We are moving along at a great pace in our Math U See curriculum and I am very pleased with it. Evan is mastering addition and subtraction and I feel he is really retaining those faces mentally. I love this approach. We are working with Lane on counting to 30 and number recognition. Id love for him to be able to write his numbers 1-10 by the end of this year. He is really picking up math well and I may begin him in Math U See Primer soon. Jace is learning to count to 5 and I think soon he will be able to count to 1-10 without skipping numbers. He is a little sponge that soaks up the learning that he hears by just being in the same room as his big brothers while school is going on!
After adding a spelling curriculum a few months in to the school year, then realizing it wasnt a good fit we have found a different curriculum that is working great and Evan loves. We are using Spelling Power. Its a daily list where he doesnt have to keep practicing on words he already knows. I started him at the beginning of the book so I could really know what he had learned and where he needed to be. So far he is proving to be a natural speller and is moving along at a great pace in this book.
Lane is working on vowels sounds and is doing great. We just started using Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading and we are going to take it as slow as needed. He is learning how to write several letters in the alphabet and I am actually amazed at how well his handwriting is. He uses Get Ready for the Code book A to practice his letter writing. We are also going at a slow pace with this, no rush. Mr. Jace loves books and for now, thats his Language Arts program!
In science we have learned about our major bones in our body and are beginning to study about our organs and how they function. Id love to also teach them more about nutrition and food groups by year end. We have just completed a study on the 5 animal classifications and learned how to identify Mammals, Reptiles, Birds, Fish and Amphibians. In the spring we plan to have some caterpillars and tadpoles in our classroom so we can watch and study their lifecycle. Im looking forward to this! Also this spring I hope to study more about plants and get some handons experience in our garden. We did a cool leaf study this fall and they learned about photosynthesis and I hope the spring study will reinforce this. We have learned about the moon and its phases and talked some about the solar system. Id love to have some summer nights gazing at the stars and constellations more and learning the planets and their order.
History has been light and we have used the holidays to do some unit studies throughout the year. Evan has a good foundation on Columbus, the Pilgrims and the Indians, Squanto, The British and Patriots, The Constitution, and early America History events. Id love from him to really understand the timeline better for American History. We plan to study the presidents this month and I hope to give him understanding on the branches of government and their roles. We watch Liberty Kids dvd, use History for Little Pilgrims, as well as read from living books to study our history thus far. Next year I need to find a chronological history curriculum and Im trying to decide if I want to begin with World History or do American History. Ill save this decision for later.
Evan is taking piano and a music appreciation class and Lane gets his music from the wonderful program at Centenary. I need to play more songs for the boys while we are here at home playing so Jace can be exposed to it more.
They all love to draw!! We go through lots and lots of paper because I always have it available. They draw daily. I love this. They are so creative and I think this is important. I bought a drawing book for Evan to learn how to draw things step by step and he is enjoying that. I hope to purchase some table easels for the boys and let them create more with paint and pastels.
After evaluating what we have done and where we would like to be by year end I feel encouraged about what we are learning in our homeschool. I love actually knowing where they are all at and how their minds work. Im exited to see where the remainder of the school year takes us and what more we will all learn!
