Aug. 18th, 2008 at 2:08 PM
There is unbelievable frustration as I write this, since I originally scripted it on Saturday night, only to accidentally navigate away from the post and have it eaten by cyberspace. Needless to say, this iteration will be more brief. Sigh. I think that I have finally winnowed out the chaff and have settled in on the final curriculum for this year (08-09 traditional school year). Hmmm. That is actually a poor word choice, because nothing that I could choose for my children to study could technically be chaff, but massively Type-A, hoarding, collecting mentality that I am, there is definitely a propensity to overdo. Hence, let us instead say that I have whittled down and arrived at the cream of the crop. This word choice allows us to stay with the farming imagery :)I digress. In essence, T will be studying the following: Math: Saxon 5/4 Language: First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind Level 3 Spelling: All About Spelling Level 2 (way too easy for her, but I want her to be very well grounded in the rules) Handwriting: Zaner-Bloser Level 2C Science: Apologia Zoology 1 - Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day Latin: Prima Latina Humanities: Tapestry of Grace Year 1 (Upper Grammar)N: Math: Saxon 1 Language: First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind Level 1 and Phonics Pathways Spelling: All About Spelling Level 1 Handwriting: Zaner-Bloser Level K Humanities: Tapestry of Grace Year 1 (Lower Grammar)Twins: Math: Numbers and Counting Language: Letters, Sounds, and Phonics Pathways Handwriting: Handwriting without TearsIf you have not yet checked out Tapestry of Grace, I would really encourage you to do so. It is by far the most amazing program that I have found, and I honestly think that I looked at all of them. It allows for ultimate flexibility. You can do as much or as little as you want. You can incorporate all of the humanities, or only a fraction. You can focus more on the reading and writing, or more on the crafting. You can incorporate lots of notebooking and lapbooking (yay!). In essence, you absolutely can customize it to your family. For my purposes, it will give my children the best classical education, with the best Charlotte Mason and Thomas Jefferson techniques incorporated throughout (although, that's sort of redundant, since I believe that classical education actually incorporates those techniques from the start. I suppose that is one reason that it bothers me so much when people try to tell me that I am homeschooling my children "eclectically". Not true. Everything that I do comes from a position of classical technique. I just choose not to it from a box).The other big thing going on in our house right now is organization. Anyone who knows me knows that this is not my strong suit. Clutter is my undoing. In my academic life I have always been very organized. My Ph.D. materials are still, to this day, quite organized. I want my homeschool life to be so organized, and I am working on putting together the planner to end all planners in order to achieve such an organizational standard. It will also incorporate household chores and schedules. Our family has to have a schedule. There are just too many of us. When I finally have this masterpiece compiled (I am shooting for one week from today), it will be bound by my new best friend - the GBC C110 Combbinder. I just got this on Saturday (long story short - I asked Principal for a Pro-Click P50 for Christmas. It can be had for under $50, and seems to be the preferred binder of choice among the TOG Loose Thread moms, but Principal, being Principal, made the point that if we plan to use this bad boy for the next 15 or so years, we may as well get one that can take the heat, rather than one that is likely to crack under pressure. Hence, I now own something 10 times the size of the Pro-Click and am wondering where to store it. On the plus size, I can knock an intruder senseless -- and then bind his court papers for him!). I have already used it to make alphabet coloring books for the twins, T's TOG SAP book, and N's All About Me book (he's in strange limbo-land between K and 1st grade. He does 1st grade academics, but K level activities, like All About Me and calendar. When people ask what grade he's in, neither he nor I know what to say...).I guess that's it from the Salve Regina Homeschool Academy. We're still finding our groove. We did work all summer, but we're hitting a new stride since we started our Fall semester. I feel very blessed to be doing what I am doing!