Math & Science

We're trying something new for both math and science this year...

Math. To date, we've mostly just used Singapore Math and were pretty satisfied with it. (Read more here and here.) This year, though, we're switching to Teaching Textbooks. We're doing so for three reasons:

1. Asher, in particular, would benefit from more actual instruction. With Singapore, I'd been in the habit of just handing the books to the boys and letting them loose, being available for questions if necessary but not doing any structured lessons. That was still fine for Micah but, as the work was getting more advanced, both Asher and Noah were having more questions. (Yes, Singapore has teacher textbooks and such so that I could have taught the lessons, myself, and I have the math background to do so but...)
2. Noah finished the Primary Math program so we needed something new for him anyhow. (For the record, Noah finished through book 6B, Asher finished 4B and Micah finished 3B. (Micah could/would have been further but we deliberately slowed him down, lol.)) and...
3. The idea of a subject where the boys can be mostly self-sufficient is incredibly appealing to me, and they love the idea of having something they can do on the computer rather than in a workbook. ;)

So. After much thought and research, we're trying out Teaching Textbooks this year. We'll let you know how it goes. (Upon reviewing the various levels and reading up on reviews and all, we're putting Asher and Micah both in Math 6 and Noah into Pre-Algebra.)

Science. Last year, we didn't really do anything structured in the way of science (just lots of documentaries, science fairs and field trips, lol). Before that, we used Real Science 4 Kids and finished that. This year, we're going to try Elemental Science. I like how it follows the classical schedule that Story of the World (which we use for history) uses and has different levels as you repeat the cycle. We'll, then, be jumping in to coordinate with where we are in Story of the World this year. Since we'll be going through volume 2 of Story of the World (for the second time with the older two) this year, we'll also tackle Earth Science & Astronomy's intermediate level.

And that's math and science. Would love any input if you've used either of these programs or have other recommendations!

Our coming school year...and spelling

Well, the local public schools (middle and high school) started back today. The elementary schools start back tomorrow. We'll be starting our own year next Wednesday with the first day of our one-day-a-week enrichment program (used to be Options, now called LEAP...which stands for Loveland Enrichment Access Program). In the meantime, I thought I'd do some of my somewhat regular curriculum reviews. ;) (look back through June 2010 and June 2011)

To start with, here's the background about our homeschool journey. Amazingly, most of that post still holds true. But, Noah's now 11 and will be starting sixth grade. Asher's 10 and is "technically" fourth grade this year (though he's listed as a 5th grader at LEAP...given his summer birthday, he could be either). Micah's 7 and is technically second grade this year (though he's listed as a 3rd grader at LEAP...given his summer birthday, he'd be either a first grader or second grader this year...yes, he's precocious and is listed as a third grader because he's already taken the second grade classes there). 

So. Spelling. A couple years ago, we started the All About Spelling program. We also used it the following year. And, we're still using it. That review from June 2011 is still pretty much spot on. It's a keeper for us!

We're mostly done with Level 5 now, though. We're still having issues with boys who hate to be wrong. ;) And I'm still working on separating out the boys so they're at different levels. This past year, I stuck with this routine...

• Tuesday, I'd give them a pretest and had each boy in a different step. (Each book/level is divided into steps.) So, for example, all three would do the ten words for step 11...the older two would also do the ten words for step 12...and the oldest would also do the ten words for step 13. So, there was both review of past words (for the older boys) and a preview of coming words (for the younger boys). (This is the part where we'd have the regular lectures about how mistakes are good.)
• Wednesday, we'd go over the steps, themselves, and the spelling rules and all...basically just following the curriculum plan.
• Thursday, I'd dictate sentences to the boys. Similar to the first day, I'd start with the lowest step and build...so that the youngest was writing a few sentences, Asher had about 6 and Noah had about 9. (I should probably make them write more sentences.)
• Friday, we'd have our final tests for the week. (If, though, the boy had gotten all the words correct the first day, they didn't have to take the final test...this likely contributed to the issues about missing words that first day.)

Right now, then, I'm debating how I want to change this up for the coming year.

I'm thinking I'll do away with the pretests. They seemed like a good idea at the time...a way to remind them that we're learning new stuff...but it's not working that way. I'm not sure what the value of the pretests is otherwise and it just seems to cause strife. Ideas on what to do instead? 

I'm also wondering about whether keeping the boys in three consecutive steps is the best route. I think it's holding Noah back and that the younger two could use more review. I also figure that the way it was working meant that the younger two were actually getting less review. Perhaps I need to switch to having every boy do the two steps before along with his current step? Hmmm. Yup. I think I'll do that...have each boy do the two steps before and his own step...and will do away with the pretest in favor of something else (a word search?) that actually just presents the words to the boys so they're not so worried about learning what's coming up so that they don't get any wrong.

