A Closer Look

Since this topic has been so warmly received by "ya'll", I thought I would try to give a little closer look at the school day as it stands for us right now. As I explained in the first entry on this blog, we have made the transition to the classical method smack dab in the middle of the school year. So part of my time on hiatus from blogging was spent in figuring out exactly how I was going to make that change, and how to structure the academic part of the day. The advice that is almost ALWAYS given to new home-schoolers who are pulling their children out of conventional classrooms, is to take some time and de-compress from the routine that your children are used to. Give them a chance to relax a little bit and focus on some of the things your family is most looking forward to in making this big change. Then ease into your home-schooling schedule. I tend to agree with this advice. Although Lauren was the only one of ours that was ever enrolled in conventional school, I still found this advice useful. It also proved relevant as we made a change in our learning style, as well. I am looking forward very much to finishing out this year and having a fresh start using all classical curriculums. I read the Well-Trained Mind suggestions for scheduling very carefully and I put together a very simple plan for our children to complete this school year. Next year will look a little different, but this is what I'm endeavoring to follow for this year. And, as a sidenote, I am also seriously considering moving to year-round schooling schedule. I have read many different ways to do this that look appealing. Like four weeks on, 1 week off, etc. At any rate, the beauty of homeschooling is that when it's time for a break, it's TIME FOR A BREAK! And since you're the boss, you can make that happen. Quite Lovely.


So for anyone interested, here is our plan for the remainder of this school year:

Lauren
Language Arts: Spelling Words review 15 min per day. Test weekly. Spend 30 minutes reading (which can include reading in other subject matter, such as history), and making notebook narration pages. Formal Grammar study 20 min per day; 10 minutes per day reviewing memory work such as Scripture, Poetry, Preamble, etc. Spend 30 minutes several days per week in fun reading, such as library books, American girl series, etc.

Writing: Work on writing out narrations of Reading material; Write letters to friends/relatives at least twice per month; write from dictation and/or copywork 3 days per week.

Mathematics: Mastering concepts, such as times tables, etc. for 30 minutes per day. Continue to improve in Speed Drills and workbook sheets from the Abeka curriculum. (I am looking into a program from Rod and Staff publishers for next year.)

History: Study Medieval -Early Rennaissance era (400b.c.-1600 a.d.) Story of the World, volume two. Listen to History books, read aloud by Mommy; read some historical biographies on her own form the library; keep a narration notebook for all material learned. We study History 3 days per week.

Science: Laid back approach this year. Mainly nature walks, and nature journal, weather permitting. Study animals from library books, and work in our Taking Care of my Body book. Horse-back riding lessons and involvement in horse shows will also serve some of this purpose! Science will be studied twice per week.

Latin: We work several days at a speed we are most comfortable with through the Prima Latina book. Review Latin vocabulary words. Usually 10-15 minutes daily.

Religion: We study other religions of the world through our history study. Our family focuses our time mainly on study of the TRUTH, which is Jesus. We will develop character traits to align with God's Word, the Bible. ( I am still looking for something like a Bible Curriculum for next year, though I am currently impressed with a series called Character Building for Families; we'll see!)

Music: continue with weekly piano lessons. Listen to classical music several days per week with the family; read Library books about great classical composers. ( I plan to do a study on classical composers with the children over the summer for fun!)

CAMERON

Language Arts: Continue to work with phonics and blended sounds 15-20 min/daily. Spend 30 minutes per day reading aloud and being read to, and making a narration notebook. Daily lessons from First Language Lessons by Jessie Wise. Also have 30 minutes several days per week for fun reading, like Magic Tree House books from the library.

Writing: Copy short sentences three days per week working up to 20 minutes daily. Work on simple letters to family/friends twice per month.

Math: Continue with learning new concepts 3o min daily, as well as working on Abeka worksheets and speed drills.

History: Study ancient times (5000 b.c.-a.d.400). Story of the World, volume one, read by Mommy 3 days per week. Make narration notebook pages. Read simple biographies and history books independently from the library.

Science: same plan as Lauren.

Latin: same.

Religion: same.

Music: same.

SOPHIE
Reading: Spend time every day listening to Mommy read aloud from all kinds of books. Continue with basic phonics, for fluent reading. Read simple age-appropriate books and readers. Do the First Language Lessons with Mommy and Cameron daily, participating in the enrichment activities as possible for her age.

Writing: Practice writing cursive letters every day, 1o minutes daily. Copy short sentences from a model as she becomes more comfortable.

Math: following the WTM suggestions, Sophie should be able to: Count from 1 to 100. Use manipulatives to understand what numbers and placements mean. Be able to write numbers 1 to 100. Practice skip counting by 2's, 5's, and 10's. Look for Math lessons in everyday life. She's well on her way in these things! Next year I will use a more structured curriculum for her. She just turned 5 last month~!

The other classes, such as Latin, Sophie also enjoys sitting in on, though I don't require from her what I do the older ones.

Music: she begins piano lessons very soon! And listens to classical music with the family weekly.

SO, there you see our current weekly schedule. This will be tweaked over time. But it is the basic recommend plan and it's working for us right now. Each child has their main notebook with a viewfinder front. I made copies of each of their "schooling plans" and put in their own notebook, so they know what their plan is.

Hope this was of use to someone!