and my Thanksgiving shopping list is nearly perfect.  I digress (because I LOVE Thanksgiving and am drooling, just a bit).

     In Week 9 we read "Paul Revere's Ride" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  The book we happened to have also had a map showing where Revere rode that fateful night.  We also watched a couple of episodes of Liberty's Kids.  It's still on sale on Amazon, so if your kids are American History fans (or perhaps you would like to spark their interest) then purchase it now!

     This week we also read a few stories out of The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang (Published by Dover.  I'm including that information in case you are interested in purchasing the book.  The Dover publication is an unabridged republished version of the what was first published in 1889.  Basically, this book goes way back.)  We read Little Red Riding Hood and both of my kids were surprised by the ending.  My daughter in particular, was taken aback but giggled at the, ahem, not so happy ending.

     We're reading The Blue Fairy Book as part of our English Lessons Through Literature, known to my kids as ELTL.  I love it.  Both of my kids love it.  The books that we get to read are fantastic and are beautifully written.  Not to mention free!

     When they aren't trying to take a peek at more stories from The Blue Fairy Book and they happen to be done with their work early (before it's time for the next subject) they either review their CC memory work or play a word game I found at Lakeshore.  This usually only happens on Fridays since I've made it so that their workload is a little bit lighter on that day.

     The Roll and Write Word Games helps both of them with spelling and building their vocabulary.  I can't tell if they prefer to do review or play the game since they enjoy both, but below is a picture of them playing the game:

   
     That's it for now.  Oh, wait...The Principal surprised our kids with a day off!  He actually got up, bid us all farewell and left the house.  A few minutes later he came back home and confused surprised the kids.  They were happy to have him there for their school day.  We even got to see my stepdaughter at work and the kids got to have a treat!  It was a nice change of pace for all of us.

     Now, that's it.  Have a wonderful and blessed week!

Linked up at Managing Your Blessings|The Homeschool Mother's Journal