Getting Ready

I have been spending the summer basically getting ready for school. I've been researching curriculum, trying some things with Rabbit, and entering lesson plans into Homeschool Tracker Plus (HST+). We are actually going to start next Monday! The kids are really excited about it.

This summer, Rabbit and I have been doing All About Spelling. We finished Level 1 in about a month. It was a good review of the basic phonics rules. I really like the hands-on aspect of the letter tiles and the built-in review. We started level 2 a couple of weeks ago, but there have been a bunch of last minute doctor's appointments and a camping trip that have cut into getting to spelling.

We also started working on Singapore 3A. What?!?! You may ask. Well, I think Math-U-See is great, but I feel it is lacking in some aspects. I managed to pick up the Singapore 3A and 3B textbooks used at a used curriculum fair this summer, and then I bought lesson plans and the workbooks from MFW at the CHEC Conference. The textbooks are color, but the workbooks are black and white. I think the Singapore books really work on the concepts of math in a more concrete way. One of the things about MUS that has been bothering me is the order. In the Alpha book, they teach both addition and subtraction. Then, in the Beta book, they teach carrying and borrowing, gradually building to bigger and bigger numbers. In Gamma they teach multiplication, including big numbers. Then, in Delta they teach division, including long division. I think it would be better if they taught the basic multiplication and division concepts in Gamma, and then in Delta teach the carrying and long division, similar to the way they did additon and subtraction in Alpha and Beta.

The little bit of Singapore we have done has been challenging to Rabbit. She has really struggled, but I think it has been good to show her new ways of looking at math and numbers.

Rabbit still struggles with writing, but we did a year of Brain Integration Therapy, and have only seen minor improvements. My husband thinks it may be partly a maturity issue. We have done some typing this summer, but I haven't been consistent with it. I found an online game that will at least let her do it by herself. Maybe as a part of her "independent" time each day.

I love using Homeschool Tracker Plus to plan out my weeks. It took quite a bit of work to get the Creation to the Greeks (CtG) material entered. For History I just made the Lesson field say "Week X, Day Y" and then in the notes it says, "See T.M. for details. This may include reading, notebooking, and timeline work." I did something similar for the Bible subject. For Science, Art/Music, and Read Alouds I went ahead and entered the book and pages.

In English we will be using Intermediate Language Lessons. Again, a lot of this can be done orally. I have some ideas from my friend mfwrocks that will really help.

We'll be finishing MUS Gamma, and then possibly alternating between Delta and Singapore for Math. Rabbit really hasn't had division yet, so I feel like she needs some exposure to it before we get too far into our Singapore book.

Since Rabbit has struggled with printing (her cursive is beautiful), I got Handwriting Without Tears' (HWT) 5th grade printing workbook. We'll do the 3 weeks of handwriting review from the Creation to the Greeks manual, and then I'll have her do 10 to 15 minutes from the HWT every day. She has looked through the workbook and is excited about it.

For Reading we will be using the 4th grade level Pathway Reader and the Abeka 4th grade level readers. The stories will be good, and I know they should be just the right level for her to read to me. I'm going to start with having her read aloud to me every day. If she shows signs she is doing well with it on her own, then I may cut that back 2 to 3 times a week.

For Spanish we will be using The Easy Spanish. It is very Charlotte Mason and Christian, and Rabbit will love the stories. Creation to the Greeks only schedules Foreign Language 3 days a week, so it will be interesting to see if that is enough or if we need to do it every day.

Tigger and Pooh will start Kindergarten. I am using Abeka's Phonics and Manuscript Handwriting. But, I will be modifying the handwriting to follow the way HWT teaches to form the letters. I really think the ball/stick methods of Abeka confused Rabbit somewhat and contributed to her handwriting problems. I really like that HWT teaches a single stroke for all the lowercase letters. We'll be using the Abeka handwriting worksheets. A friend of mine (thanks Marla!) gave me her HWT teacher's manuals and wood pieces and slates, so I'll be using those to help teach writing. I've got it all into HST+ as lesson plans. I will use MUS's Primer this year with the boys to just get them started.

I was really starting to panic about how I was going to teach all the kids. But, I read through everything we're going to do with Creation to the Greeks this coming Monday, got all the copies together, and all that, and I realized it is going to be okay. We're going to do Bible, History, and Science all together first. Then, Rabbit can do her History notebook page, handwriting, math drill, vocabulary card, and book basket while I'm working with the boys. The first week isn't too intense, and I don't think it will take more than 1 hour to work with the boys each day. Then, when I'm done with the boys, I'll do English, Math, Spelling, Reading, and Art/Music with Rabbit. Science is really only 2 days a week, sometimes 3. We don't add in any Read Alouds or Foreign Language until the second week. The Read Alouds I'll try to do at lunch, or just after. Spanish can wait until after lunch. Math may have to come after lunch while the boys are having a "quiet time" so Rabbit can focus.

Dance class starts mid-September, but it doesn't start until 2:00 in the afternoon! Hooray! I will probably move Wedneday's art classes to Thursday, or maybe even the lighter Friday so I don't feel stress about having everything done before 1:30.

Anyway, after going through everything today, I'm feeling much better about starting school next week. Thanks to all of you who have helped me get going this year. It is going to be a great year.