New path

I have been dabbling in other curricula for some time now. I heartily love MFW, but I do believe that we are outgrowing it. It isn't filling us up as it once was and our studies are feeling a bit tedious. Our days have lost their sparkle a little. Sugar is learning SO much, without question, but the joy of the learning is waning. I am also not settled on ADV, the second grade year with MFW, for reasons that swirl in my head and in turn light that fire in me to explore our options. It is bittersweet. MFW has served us so well, and the company and its authors are truly Godly people who provide a gift through this curriculum.  

I have spent hours upon hours into the wee hours of nearly every night dissecting curricula, talking on message boards, ordering catalogs, reviewing samples, reading reviews, calculating costs, making spreadsheets of the next zillion years until Bugsy is through high school, and the list goes on.

Ultimately, Kevin challenged me to prioritize what I want in our homeschool education today and in years to come. This is easy ... it's the applying this to the best curriculum that makes my priorities fuzzy.

1) Christ-centered curriculum: I mean more than Bible stories and Bible study. I mean Jesus at the center of IT ALL. Not a subject. Not music here and there, memory verses, Bible history. I mean Christ present in every part of our day, woven into the very fabric of each day's lessons, from Language Arts, to Math, to History, to Science, to playtime, to lunch, to community missions, to church, to bedtime prayers. 

2) Charlotte Mason inspired living education.

"The question is not, --how much does the youth know? when he has finished his education -- but how much does he care? In fact, how large is the room in which he finds his feet set? and, therefore, how full is the life he has before him?" --Charlotte Mason. 

"Benevolence makes us able, not only to bear with the people who annoy us and irritate us, but to give them sincere and hearty liking. Perhaps there is nobody who we should not be able to love if we really knew him, because all persons are born with beautiful qualities of mind and heart; and though the beauty of a person’s nature may be like a gem buried under a dust-heap, it is always possible to remove the dust and recover the gem." --Charlotte Mason 

Enough said.

3) Chronological, Biblical Worldview of history.

I asked all the questions, read all that I could, mulled it over incessantly, and prayed, prayed, prayed. Then, I set it at his feet. My path was made straight.

Our town wharf ... a beautiful, reflective path.

We've chosen to embark on a fresh journey in second grade with Heart of Dakota. My intent is to remain with HOD at least through third grade with Sugar, at which point Sparkler and St Jude will be in second grade and Bugsy will be ready for "preschool", ala CM.

I am still torn on whether to fold the kids into one year of study at that point ... combining them with the same history but modifying it to their appropriate levels (MFW) or teaching separate guides that are specific to each child (HOD ... I really like the idea of meeting each child where they are at when they are there ... yet we hope to adopt again so we'll see where we are led with 5 children being schooled at home). 

For now, I have utter peace (and I'm over-the-moon excited) over our decision to switch to Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory (HOD) for Sugar. 

Sparkler and St Jude will do MFW Kindergarten with the Literature pack ... I wholeheartedly believe that MFWK is an absolutely amazing program in every.single.way, and the new lit pack will ease my burden of scouring our dismal library for the best living books and storybooks to enrich each lesson, and we'll continue to grow our home library will classic children's literature. They will continue in first grade, at the very least, with MFW1 for phonics (including the Bible reader and notebooking), but we may endeavor to move to Little Hearts for His Glory (LHFHG) with HOD with the MFW phonics. 

Bugsy and I will have the joy of Before Five In A Row as well as lots of hands-on art and carefree fun. Come his year of preschool prior to Kinder, I will teach him with Little Hands to Heaven (HOD) in preparation for either MFWK or LHFHG. 

More to come ... I'm grateful for all of the encouragement and candid conversation from my cyber MFW and HOD friends. These communities are remarkable.

Because of Him.

Preschool

Ah, preschool is a delicate subject for me. I am deeply an advocate for The Gift of Time: not starting formal academics until at least six years old. GASP. I know.

With Sugar, her preschool years were laden with playtime in- and out-of-doors, art, cutting, pasting, play doh, story books, laughter, silliness, naps, Sesame Street, Mr Rogers, coloring, painting, picking flowers, swinging at the park, on an on.

Sparkler needs more. sigh. Doesn't she know how I feel about Charlotte Mason? So, this year has been a bit of trial-and-error in finding that balance between childhood and "preschool".

She sits in with Sugar on our daily Bible stories and she sometimes feels stirred to create her own notebook page from that day's lesson. Sometimes not. She voraciously listens to our read aloud selections. She immerses herself in all things art. She is a wonder at hidden pictures and word searches (yet she is dsygraphic, or maybe because she is dysgraphic).

She is pure delight.

She desperately wants to write like her sissie, but she writes in mirror image so she becomes disheartened. Hurts my heart, too.

I went out on a limb and purchased the Rod & Staff 4/5 preschool program for all of $35 with shipping. I figured if it flopped or if I she felt boxed in, I would not lose sleep over shelving it, and my curriculum budget was barely tapped into. Happy daddy.

