My mid-year school evaluation . . .

Well, here we are in about the middle of the school year, and I have a lot of curriculum "stuff" on my mind (as I am thinking about next year and what we will be doing differently).  It's been a very hard year in a lot of ways, and I attribute a portion of that to some curriculum not being a match for my kids.  So I thought I would report on some "Hits and Misses" for our school year.

First I'll start with the good news - "The Hits!"

Seton's Reading 5 Comprehension workbook - for Boyson.  This is the story of the events leading up to the Israelites escaping from the Eygptians and the crossing of the Red Sea.  Boyson is very much enjoying this book and often asks to read "just one more chapter" because he wants to see what happens next.

All About Spelling - for both kids.  We are doing this spelling program this year (instead of Seton's workbooks) and are now in Level 3.  What I love about this book is that it is scripted.  If you are looking for something that the kids can do independently, this is not for you.  This program is definitely 'taught' by the parent, but everything is laid out in a neat and orderly fashion.  There is no prep work, other than initially when you cut out and attach the letter tiles to magnets.  We have eliminated Seton Phonics also, since we are using this program.

Worldly Wise Vocabulary - for Lil Guhl.  She really enjoys these books and is able to do them all by herself.

Language of God for Little Folks - Level C - for Lil Guhl.  Seton's English 3 was just too much for her (we didn't like it when Boyson used it either) so we switched to this book.  We will probably continue with this series for her.

Life of Fred Math - for Boyson.  We have been working in Saxon Math 6/5 this year, but Boyson was just really not liking it and math lessons were taking hours to finish.  We are currently working in Life of Fred Fractions (on the recommendation of a friend) and math is going much more pleasantly around here.

Seton's Math 3 - for Lil Guhl.  This is new for us this year too.  We have used MCP and Horizons in the past.  Lil Guhl did not like Horizons because there was "too much stuff on a page."  She likes the simple, uncluttered pages of the Seton Math.  Seton's Math 3 is alot like MCP, but it is their own series.  We will probably continue with this series until she is ready for Life of Fred.

Seton's Religion - for both kids.  These are such great books - thorough and solid, but not overwhelming.  Religion is a preferred subject for both my kids.  We are using grade 3 and 5.
**********************************************************

And now for "The Misses":

Seton's Book Reports - these are a huge "miss."  We are all disliking them, a lot.  The books are just too difficult and uninteresting to my kids, let alone trying to write a book analysis about them.  There is such a bad taste in our mouths about these book reports that it's enough to make me decide that we probably won't do full enrollment with Seton again next year.

Seton's Faith & Freedom Readers - for both kids.  I wouldn't say these are a huge miss, and it's not because they aren't great little books, but my kids seem to be "growing out of them", and I am disappointed that they are not more interested.   I think they are great and are full of interesting, wonderful Catholic stories, but for some reason, they just aren't as popular as when my kids were little.

Latina Christiana - for Boyson.  This is a miss, not because of the curriculum itself, but because Boyson does not like it in the least bit.  There are usually tears.  We will persevere to finish this year, but I am still undecided as to whether we will proceed with more Latin next year.

Seton Phonics - for both kids.  We ditched this long ago because it just more busy work in Seton's curriculum.  Plus, All About Spelling incorporates phonics so we don't need anything else.  (Isn't spelling really all about phonics anyway?)
**********************************************************
I don't really have any comments to make about History or Science this year.  We have been reading Seton's History 5 with Boyson, and it's okay I guess.  The reading is pleasant enough, but the only activities are answering comprehension questions.  This is mundane, but easy.  We do read some living history books as we go along to make it more interesting.  I wouldn't rate this subject as either a "hit" or a "miss" this year, it just is.

We aren't doing anything at home for Science this year, but the kids have taken some classes at our local science museum.  We did Chemistry for the first half of the year and this week we will be starting Biology for the second half of the year.  This method of doing science has been "good enough" for all of us this year!

I am contemplating my options for next year.   For whatever reason, I don't feel confident to go it alone - especially with Boyson as he nears junior high.  But I am finding that no one program is a real fit all around, for both kids.  My neat and tidy self has a hard time wrapping my brain around piecing things together from lots of different places.  It feels messy to me.  But that might just have to be the case for now.

I will share more in the coming months as I try to make a decision about what we will be doing next year.

Have a great day!