Homeschool Update

I must admit that since June of last year, this blog has been about anything but homeschooling.  I have pondered creating a blog devoted to Ethan and the grief journey, but have decided to keep all of that right here.  But I wanted to update on our school adventures.  We are going to continue to homeschool Evan until the Lord says otherwise.  Hooray!

Evan just turned 5 in October, so he is technically (according to public school standards) not old enough to be in Kindergarten.  However, we don't follow the public school standards as far as age requirement, so Evan has started Kindergarten early.  I had high hopes of starting our formal school days in August, but it wasn't possible with moving and still being deep in my sorrow.  It has taken us a while to adjust (not even sure that we are really adjusted....just "tolerating" where we live I suppose).  And I am an advocate for not rushing your children into formal education.  If they are showing an interest in a particular subject (for instance, insects), then go on that.  Take your child out into nature and let them explore.  Check out books on that subject, etc. 

This past week it seems as though we got through an entire week of school, and it felt great!  We have been "doing" school on and off, but not with set-in-stone lesson plans.  It was basically school on a whim!

The million dollar question:  What are you using for curriculum?  Here we go:

• Bible (most important, our direction in life...nothing else matters!) along with Plants Grown Up from http://www.doorposts.com/ .  At this moment, we are discussing self-control and temptation, reading some from a great book for little one's called Leading Little Ones to God by Schoolland.  If you are wanting to teach your children more and more about the Lord, and grown their relationship with Him, look to Doorposts for some great resources!
• Science:  Apologia, Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day:  Exploring Creation with Zoology 1.  Great book for a read aloud!  Once Evan is older, he will read and learn this material more self-paced.  We are learning basically zoology and then going onto Lesson 9:  Insects  Evan loves insects, and he's going to learn everything he ever wanted to know about them!
• Math:  we are doing simple math with real life aspects;  for example, while eating crackers, adding or subtracting them and using real world scenarios (if that makes sense).  We are practicing writing all of his numbers, and getting reading to probably add Primer from Math U See.  I am looking into a couple other math programs too.  One is Developmental Math.
• Reading:  Alphaphonics by Samuel Blumenfeld and BOB Books.  We are going to integrate Spelling to Write and Read in a couple months once I "learn" how to teach this unique system.
• History:  History for Little Pilgrims from Christian Liberty Press.  We will just read through this and then have him repeat the lesson.  He's not ready to read and write the questions at the end of the chapters.
• P.E.:  We mountain bike as a family.  Just this week Evan did 10 miles!  Plus he goes to the gymnasium in town one to two times per week.  We go on walks and bike rides quite often in our neighborhood.
• Drawing/Art:  Book One from Draw Write Now

Other subjects may be added.  One for sure is Geography!  I already have those books and cannot wait to get started!  The Books are:  A Child's Geography:  Explore His Earth and A Child's Geography:  Explore the Holy Land both by Voskamp.  Excellent books, and they really are super, super interesting.  You can find those books at http://www.knowledgequestmaps.com/

Well, thanks for stopping by and reading about our homeschool adventures!