The most wonderful time of the year :)
September and October were spent finding our rhythm. November was all about staying on course and thriving in our routines.
December is going to be interesting. We have parties, parades, and performances. We're on a month-long break from CC (the girls are bummed about that!) Triple Threat ends this week, which gives us extra time on Tuesdays. We're only taking the week of Audrey's birthday & Christmas off. We really don't need more than that!
What's New?
-We're doing "block scheduling." When we started Time4Learning, I'd assign a few math and a few language arts activities each day. For about a month now, we've been alternating days; math on Tuesdays and Thursdays, language arts on Wednesdays and Fridays. We LOVE this! They like only having to focus on one subject for a longer amount of time. Now that CC is done for a few weeks, we have an extra day of math on Mondays.
-We started a new spelling curriculum. Audrey hadn't been doing one. Abigail was doing word study, which is what she did last year (and I've always used in my classrooms.) I came across Spelling You See and I liked its approach. They work with non-fiction passages (Abby reads about animals, Audrey's passages are about people and events in American history.) They interact with the text by "chunking" the appropriate spelling pattern. There's also copywork involved, which I like because it requires them to pay attention to the details in print. There's also a dictation and free-write component, which are great skills to work on!
-We added CC review into our daily routine. Each day we review an entire week; but we leave out Latin and Bible. It's been a fun addition. When CC starts back up, we'll focus on the current week; but I felt like this was the best time to review and delve a little deeper.
Things Learned
-Abby is very easily frustrated; if something is "too easy," she complains. If there's something too challenging, she complains (#hardtoplease.) When they are working, I'm either right at the table with them or in the kitchen. But lately I've been making a point to sit with Abby through her lessons. It makes a big difference! She likes to make a show of explaining her thought process, it's so cute :)
-Screens suck. The more the girls use them, the more I despise them (the screens, not the children, lol.) I've become way too lax about letting them have them throughout the week. It's too hard to pry them away (especially from Abs.) Life is just so much better without them. Case in point- last night after we dropped Audrey at dance I banned electronics for the rest of the evening (even TV!) Abby and Annie played with the princess toys (which have not seen the light of day in MONTHS.) Then they worked on puzzles. After Audrey got home, she and Abby stayed up until nearly 10:00 playing Shopkins. I could hear them talking and laughing from my room, and I soaked it in- I didn't even care that they were loud AF. I need to do better.
-We have to be deliberate about our time, but our time is flexible. On Friday I was dropping off Annie at school and realized we forgot her backpack...which would be fine, except LUNCH. Of course running back home and then back to school (and then back home!) would take 45 minutes, which is a good chunk of our morning. And honestly, the later we start in the mornings, the less focused we are. I had the girls grab their CC flip books (it has all of the memory work + the weekly map for geography.) We put the CD on and reviewed; I made it a longer trip by stopping for gas and Starbucks :) We got a solid hour in of memory work! I was proud of us :)
We've got 2 weeks until Winter Break. It's nice to not feel stressed about anything this time of year- what a change! There's no rushing to fit curriculum in. Christmas stuff is getting done. We're in charge of our time and it feels amazing!
September and October were spent finding our rhythm. November was all about staying on course and thriving in our routines.
