Now that we have 33 days left of our school year (not a little cheering going on here!), I thought I would make note of what we have been using this year and how we have liked it, so, here goes:
Language Arts:
Spelling/Phonics:
All About SpellingWe switched to this program this year from
Spell to Write and Read (which I plan on using again when we finish up this program). My 3rd grader has gone through levels 1-4,and my 2nd grader levels 1-3. Both are doing well with this program. I especially like the systematic approach to spelling rules and the built-in review system. I have noticed both of them pausing when writing to think through the correct spelling of a word, which is not something I really noticed them doing before.
On Thursdays we have our homeschool co-op, so we have "light" school at home. We have a spelling bee every week, where I call out the words and they have to spell them correctly. The motivator is the skittle or chocolate chip that I toss at them each time they get a word correct. (I totally borrowed this idea from
Pioneer Woman!). My 4 year old has learned all of his letters and phonogram sounds this way, too!
At the beginning of each month, I give the kids a diagnostic spelling test from my Spell to Write and Read book just to gauge their progress.
Grammar:
First Language LessonsI am not always greatly consistent with this one, but I like the oral nature of the program, and, with the spoken repetition, the kids have learned a lot of grammar. I think we'll continue with it next year.
Writing:
Steps to Writing Success, level 2
This program was recommended to me by a 2nd/3rd grade teacher friend who uses this with her class. It has been very helpful to me in teaching me how to model the writing process for my kids. I would say that writing is our weakest area, not because my kids aren't creative in composing stories, but because it is like pulling teeth to get the to take the time to write them out and finish them. This is going to be my big push next year!
Math:
We are using
Singapore Math again this year. We won't really be finished with math in 33 days, however. I think we'll probably continue all summer, which won't actually be all that bad, since it'll keep everything fresh in their minds. The 2nd grade book is the longest we have had yet, and my 2nd grader is still in the first book! We only do this math 4 days a week, though, since we take off on co-op days, so that is a big factor in how long it is taking us to complete it.
This year, we added Singapore's Extra Practice and Challenging Word Problems books for some additional practice. I assign 1-2 pages in each per day for the kids to work on independently, and then we go over and correct it together.
On Thursdays, the kids use Singapore's Math Sprints books to "race" against themselves in timed quizzes. They actually look forward to Thursdays and beg to do Sprints on other days, so I think this one was a winner!
History:
We are finishing up book 2 of
The Story of the World and still enjoying it. We read a section or two each day and use the discussion questions in the Activity Guide. I usually have the kids narrate back to me what we read, and lately I have been writing it down for them so they can include more details (now we just need to work on summarizing instead!). At the end of each chapter, we do map work together from the Activity Guide (I really like this feature!), and sometimes we also read additional books or do additional activities related to the material.
On Thursdays, in stead of reading, we put everything we have read about in the past week into our Books of Time, which are basically timeline books. I try to include anything we have read about, whether in history or science, art or music, Bible or biography, so our books are filling up in places. It has been extremely helpful for me to visualize how different events interacted in history, and it has been neat to see the kids get excited when we go to put something in and they see that something else happened around the same time.
Science:
We finished up
Apologia's Botany course at Christmas and began their Zoology I in February. We also began
Noeo's Chemistry I at the same time. I try to alternate between the two, and the kids seem to be enjoying both. Both use lots of narration, in addition to hands-on activities and experiments.
We also do lots of nature walks, especially in the spring, when we have a "tree walk" of several trees in the neighborhood that we follow each spring from bud to blossom.
Reading:
The kids are both pretty good independent readers now, but I am trying to be better about having them read aloud so I can gauge their progress. We have done a lot of reading from the
Christian Liberty Nature Readers. I like them because they use an easy almost conversational tone and have a glossary in the back where the kids can learn to look up terms. The kids enjoy learning about insects and spiders and other creatures while they read to me.
We have also been reading through Proverbs together, with each of us taking a verse until we finish a chapter. I'm thinking of moving on to some "sword drills" now to get them more familiar with their Bibles.
To facilitate with memorization, we have been reading and then memorizing several Psalms in the past two months. We have worked on Psalm 100 and 23 and are now beginning Psalm 139. My 4-year-old likes to come in for these, too.
PE:
The kids played soccer in the fall and have just began again for spring. We took a break in the winter, but they are requesting basketball next year. I have also begun them on the
Couch to 5K running program to get them running more and to possibly prep them for a race in the summer or fall. We run while I push my 2-year-old in the stroller and my 4-year-old rides his bike.
Music:
The kids began piano lessons last summer and are enjoying them. We also enjoy listening to the
Classical Kids CDs to learn some biographical information for different composers.
Art:
We do art here and there, though summers have turned out to be the best time for us to do it more consistently.
We have enjoyed lots of various other things as they arise, like field trips, kids' interests, missionary biographies, etc...so I am sure I am leaving a lot out. :)
