Back to School 2015 Version

We are almost three months into the school year, so I suppose this is less of our "plans" for the school year, and more of our current reality.

Aubree is now in 5th grade, and in her final year in the highly capable program (next year she will no longer attend public school).  She did get a new teacher this year, but otherwise has the same classmates and a very similar experience.  

Aubree loves school.  She's super social and really enjoys getting to see her friends every day.  She was eager for the new school year to start.  The only downside was leaving baby Nellie.  

As a side note - all summer Aubree insisted that the first day of school would be rainy. "It's always rainy on the first day, Mom!"  The forecast called for sun.  She was undeterred.  Turns out, she was right on the money.  It's like we live in Seattle or something.

Bryce is now in 2nd grade.  He is enrolled in a Parent Partnership Program (PPP) in which, in exchange for reporting what we are doing at home and "enrolling" him in their district (even though all his learning is done at home), we receive funds ($1500) to use for our schooling (curriculum, supplies, field trips, classes, and lessons).  

The curriculum choices we made last year were working quite well, so for the most part we are continuing with those same programs (I'm including links to our curriculum choices for interest only; they are not affiliate links).  

For reading and spelling, he is using All About Reading Level 3 and All About Spelling Level 3.  We will finish those in another month or two and move on to level 4 in each.  I still totally love these curriculums.  We use First Language Lessons, level 2 for grammar work, and he has a writing journal where I give him prompts and have him write a few sentences every day.  Bryce takes his writing very seriously (and includes detailed illustrations of everything he writes), so a single prompt can easily last him a week or more.

 

For math, Bryce continues to be about a year ahead of schedule, and is working his way through Math U See, Gamma.

I'm a huge fan of Story of the World for history, and this year we are doing Volume 2: The Middle Ages.  Part of the fun of Story of the World is doing the great activities that accompany each chapter.  Unfortunately, those extra, fun projects can easily get pushed to the side in the hustle and bustle of every day life.  To combat that problem, my friend Ashley and I have come up with an ingenious solution.  Every Thursday, our families get together.  One mom takes our two second graders and does a hands-on history and science project.  The other mom takes the two kindergarteners (and our two preschoolers) and does an activity with them (more on what they do in Thane's school choices section). It's the highlight of our week and makes sure we make time for the good stuff.

An edible oasis

For science, we stuck with REAL Science Odyssey and moved on to their Earth Science curriculum.  As I mentioned, we do most of our science projects with our friends.  

For scripture study, we are studying the New Testament this year and following the scripture journal format we used last year.  I will write a post specifically about our scripture journals soon.

Using some of our PPP stipend money, Bryce is taking weekly piano lessons and a gymnastics class.  I am not surprised to report that Bryce really likes piano and is a pretty dedicated student.  Although, I will admit he likes to make obnoxious noises on the piano as well!

For every day that he practices, Bryce's teacher allows him to choose a piece of candy.  Bryce has amassed quite a collection.  Why doesn't he eat it all?  Because he's saving it to give to Thane (or any other willing child) who is willing to take lessons from him!  Thane's not super interested in learning piano, but he is super motivated by candy.

Teaching Thane the names of the keys

Thane is also in the weekly gymnastics class, and both boys appreciate the opportunity to run, jump, climb, and roll.  The foam pit is the unanimous favorite activity.

Finally, Bryce and Thane (and Graham) are all in a weekly co-op.  Bryce and Thane are in the same classes (they are K-2 classes): Fairy Tales (corresponding to the SOTW Middle Ages curriculum), Magic School Bus Engineering, and a music class.  They seem to enjoy their classes, even though there are nine squirrely boys and only one girl!  Thane is pretty quiet in his classes, but participates in all the projects.  

Learning about violins in music class

Thane is now a kindergartener!  It took a while for him to grasp that he wasn't going to "go" to school once kindergarten started.  Now we have a reasonably consistent routine.  He is also enrolled in the same PPP as Bryce, so we get $1500 for him as well.
Our main curriculum choice is Five in a Row (FIAR), which I did with Aubree and (less consistently) with Bryce.  I absolutely adore Five in a Row and think it's the perfect kindergarten curriculum.  It promotes a deep love of literature, fosters questions and curiosity, is hands-on and fun!  The basic premise is that you take one picture book, read it every day for five days in a row, and do different activities with it every day (i.e. social studies on Monday, science on Tuesday, math on Wednesday, art on Thursday, etc.).  

Trying sushi when we were learning about Japan

Doing FIAR means I've been better about incorporating art and projects into our homeschool week.  Bryce gets to do them too.

Eiffel Tower (when rowing "Madeline")

My favorite art project so far is a guided giraffe drawing.  They turned out so impressive that I really want to frame them!

Bryce's on the left, Thane's on the right

I put together a schedule for the year using books from volumes 1 and 2, and our friends are doing the same schedule.  That means, when we get together on Thursdays, the mom in charge of the kindergarteners (we switch off weeks), chooses a great FIAR activity to do with Thane and Collin and the younger siblings.  So much fun!

Making a square cake (when "rowing" Mike Mulligan)

Our babies get to hang out too.

Could they be any cuter?

In addition to FIAR, Thane is working through All About Reading, Level 1 and All About Spelling Level 1.  He's a pretty good little reader!  His favorite part of All About Reading is getting to read through the stories; he hates having to wait to read future stories.  He struggles the most with mixing up b's and d's.  

For math, he is using Math U See Alpha.  He's moving along great, but since it's a first grade curriculum, I'm not over-anxious to push him ahead.  We are moving at his pace; I want to make sure he really understands and has his basic math facts mastered.  

I'm also having him do a page a day in a Handwriting Without Tears workbook, and a page a day in a Starfall writing journal.  

******

Since Graham's birthday falls in September, he still has three years before he officially begins Kindergarten.  Originally, I wasn't planning to do any type of preschool with him this year.  However, in our weekly co-op, while the big boys are in their classes, Graham gets to attend preschool classes.  I volunteered to teach a 2-hour theme-based block, and he also has a yoga class.  The theme block has just about what he would be doing if I had planned a mom-run co-op.  Graham loves going to his class.  I'm glad that I'm there with him, and I think it's the perfect fit for him this year.  

One more thing.  Ashley, of "this IS school" wisdom, suggested before the school year began, "you know, we really should try to do more field trips.  That's kind of why we homeschool, right?"

Having just had a baby, I wanted to argue, but I knew she was right.  So, we've been trying to have Field Trip Fridays.  Often, we try to tie them into what we're learning in Five in a Row.  For example, we finished up a two-week study of Japan ("A Pair of Red Clogs" and "My Grandfather's Journey"), with a visit to a local Japanese Garden. 

When we rowed "Night of the Moonjellies," we visited the tide pools.

I tried to get a picture of me with my kids.  Here's the result - me with everyone who would cooperate:

Sometimes our field trips don't directly relate, but are still great, like when we visited Auntie Anne's pretzels.  Or when we went to the Compassion Experience and learned about what life is like for kids in third world countries.  

Overall, I'm extremely pleased with our choices and plans for this year.  So far, I think it's going well.  Of course, that does not mean we don't have hard moments, or hard days, or even hard weeks.  Sometimes one, or all of us, is grumpy or defiant or tired.  We have a newborn who doesn't like to be put down.  But we keep on keeping on because we believe this is the right choice for our family at this time, and there are moments when it all comes together and makes every hard moment and sacrifice worth the effort.