Homeschooling Check-in

We are into week 4 of school already, and when I say that that means half way through the first quarter, it sounds like even more.  Yes, we started early.  I thought I would take an opportunity to report in on our progress.  We did not re-enroll with Seton this year and I have struggled off and on with that decision these first few weeks.  I have already made some changes to my original choices, and some of that involved wondering if I should just go back to Seton.  But, alas, I am holding out and trying to trust my plans for this year.  It's looking more like we are getting into a good groove, so hopefully we will have smooth sailing - at least for awhile!

Boyson is in 6th grade this year and this is his curriculum:

Religion:  Religion 6 for Young Catholics and the Baltimore Catechism #2.  This is working really well.  I like Seton's Religion books because they have never been overwhelming to my kids.  Each day's lesson is about a page to a page and a half, with a few comprehension questions to answer.  Boyson has some variety this year with some matching, or multiple choice, or crossword puzzles.  He really does not like crossword puzzles, so I help him with these.  We also spend about 5-10 minutes per day working through catechism memorization.

English:  English 6 for Young Catholics along with Voyages in English 6 from Seton.  We are not "enrolled" in this course, but using their books. Mother of Divine Grace uses the Voyages in English book, so we are loosely following their plan.

Writing:   Ancient History Based Writing Lessons from the Institute for Excellence in Writing.  We haven't  used the IEW materials in their entirety, but this has been easy enough to implement on its own.  It teaches the IEW concepts like keyword outlines, dress-ups, three paragraph reports, etc. It has 21 lessons so we won't have to do a lesson every single week, or we can spend more time on any lessons that need more time. 

Spelling:   All About Spelling Level 4 & 5  For some reason, I have been struggling with fitting Spelling into our day this year;  I think it is because I am "teaching" several other subjects and by the time this rolls around in our day, I am tired and don't feel like teaching anything else, so we end up skipping it.  But we are going to persevere with this program for Boyson because I know that doing "regular spelling lists with a test on Friday" just doesn't work for him.  I am only going to be doing spelling twice a week with him, so hopefully that will help with the load.

Reading:   Reading 6 for Young Catholics Comprehension and Thinking Skills.  These are nice workbooks that my kids have (mostly!) enjoyed.  They have nice stories of saints along with objective or interpretive questions for the kids to answer.   These workbooks are not a comprehensive "reading curriculum," but are a nice supplement and great exposure to lives of the saints with a variety of valuable exercises.
  
Math:  Life of Fred Decimals and Percents and Modern Curriculum Press Mathematics Level F  Math is Boyson's worst subject, which is so surprising to me with the engineering brain that he has.  He really is loving Life of Fred (mostly for the story of course), although he does need a lot of help to work through the lessons.  We are taking it slow (I feel like Life of Fred does move pretty fast with not enough of the review that Boyson needs).  We are using MCP Math sporadically for review and practice.  The one thing I do not like about this book as a workbook is that there is not enough space on the pages to work the problems in the book.  They really have to be copied.  That is not really the best option for Boyson right now and fuels a lot of his frustration, so I end up copying problems onto a piece of paper for him.  The good thing about MCP Math is that is inexpensive, and tried and true as far as its scope and sequence.

Latin: Latina Christiana 1  We did start this last year following Mother of Divine Grace's plans for 4th grade.  We made it about 1/2 way through and pulled the plug.  We are trying again this year, along with the DVD's, and things are going much better.  Boyson is much more able to take this on this year, and right now it is review since he did have some of it last year.  I would have to say that while the DVD's have been helpful, some of the lessons are very long and it gets to be a bit much.  So I have watched some of the lessons ahead of time, and then I teach him the lesson and cut out some of the stuff that I know will be difficult for him. 