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| Visiting my college, UMW. I wonder if any of them will get to go here?? |
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| Homeschooling at the Toyota dealership! |
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| Anne loves to homeschool, too! |
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| So cute at Preschool pick up! |
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| She's pretty awesome :) |
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| Another day, another dance class (or 3!) |
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| Chili cook off at Dad's work |
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| Well-deserved Sweet Frog after #soccersaturday |
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| Celebrated 14 years! |
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| Add caption |
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| 'Nuff said. |
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| I love spending Monday mornings at CC with this face! |
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| They got to hold the Bible & prayer for CC opening. |
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| Abby loves to help me cook. She still wants to open a bakery when she grows up! |
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| We love Library time! |
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| Anne loves this game! |
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| She asks to play while Dad is cooking |
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| Picture Day |
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| LEGO STEM class |
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| For weeks they worked hard in this class! |
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| photo cred: Dad |
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| Audrey LOVES fashion design! |
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| Tin Whistle at CC...Yaaaaay |
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| Not fair!! This was at soccer practice, I miss Mrs. Goad!! |
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| Yes! Keep drawing, girl!!! |
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| Always down for Icees |
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| ...and donuts #halloween2018 |
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| CC History Review :) |
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| Book break! |
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| I love when they stay up late together! |
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| I want to add more games to our school day! |
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| The 3D pen is a favorite |
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| Dad wanted to take Audrey to work, and she still got to do school! |
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| Thanksgiving 2018- more grateful each year! |
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| #fashion |
December is going to be interesting. We have parties, parades, and performances. We're on a month-long break from CC (the girls are bummed about that!) Triple Threat ends this week, which gives us extra time on Tuesdays. We're only taking the week of Audrey's birthday & Christmas off. We really don't need more than that!
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| CC geography review |
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| They love to quiz each other! |
What's New?
-We're doing "block scheduling." When we started Time4Learning, I'd assign a few math and a few language arts activities each day. For about a month now, we've been alternating days; math on Tuesdays and Thursdays, language arts on Wednesdays and Fridays. We LOVE this! They like only having to focus on one subject for a longer amount of time. Now that CC is done for a few weeks, we have an extra day of math on Mondays.
-We started a new spelling curriculum. Audrey hadn't been doing one. Abigail was doing word study, which is what she did last year (and I've always used in my classrooms.) I came across Spelling You See and I liked its approach. They work with non-fiction passages (Abby reads about animals, Audrey's passages are about people and events in American history.) They interact with the text by "chunking" the appropriate spelling pattern. There's also copywork involved, which I like because it requires them to pay attention to the details in print. There's also a dictation and free-write component, which are great skills to work on!
-We added CC review into our daily routine. Each day we review an entire week; but we leave out Latin and Bible. It's been a fun addition. When CC starts back up, we'll focus on the current week; but I felt like this was the best time to review and delve a little deeper.
Things Learned
-Abby is very easily frustrated; if something is "too easy," she complains. If there's something too challenging, she complains (#hardtoplease.) When they are working, I'm either right at the table with them or in the kitchen. But lately I've been making a point to sit with Abby through her lessons. It makes a big difference! She likes to make a show of explaining her thought process, it's so cute :)
-Screens suck. The more the girls use them, the more I despise them (the screens, not the children, lol.) I've become way too lax about letting them have them throughout the week. It's too hard to pry them away (especially from Abs.) Life is just so much better without them. Case in point- last night after we dropped Audrey at dance I banned electronics for the rest of the evening (even TV!) Abby and Annie played with the princess toys (which have not seen the light of day in MONTHS.) Then they worked on puzzles. After Audrey got home, she and Abby stayed up until nearly 10:00 playing Shopkins. I could hear them talking and laughing from my room, and I soaked it in- I didn't even care that they were loud AF. I need to do better.
-We have to be deliberate about our time, but our time is flexible. On Friday I was dropping off Annie at school and realized we forgot her backpack...which would be fine, except LUNCH. Of course running back home and then back to school (and then back home!) would take 45 minutes, which is a good chunk of our morning. And honestly, the later we start in the mornings, the less focused we are. I had the girls grab their CC flip books (it has all of the memory work + the weekly map for geography.) We put the CD on and reviewed; I made it a longer trip by stopping for gas and Starbucks :) We got a solid hour in of memory work! I was proud of us :)
We've got 2 weeks until Winter Break. It's nice to not feel stressed about anything this time of year- what a change! There's no rushing to fit curriculum in. Christmas stuff is getting done. We're in charge of our time and it feels amazing!
Yaasss, girl, on the screen time. We are so much more peaceful and creative in our household, too, when we quit it cold turkey. But it's HARD sometimes. Keep fighting that good fight. Enjoy your break! I've loved reading about how your first year of homeschooling is going. :)
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