What do you think? Seriously...would love to know what works for you!

Five on Friday

1. Maybe we should have waited to get Micah's recorder until closer to the start of classes. He's already taught himself almost half the songs. ;) (On a related note, anyone know how to soundproof a room? lol)

2. I was thinking about the cost of school supplies this year, knowing that the expense is hitting many fellow homeschooling families hard. I'm so very thankful, then, for three things:

• that we have the funds to cover our expenses in the first place (I fully recognize that we're so fortunate that our one income is a decent one!)
• that we chose this year to stick with a program and teachers that we know and that have more experience with homeschool families (such that they've mostly stopped requesting unnecessary things on their supply lists and realize that homeschoolers are prone to share supplies rather than get one for each kid...or at least such that I know them well enough to know which requested supplies I'm not going to bother with, lol)
  
  (For those that are confused by the first part of this, our Options program that we've attended for four years already is changing this year as each school district is taking over the program in their area. After much debate and thought, we opted to switch to Loveland's program since the teachers and administrator we were familiar with were hired there but not in Fort Collins...and since, fortunately, the driving distance is roughly equal for us. While we hope that the Fort Collins program succeeds beautifully with the new director and teachers and facility, we chose to stick with the familiar, as it will be less work...less of a learning curve...for us.)
   
• that I can justify the expense of the instrument purchases (and art supplies) knowing that I don't have to pay for the lessons, as they're technically a weekly class included in our one-day-a-week homeschool school

3. Does anyone have any recommendations on apps for iPhone/iPod for tracking homework? I'm working on time management issues and know that Noah will respond best to some sort of app. ;)

4. Also, does anyone have a good first aid sort of curriculum that they use? I've thought about Red Cross classes, but they're rather spendy and too long a day for younger kids. Just looking for something to cover the basics...so that, for instance, boys would know what to do if certain middle sons were to break another bone or something, lol.

5. Maybe it's just me; but, now that I've been using Pinterest for awhile, I find it annoying that Facebook doesn't have a "scroll to top" button in the bottom right corner also. (Yes, I know this is unrelated to the other four things, but, hey, it's Friday, lol.)

Happy weekend to you!

PS

Oh. I meant to add to that last post...does anyone have any good advice on how to label/identify things like guitars and guitar cases and drumsticks and such? Thanks! ;)

Music. Lots of it.

So. School will be starting up again soon. Our local public schools start next Tuesday. Our one-day-a-week homeschool school starts the week after that. At that time, between the three of my boys, we'll have six music classes. In preparation for that, we ventured out today, supply lists in hand, to look. We'd intended to just do some browsing and figure out what we were looking for and try a bunch of different stuff. We ended up bringing home two guitars, a practice drum pad (and sticks) and a recorder. Yup. Lots of music going on here.

Micah will have two music classes...one's a singing and acting sort of class and one is recorder karate. Both big brothers have already taken recorder karate, so he's pretty stoked that he gets to take it, too, finally. He's never actually had an instrument class before and hasn't learned to read music or anything like that. (Both of the other boys took music classes and piano classes when they were younger so had that background already when they started instrument classes at Options.)

In true Micah style, then, after picking up a recorder today (don't get me started on the fact that we already have two or three recorders in the house...the boy wanted one that was *his* and recorders seemed fairly cheap to argue over, lol) he promptly found one of Asher's old recorder karate books, read about how to play and taught himself the first song. He's even got it memorized:

Yeah, really. ;)

Asher will have three music classes...beginning bells (which thankfully doesn't require any purchases by us, as the school will supply instruments), guitar and drumming. He's so excited! Here's his new 3/4 size acoustic guitar:

And here's his drum practice pad:

Given his size, we opted for the 3/4 size guitar (and quickly realized that this limited our choices by a good bit). This one got really good reviews and seems like it'll be a great fit. And, yes, fortunately the drumming class only required this practice pad and sticks. ;)

Noah has just guitar class this coming year (in terms of music classes, that is). He's big enough for a full size guitar but finding an acoustic one that was all black proved difficult. (Yes, I'm slowly coming to terms with the lack of color in the boy's life, lol...though I'm finding it difficult to find solid black or grey clothing for the boy.) In the end, we got (a fabulous deal on) this one:

It's an acoustic-electric guitar so he'll be able to transition more easily to electric down the road (which will be more fitting to his personality and affinity for all things technology, lol). And, as you can see, it's all black. ;) Of course.

Whew. So. That was the musical end of school supplies (but not the end of the music now bouncing around the house, lol). Oddly/sadly/amazingly, the total of the curricula orders I also placed today came to more. It's an investment. :)