Wrapping up the year

We're ending the first half of our school year which begins in July (ish) and ends on December 6th.  It's been a good, productive few months:

• We finished most of Latina Christiana I 
• Completed lessons 1-19 in Math U See Gamma
• Profiled all fifty states in a notebook
• Studied in a very thorough way the European discovery of the Americas and the colonial period (have some to wrap up there)
• Started a US history timeline
• Completed about half of Language of God and My Catholic Speller
• Read Anne of Green Gables and King Arthur by Benedict Flynn, any number of American Girl books, Squanto, and lots of other books I can't remember right now.
• Read most of Little Women.  I hope to finish that up very soon.
• Began praying the Liturgy of the Hours together, thanks to a very thoughtful gift from my sister (Ha, I saw a link for 'The Divine Office for Dodos' - I could use that.  I'm never 100% sure if we are praying the right passages, but alas, it's all prayer in the end)
• Raised and released several monarchs and other hands on science pursuits while using a text in a haphazard sort of way

There are a few loose ends to tie up.  Changes for the new year:  I'm investing in the Latina Christiana DVDs.  I think we've reached the point where we would both benefit from proper instruction.  My background in Latin (class in high school hastily dropped after the first day) isn't providing her with a good foundation.  We'll move on into the American Revolution and return to the Greeks (on audiobooks) in a supplementary way.

My son is making his way through Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.  After several false starts, he is learning to blend his sounds well.  My daughter learned to read very, very easily.  My children's different learning styles has both delighted and troubled me.  Honestly, it's almost all good.  I enjoy approaching my son's education in a more creative way and success is much sweeter.

This doesn't cover everything, of course, and it has been a very rich first semester.  The biggest victory on my part was that I was able to keep track of lesson plans and all our paperwork in a binder.  I always abandon my planning system after a few weeks, but I finally found a system that works well for us. 

 

Blooming right now among the bright autumn leaves. :)

Comments

[sarah]

Very impressive. Your children are getting a wonderful education and it must be so interesting and fun for you too.

[12ontheinside]

pretty flowers, Jenn.
I reckon you'd be learning along with the kids! :)

[Jennifer]

12: I've picked up quite a bit of Latin in particular, but my daughter retains it much better than I do.

[michelle waters]

Sounds like a great semester for all of you. Let me know what you think of the Latin DVDs. I might go in that direction myself.

[Amy Caroline]

It is funny how each child is different. I have seen things work great with one of my kids and will no work at all for others. It makes me so aware of why homeschooling works.

[Denise]

Would like to know more about the System that is working for you!

[momto5minnies]

sounds like it is ALL going wonderfully well.

I'm going through the 100 lessons book with my 4 year old. It isn't exactly going the way it did with her next older sister ;) OH WELL!

Glad to hear that you have a good organizational system.

[Margaret in Minnesota]

Love your recaps, Jenn. Always do.

You know what I'd really like, though, because I'm a great big demanding thing? I'd like to see a photo of your daughter's states notebook. I'm working on the same sort of thing with my middle two.

Also, for Latin we are really enjoying Our Roman Roots. Have you seen it? It's very Classical in its approach...and I know you like Classical! Cheryl recommended it and I'm so happy she did.

Mica Mica Parva Stella
Mirror Quaenum Sis tam Bella!

Impressive, no? That's the first two lines of "Twinkle Twinkle" and I typed it off the top of my head. Who says you can't teach an old dog of a teacher new tricks?

My uber-long comment is finished now.