Progress  

Posted by: Laura Delgado in

I have found myself doing so much outside writing (I'm not complaining!) that I don't feel like really taking the time to post here, which is sad since the whole intent of this blog was to stay apprised of the kids' progress. I wanted to give myself status updates on the kids. Hmph. The best laid plans of mice and men...


T is 1/4 of the way through Saxon 6/5. She has had no problems thus far, so I'm pleased. I think she's right where she should be. I am changing her Grammar program from Saxon 5 to Classical Writing with Harvey Elementary Grammar, though. I don't think she is getting enough writing instruction with Saxon, and I don't think that Writing with Ease is doing it either. In spite of WwE being a product of WTM, I find it very CM and not as much Classical. I have decided to go completely Classical with the Progymnasmata. I really think that T will enjoy it more. She has such an aptitude for grammar that the repetition of Saxon was getting to her. It is not really what I would consider a 5th grade level - maybe more 3rd grade. Maybe it's just that she was so well prepared with FLL that we have to go more rigorous. In any case, I'm looking forward to beginning Aesop and Homer for the older beginner. CW considers the older beginner to be 8th grade, but when they also recommend starting Aesop at 2nd grade. Considering Aesop should precede Homer, I felt older beginner was the way to go. I'm starting N with FLL 3 as soon as it arrives at the house. He's more than ready.

Speaking of N, he's more than 1/2 through Saxon Math 3. It is still quite easy for him. We rarely have to slow down, and I rarely have to say something twice to tell him how to do it. If I ever do have to actually "teach" him a concept, it is WWIII. He does not like not getting it right away. He has to constantly be fed new challenges. I'll be very curious to see if this math-fury keeps up when he finishes 3. He will be in 5/4 while he's still comfortably six years old. That's on-level 5th grade, advanced 4th grade, math. Remind me to post the article that I just wrote for Heart of the Matter Online on teaching gifted children...

M and M-C are doing quite well with phonics, but it hasn't quite translated to formal reading yet. I'm fine with that. They're four. I still think they'll be reading short books by five, but if they're not, they're not. They love AAS. I love my affiliate checks from AAS. It is so easy to sell a product that sells itself, and that I use unreservedly. The twins are also doing Saxon Math 1. I see the point coming very soon (as in probably next week) where I will have to split them up. M races through his work and wants more, and M-C likes to take her time and be very meticulous. She only wants to do the day's work, and that's fine. By the same token, though, I'm not going to hold M back, just as I've never held the other's back. Teaching four levels of math, though...Thank Heaven T basically teaches herself. I think that next year I will invest in Saxon DIVE. It will be her last year before Pre-Algebra, and I really want to make sure she is completely ready.

Apologia Astronomy is going rather slowly, but they are learning quite thoroughly that which they are learning. I can't ask for more than that.

We are studying American Indians right now, and *that* we are doing very thoroughly. We read a wonderful biography of Sitting Bull, and even M and M-C could retell much of it if pressed. We will place him in his broader context as a Plains Indian, and then move onto other kinds of Indians, geographically speaking. I have to really think about history. I just don't have a program that I love. Maybe I'll look at Connecting with History again. I just have to accept that I am never going to find a program that has everything that I want. I love all of the resources at Mater Amabilis, and that's fine for the youngers, but T needs something more intense. Am I talking myself back into Tapestry of Grace? We had never done history as thoroughly and intensely as when doing TOG...I just don't love the investment...or the Protestantism. It's funny. As I write that, I wonder whether I will cost myself writing jobs. I'm pretty sure that the "Salve Regina" outs me as a Catholic, but I am already pretty sure that there is at least one job that I didn't get because of my answer on the question: What denomination are you? Funny. I think I'll leave that there now.

I have to give kudos to Our Holy Faith. I love this series for Religion. It doesn't have the pretty pictures of Faith and Life (which, for some reason, seems very important to many parents), but it does have so much more. It is chock full, and T is learning so much.

One more brief note. I have just found Lesson Pathways. I would never use it as a full curriculum, but as an organization of Internet links, I'm all over it. I subscribed for $4.95/mo. and consider it money well spent. There is also one free pathway per week, so it's worth looking at just for that.