Oh, how I love R&S. Did I say that out loud? Is CM listening? eek. Truly, it is precious inasmuch as a curriculum can be sweet. This child loves "to do school". Worksheets make her somehow feel school-y. It's her fabric, so my job is to set aside my hopes and expectations and let her flourish.

Rod & Staff 4/5 Preschool

Adventures with Books

Bible Pictures to Color and Bible Stories to Read

Counting with Numbers

Do It Carefully

Everywhere We Go

Finding the Answers

Going On Eagerly

Hearing and Helping

Inside and Outside

Of course, this is tempered with plenty of the above-mentioned fun of Sugar's completely non-schoolish preschool days and lots and lots of stories. Our MFW Preschool 4/5 package is also the near-perfect program that rounds out her days, and includes Bugsy, too.

Because of Him.

2010-2011 First Grade Curriculum

I don't (yet) have a fancy schmancy blog ... so I don't have neat little tabbies at the top of the page to add elements like this one ... our curriculum. The heart of our home school (well, aside from Jesus) is our curriculum: the materials that bring our day-to-day alive.

So, for now, here is our curriculum in this nifty list. On the right side bar you can click on the pictures of our curriculum and you will be taken to the respective websites. I'm learning.

This is what our year has developed into over the past six or seventh months ... we started with some other materials here and there ... added things, dropped things, tweaked things ... and here we are:

My Father's World First Grade

Bible & Social Studies

Weekly Proverbs, Daily Bible Stories, Timelining, Hand-On Activities 

Phonics (Days 1-124):

Reading Workbook

Bible Reader

Bible Notebook

(Days 125-175):
Rod & Staff Phonics Units 2-5

Language Arts

First Language Lessons Vol 1 (oral)

Math:

Pattern Animals

Complete Book of Math

Miquon Orange

Singapore 1A & 1B

living books--book basket

Science:

Usborne: Things Outdoors, Science with Water, Science with Plants

living books--book basket

Pagoo: read aloud & narrate (crabitat for Sam & Charlie, our resident hermit crabs)

science notebooks

Art

Draw Write Now, Book 1 & Book 6

Deep Space Sparkle

Music

Story of the Orchestra

Peter & the Wolf

Carnival of the Animals

Dover Musical Instrments coloring book

Can You Hear It?

Beethoven Lives Upstairs

Health

Rod & Staff Health Grade 2

Library

weekly Sunday visits following church

Storytime Read Alouds

The House at Pooh Corner

Charlotte's Web
Paddington Bear

Little House in the Big Woods
Happy Times in Noisy Village

The Boxcar Children
Dr Dolittle

The Doll People
The Borrowers
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
Three Tales of My Father's Dragon

Christie's Old Organ

The Blue Fairy Book
Just So Stories

Because of Him.

Sickies ... still

I think this is the worst winter cold/flu season ever.in.my.life.

This entire week was spent passing the flu from one poor child to the next. It was lovely. At least our school district was out for a spring break (despite the zillions of snow days), so we didn't have to miss Mission Shop and Wednesday services. 

Prayerfully, we are all on the mend just before our cross-country jaunt to visit sunny California (please, oh please, be sunny). 

We did muster lots of storytime and an indoor picnic for good measure! We are all eager beavers for Monday!

Because of Him.

Rock Candy ... one week later

We think it should be ready in another week ... yum.

Because of Him.

Timelining

Part of the blessing of homeschooling comes in discovering, first hand, the loves of our children. Simple things. Sugar, for instance, has taken a true interest in timelining. A girl after my own heart. If I could get a do-over for college, I'd be a History major and English minor ... eh, shoulda, woulda, coulda.

The timelining in MFW1 is spot on, in my humble opinion. Well done, succinct, thoughtful, purposeful, and intentional. The learning-to-read aspect is intrinsically tied to her Bible reader, which is tied to her Bible notebook, which is tied to her timeline. Lovely.

We have a long, low wall that runs through our entry, which opens at the top to our kitchen. It is light and bright in that part of the house so we find this the perfect spot for our timeline. What to do when/if we move? 

I used a long piece of black ribbon (which sags over time, so I have to be diligent about keeping it taught, which you can see I need to do today) and voila ... living history.

One end begins with creation and moves along until our family pictures. Christ's birth anchors us at the center. 

This timeline has brought to life the stories we read from the Bible. The pieces Sugar colors for the wall keep her mind focused while I read from the Story Bible. 

Thus far, she has an enviable grasp on Creation, Adam & Eve, Cain & Abel, Noah, Tower of Babel, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, The 12 Tribes of Israel, Joseph, Pyramids, Moses, and Manna (going up today). The brown line represents Israel's time in Egypt. She can accurately name Abraham's descendants and the 12 tribes of Israel. She knows when and why Israel was in Egypt and why they fled. It makes my heart sing to see her so passionate about Bible history and pivotal Bible figures.

Because of Him.

Good Times

I forgot to write about good times with daddy last weekend (while I was on my death bed with the flu). Daddy experimented with making good ol' fashioned rock candy with the kids. They had a blast and the rock candy is growing and growing. I love that daddy takes over science for me weekly ...

Because of Him.