It’s been sometime since I’ve done a weekly update. Life just got really busy and I was finding it difficult to get on and update with what our week was looking like. To catch you up to speed, we did take two weeks in December off which was amazing. Normally we don’t do that, but this mamma needed the time. However, that doesn’t mean that the month of December wasn’t an eventful one.
Now fast forward to this week. This has been our first official week back in the New Year and surprisingly it has really well. Over the two week school break, I took the time to catch up Davis’ school planner as well as my planner. Also during that time I got all the work laid out and basically ready to grab every day. This has been life-changing for sure. This week we actually managed to stay on course and without any real tears, which is rare when we’ve had time off school. So this is telling me that the boys needed that break as well.
We did a switch on his History in December and he went from dreading history to loving it. We’re currently using Masterbooks The Fight For Freedom and it’s been fantastic. Along with his history, we’ve been adding books that go along with what we’re learning as well as adding a short film segment on Fridays.
The books we’ve added this week are:
• For You They Signed: This book is actually at high school curriculum through Masterbooks,but it’s come in great to learn about individual people. This week, we focused on Samuel Adams.
• What Was The Boston Tea Party: We love these series and this one was fantastic when it came to breaking down the events of the Boston tea Party.
• Famous Figures of the American Revolution
So far with using Amazon Prime, we’ve enjoyed:
• American Guns: A History of US Firearms (episode 1: The Kentucky Long Rifle and the Revolutionary War
• The American Revolution
I’ve also changed his Science around just a tad. While he loves plants and flowers, the Apologia Botany was tough and I was losing him a lot. With that being said, I’ve also added the Christian Liberty Nature Reader Level 4. He’s currently learning about birds, which is perfect. He has always been an avid bird watcher, and now is learning even more about his little feathered friends.
We’ve added additional books to go along with this and also watched a few educational films on Amazon Prime. Those are:
Birds of the Backyard: Winter in to Spring
He’s always had a hard time with math. I really don’t feel that struggle would be the right word to use. He’s simply not very confident when it comes to math, which I’ve mentioned before. We’re still doing flash cards almost daily and I’m currently looking around for a few fun math games.
I thought for sure that Teaching Textbooks would be a wonderful math for him, however he’s one that really thrives with the one-on-one. He started making 50’s and 60’s on his math while doing it on the computer. That’s when I decided to set down with the workbook and teach him myself. We do each problem together and guess what? He’s now maybe only missing one problem a lesson if that. With that being said, I may need to rethink his math. Some people just aren’t online learners and I totally get that. I’m not sure I would do well when it came to online classes. I’m the type of person that prefers having the hard copy in front of me.
What about Luke?
Well as you all know, Luke is in the first grade, and we’ve made a few changes since our last check-in. I’ll be doing an additional post to update everyone on what our curriculum is looking like.
This week though, Luke started 2nd grade math. He flew through the 1st grade math, and so far is loving our 2nd grade math choice. I can’t blame him though. It’s brightly colored and very inviting.
In his history, he’s been learning about America’s symbols and has really enjoyed it. We’ve added additional reading to go along with it in form of picture books, as well as watching on Amazon Prime. This one has been perfect. He is loving every minute of the short segments and has asked to watch more than one a day.
Books we’ve added are:
• The Liberty Bell
• The Bald Eagle
• The Pledge of Allegiance
Amazon Prime we’re watching:
Symbols of America: Season 1
Science we did a little switch up from the planets to insects. While he loves learning the planets, he was itching to explore other areas. With that being said, we started using the Christian Liberty Nature Reader and it’s been amazing. I pull out additional books as we go along for even more learning and he’s been watching on Amazon Prime. He loves it, but I’ll be honest here and say that Davis and I think it’s pretty gross. I’m not a fan of spiders and I certainly don’t enjoy watching them catch their prey. However, it is real life and he’s enjoying it. It’s a pretty long film but broken up into segments. I’ve been watching about two segments a day with him as we work our way through the spiders. I’ll admit though, I’m pretty excited that we are soon going to be moving off the spiders.
What we’re watching on Amazon Prime:
Spiders: The Whole Story
Our spelling is going great, but I’ve been exploring additional options for next year. Not that he doesn’t enjoy his spelling, but I would like to add to it. When I asked him if he wanted a different spelling or to continue using the same brand, his reply was, “let’s just keep this kind, it’s really easy.” Ummm, wrong answer little guy. He is amazing when it comes to spelling for sure, so I would like to challenge him just a tad.
As far as his reading goes, it’s improving a lot. He’s now moved up to level 2, letter E readers in the Penguin Random House books. I adore these readers. Each level has four different letters and with each letter the books get just a little harder. Not only that, but some of the characters have multiple books which helps the child get to know the characters even better.
Head over and check out what other Homeschool families have been up to this week:
