Weekly Review-School’s Out For Summer!

Our school year is officially over.  Yay!!! The boys have done a great job.  We have worked our way through a considerable amount of curriculum.  Way to go boys, mommy is so proud. Christopher is thrilled that he has completed first grade.  We still have to take our standardized exam which will take place next week.  Can someone pinch me I can’t believe I have a second grader. 

History- We completed all 42 chapters from Story of the World Vol. 1 Ancient Times.  I use this series as a history spine and then find other books that enhance our learning.  This series is not considered living books but its very informative.  The first  few months of school were really a struggle with this curriculum.  I was feeling that I needed something that was pre-packaged and ready to go. STOW is open and go but to enhance the experience there is an activity booklet that gives suggestions for additional activities.  I wasn’t doing a great job of gathering materials prior to and was beginning to feel overwhelmed.  So I ordered another curriculum that focused on American History and was prepackaged.  Well I hated it.  Using the new curriculum made me realize how much I liked STOW.  In the end we resumed where we left off in STOW and I found a way to make it work for us.  I decided that we would not do activities for every chapter but would pick several and be done with that.

Reading-Completed our final unit. Christopher’s reading has improved so much.  He is a fluent reader and now he can answer deeper questions about the content he’s reading.  He doesn’t always want to but he can.  Our hard work this year with reading has paid off. 

LA-Completed our final unit. We covered a lot of ground in LA this year.  Next year my goal is to see him putting what we learned this year into practice and solidifying his understanding.  LA can be a complex subject, and it is crucial that he have a solid foundation.  I am looking forward to the days ahead. 

Preschool

Emmanuel identified same and different this week.  Although this is the end of our school year I will continue working with the preschoolers reading skills and building Joshua’s vocabulary. 

We continued work on his motor skills and he has improved immensely from the start of the year. He is actually using scissors and cutting out pictures!  I love it! Watching him grow from holding his hand awkwardly to cut and now seeing him move the paper as he cuts is truly amazing.  It’s one of the little things I get to witness up close and personal.  I can see his growth physically and academically. 

Writing is a challenge for him but he is a four year old boy.  I’m not expecting perfection at this stage. 

In the meantime he is writing in rice and other hand’s on activities that we help him improve his handwriting.  We will continue to practice a little bit every day.

Emmanuel’s reading curriculum arrived today, perfect timing. He excitedly, jumped up and down and said “Yay my new phonics is here!”  The look on his face when we opened the box and he got to see his new readers was priceless.  I don’t know if this will sit on the shelves until September when we start up again.  I have a feeling we will rip this open long before then.

Joshua will begin his journey of a mommy made Letter of the Week curriculum.

What Have I Learned?

This year has been great and I am eagerly awaiting our third year of homeschool.  My goals for next year are to include the preschoolers into our day more consistently.  During this off time I am going to plan each boys curriculum and activities for the entire year. (Wish me luck)

• I have learned so much this year.  Mainly to use my curriculum as a guide. I now know that a large portion of my hs journey will be modifying curriculum in a manner that is functional for our family and that’s okay.  Previously I thought if the curriculum did not work for me out of the box I would need to purchase something else.
• Have fun.  Its pertinent that I enjoy these fleeting moments and lighten up a little. Sometimes my OCD type A personality makes having fun in school a bit difficult.  But I am really going to work on that, so next school year I am relaxing a bit to allow more fun.  There will be more park days and games incorporated into our learning time.
• I need homeschool friends and I am so grateful for my hs bestie Trinda.  This woman is amazing.  She always gives me great advice when my head is spinning.  I talk to her almost daily.  When I found out her husband was interviewing and considering jobs that would possibly move them away I got a little nervous.  But, I've decided near or far it doesn’t matter I will still reach out.  Trinda if your reading this you’re stuck with me and my panicked phone calls.  Thanks for all your encouragement, I really appreciate it. (Now come home, you have been gone for a week and I did not want to bother you while you were enjoying your vacation.  I have lots to discuss with you.  LOL)
• Reach one teach one.  Am I an expert homeschooler? No way, not even close but my experience is valuable and I have to share what I know with others.  When another hs mom reaches out to me and asks me questions I gladly take the time and answer.  Hey, someone did it for me and now its my turn to pay it forward.

This concludes my Weekly Review for this school year.  Stay tuned to see what we are up to next.