History:  This is the subject that has me most out of sorts.  We are not huge history fans here, so it is a challenge.   We are following Mother of Divine Grace's 6th grade syllabus for this, which is a study of Ancient Egypt.  I had grand plans to follow The Story of the World (Well Trained Mind) and have both kids work together, but Lil Guhl is definitely more into the hands on stuff, and is at a different level than Boyson.  So we are keeping it simple, and just trusting that the Mother of Divine Grace plans are enough for now.  Plus, Boyson can work more independently, which is definitely a good thing.

Science:  Zoology 1: Flying Creatures of the 5th Day  This is working out great!  Both kids are working together in this book.  We do it twice per week.  If you use these books, I highly recommend the notebooking journals that go with each one.  They are well worth the money!

Geography:  The Trail Guide to World Geography  This is a multi-level program that both kids are doing this this year and are really enjoying it.  We are not using the curriculum in its entirety (nor should anyone attempt to) but are picking and choosing what works best.  What is working best is to do the Geography Trails.  This is basically a couple of questions each day that the kids have to use their atlas to find the answers. There are also mapping activities and they each create their own Illustrated Geography dictionary.  This takes about 15 minutes a day.  Boyson is doing the intermediate level.

Extra-Curricular:  Lego Robotics Team and Poultry 4-H

Lil Guhl is in the 4th grade this year and this is her curriculum:

Religion:  Religion 4 for Young Catholics and the Baltimore Catechism #1  (see notes above)

English: For some reason, Seton's English has never really been a fit for Lil Guhl, so this year we are working in First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind, Level 3.  This is a 3rd grade text, but we are working at a faster pace than suggested, so we will probably be able to complete Level 3 and 4 this year.  I like this program because it is scripted, but some of it can be cumbersome in its repetition.  I cut out some of the repetition and move along a bit quicker.  But it is very thorough and Lil Guhl seems to like it.

Writing:  Writing with Ease Level 3  This is another Well-Trained Mind product, and we have also used Level 1 and 2 and like it.  I would have to say that I am not sure we will make it through this level though;  some of the dictation gets quite lengthy (sometimes almost a paragraph!) and Lil Guhl does struggle with narration and dictation.  I am going to use some of the longer dictation as copywork instead;  otherwise it just becomes a battle with tears.  This is a subject that really only takes us about 10 minutes a day, and it's all scripted for me which I like.  Since we are using the First Language Lesson, some lessons are a bit of overkill, so I am not stressing if this falls by the wayside.  We'll see how it goes.

Spelling: I had every intention of using All About Spelling again for Lil Guhl this year, but it just isn't working out for some of the same reasons I mentioned above.  Plus, Lil Guhl is more of a natural speller and does not struggle with spelling;  she was getting sort of irritated with all the repetition of All About Spelling.  So I decided that a regular "list of words with a test on Friday" would probably work just fine for her this year;  so in the interest of simplicity and cost, I bought with My Catholic Speller, Level D.  This is actually their 5th grade book; I wanted Lil Guhl to have a bit of a challenge here, and I think she's up for it.  We did the first lesson today and she said "It was fun!"  So we will go with that for now.

Reading:  Reading 4 for Young Catholics Comprehension and Thinking Skills

Math:  Teaching Textbooks Grade 4  This is going great for her!  She loves it!

Latin:  Latina Christiana 1.  I thought Lil Guhl would be up for the challenge of doing this program in it's entirety, but it didn't prove to be true.  So we are paring it back to follow the Mother of Divine Grace 4th grade plan for this, which is basically just memorizing the vocabulary, declensions of some nouns, and verb conjugations.

History:  We are mostly following Story of the World Volume 1 for Lil Guhl, with several other things mixed in.  We are spending more time and depth on Ancient Egypt (probably about 6 -7 weeks).  So while both kids are studying Ancient History this year, we are doing it two different ways.

Science:  See notes under Boyson.

Geography:  See notes under Boyson.  Lil Guhl is doing the primary level.

Extra-Curricular:  Piano lessons, a class on Veterinary Explorations, and Poultry and Rabbit 4-H.

So that's how our year is looking.  I will check in again in several weeks.