We began our third (!!!) year of homeschooling on August 2nd. This year’s start was a little unusual because we had not yet taken our beach trip. I knew we would have two weeks and four days of school, followed by a week and a half break. That is kind of awkward! However, I very much wanted to have some days logged to give us the space we needed for real life interruptions later in the school year.
First, I used the pre-trip time to wrap up a few lingering items from the year before. Ryan finished up a math book, and we still had four states (from our USA Road Trip curriculum) that were neglected in June. Done!
Nevada’s unofficial state food is “a buffet restaurant.” Our children had never been to a real buffet restaurant, and let’s just say it was a huge hit! They wholeheartedly endorse the concept.
Red Delicious apples dipped in caramel sauce (for Washington, of course)
Second, we reviewed. Everything.
Third, I got both boys rolling in their new spelling curriculum, All About Spelling. I have not taught this curriculum before, and it was great for all of us to get used to the flow of the lessons at a slower pace. When we returned from the beach, we could jump right back in with confidence. This also applied to Miles and grammar. It’s a new subject for him, and we had fun with a lot of pre-grammar activities that built enthusiasm for things to come.
Fourth, I postponed the subjects that rely heavily on continuity. Latin, literature, history, and science would have been hard to interrupt so early in the year.
After we were home from the beach and unpacked, our year “officially” began on Labor Day. We were all in with every subject, and homeschool/preschool classes started that week, too.
1st grade
PreK
Celebratory cupcake!
Our curriculum has largely stayed the same from last year. Miles has added spelling, grammar, and MAPS, and Ryan has added literature as a semi-formal subject. We are keeping it fun as we both read through the same book separately and then discuss it together. I’ll use the books we read as a springboard for introducing literary techniques and character analysis as well as assessing his reading comprehension (which is, honestly, my primary goal since reading has been a struggle in the past). Our first book is The Cricket in Times Square.
For science this year, I was eager for a change from broad overviews to more in-depth study. We’ll do four unit studies – aquatic habitats for fall, bees in the late spring, and the others are TBD. Ancient History is up this year, and I am using a curriculum I have been eager to use ever since we started homeschooling! The Story of the World Volume 1 will take us through this year, and we are already loving it. In fact, science and history have been so easy (for me) and fun (for all of us) that we have been doing both every day.
Our own aquatic habitat! We have 4 pond snails that appear to be rather happy, insofar as snails can express emotion. In terms of fish, we apparently exist for the sole purpose of providing hospice care as the fish transition from their lives at PetSmart to the Great Toilet Bowl in the Sky (9/10 and counting).
And the fun is just beginning!
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