July 24, 2009

I have to confess that I have not loved our mini-vacation. If one cares about the children's grade levels, than I feel that we stopped just short of finishing their prior grades. To a Type A like me, that feels like we're starting in the middle, never mind that we are just taking three weeks off for summer (one more week to go!). Still, I guess it will help me to organize my thoughts as to where we will be picking up. It seems as if I do that quite a bit. So, the kids' curricula will be as follows:

T - turning eight and starting 5th grade
Language Arts - Saxon Grammar and Writing 5 and Writing with Ease
Math - Saxon 6/5
Latin - Latina Christiana (but I'm still awaiting a recommendation from an expert on that)
History - Connecting with History (a Roman Catholic history program) VERY loosely, but
mostly my own devising. We'll spend at least a couple of months in Egypt (more if the kids want to), aided by a WEB interactive unit study by Brandenberg Studies. We'll then spend as much time as we want to in Ancient Greece. If we get to Rome this year, great. If not, we'll continue next year. Along the way, I'll document what we do and what we read, because I still feel very called to write a curriculum.
American History - Joy Hakim's books will be our spine here, but I plan to use many OOP books available on Project Gutenberg (and pray that a Kindle drops into my lap) to really make this a living books, read aloud subject for everyone except T (about whom, ironically, I am writing now). Again, I am going to document how and what I teach as I go.
Science - Exploring Creation with Astronomy. I really think the kids are going to enjoy this one, especially once we get past all of the young earth nonsense.
Religion - Our Holy Faith 5 - Living Like Christ, in Christ. I'm really happy with this series. T likes it, too. It's comprehensive, meaty (but not on Fridays), and highly readable. We'll also continue with Fr. Laux's Chief Truths of the Faith. She *really* likes that book. I'm trying to figure out how I can work in Bible History. Maybe I'll wait a few years until I get get all four together.
Handwriting - cursive practice combined with copywork/catechism on magistra-created worksheets with the aid of Startwrite.
Art - Meet the Masters online edition

I'm really excited about the Saxon Grammar. It starts with Grade 5, which is just right for us. I can tell that much of it will be repitition for us (thanks to the awesome work of FLL), but I can't skip her to 6 because of the writing lessons, which look really good. The format is just right for her learning style, so she's happy about it, too, although she was originally skeptical. I think this year will work really well for us. I bought her an assignment notebook, and every day I will write the assignments that she and I have to do together in one color of pen, and those that she can do alone in another color. That way, she will always know what to do, and she will never have any "dead" time.

N - just turned six and starting second grade
Language Arts - FLL 2 and Writing with Ease
Phonics - Explode the Code 4
Spelling - Spellwell Aa
Math - Saxon 3
Latin - Prima Latina
History/American History/Science - same as above
Religion - listening with T and bible stories
Handwriting - my creations with Startwrite
Art - same as above

M and M-C - four years old and starting K
Phonics - ClickNKids
Math - Saxon 1
Handwriting - Startwrite worksheets
Spelling - All About Spelling One
Religion - Bible stories
Any part of any other subject to which they want to listen.

How do I plan to schedule all of this you ask? Good question - I have actually been doing most of it prior to now. I'll post my schedule in a coming update. I am blessed with independent workers (mainly T, obviously) and all-around great kids.

As for me, I still work for edHelper, and I love what I do for them. I also review materials for The Old Schoolhouse and for Teacher Book Bag. Further, I am rolling around a plan for a business of my own...it's just all about the time! N started coach pitch this year (he sort of had to "try out" for his team, and they've already started practice, even though sign-ups don't even end until the end of September! I can't believe how competitive they are already at this age. M is still in t-ball, so we won't even know his team for at least a month. Thank goodness! I expect to be at the field five days a week this fall! T has dance for 1 1/2 hours, and M-C for an hour. I should get a lot of knitting done once the year begins in earnest :)

After a two week vacation, the Academy is back in session. I took the first week off because my house really needed some TLC. I could not go out of town, and then face coming back to my house the way it was. Make no mistake: it still looks like a bomb went off. The collateral damage is just slightly more tolerable. On Friday of that first week, we all got up at 3:30 a.m. and left for Walt Disney World in Orlando. Along the way, we spent a day or so in St. Augustine, FL to soak up some history (it's the site of Ponce de Leon's landing in the U.S., and his supposed founding of the Fountain of the Youth, in addition to the location of the oldest Church in the U.S.). The kids did wonderfully at Disney. There was almost no complaining at all. They asked for nothing (no food, drinks, souveneirs, etc.). We had a suite at our hotel, so we ate nothing in the parks. We breakfasted in our hotel room, brought lunch into the park, and then ate dinner again in our hotel room. I know the kids must have drooled a little at the site of all those hamburgers and french fries (to say nothing of the Mickey ears ice cream), but they never asked. I was very proud of them.

I have am of two minds on Disney World. The obvious, rampant, and unrelenting commercialism disturbs me. The "buy, buy, buy" coming at you from all sides is exhausting. The kids love it so much, though, and it really is magical. The characters never break, well, character, which is special for the kids. They really think they're meeting Snow White. The "cast members" (there are no employees at Disney!) are all courteous and helpful, and everything is clean and nice. You really can disconnect there. You see two types of kids and families. There are the kids who are obvious spoiled pains who are getting everything that they want, and then you see the kids for whom this is a dream come true. There are plenty of adults with no kids, too. That was me when I was 19, when Principal took me for the first time. In any case, the kids road tripped amazingly well, and we plan many camping trips in the near future.

Academy-wise, N is reading so well! He's not sounding things out nearly as much - he's just reading. He's within a day of finishing "Explode the Code Volume 1" and we have Volume 2 all ready to break out. He loves "Writing with Ease", as the selections that he is copying and narrating are so relevant to him. The first week was all "Little House in the Big Woods", and this week is "Pinocchio", which he loved, having just "met" Pinocchio in person! It is sparking his interest to read the originals, which, after all, is part of the plan.

Since I have gone back to teaching T math, we are having somewhat fewer problems, although some problems still persist. When Principal can teach her, she seems to enjoy it more. He has the kind of mind that can make lots of connections that I just don't. I pretty much go by the book. We really complement each other well, but, of course, he can't teach her every day, and she just has to get used to the fact that I am her teacher. For some reason, I still don't think she really likes that sometimes. If we're doing anything in the Humanities, she's fine, but math, not so. Maybe in some unconscious way, I'm telegraphing something to her, even though I am trying so hard not to. Ah, who knows?

As for the Magistra: my last freelance job has ended, and I am actively seeking more work. I have a phone interview with a neat political site today. I don't know if I agree with everything that the site promotes, but that's part of the interesting aspect of it. They are looking for a more right-leaning author, and I fit that bill. I think it would be a worthwhile project in which to participate, and it is very educational, particularly for younger people who are willing to plow through it. I really appreciate that. We'll see how it goes. It would be truly wonderful if it actually pays decently.