A Peek Into Our School Day

As we come to the end of the Virtual Curriculum Fair, I thought it would be fun to share what a school day looks like for us.  I love looking into other homeschoolers days so I hope you will enjoy ours!


Pictures were taken through out the week with a few older ones of the games.

8:30 - School begins with prayer and MFW Bible time. 

Here is our weekly bible verse - printable available at Mama Jenn.

8:45 - We go over our Classcial Conversations memory work usually by playing different games.

9:15 - We also go over whatever country/continent we are studying in geography and play MFW Geography game sometimes.

9:30 - History on Monday and Friday, Science on Wednesday and Thursday.

10:00 - We move on to independent work.  I work with Sarah first on Math, reading, grammar, and writing.  The boys have their checklists and follow those until I finish with Sarah.  I will then give her some independent work to do and work with them on anything they need help on.  My ultimate goal is for the kids do complete their work independently.


12:15 or so - lunch prep, eating, and clean up

1:15 or so- read aloud time - currently we are still reading Johnny Tremain.  We are s-l-o-w readers!


2:00 - finish any school work left undone including piano practice and wii fit!

Our day is typically done by 2:00 and then we do our afternoon chores.  Of course, you know that is a great day, right?  Not all days go so smoothly but we keep pressing on!

Our History

This week's topic:  Exploring Our World: Social Studies and more Science. This theme can include history, geography, world cultures, worldview, biology, botany, geology, etc., etc., etc.

I'm sharing our history choice. It has changed just this year.  I am a huge fan of The Mystery of History but this year I decided that I wanted to give My Father's World a try.  The verdict is...WE LOVE IT. 

We are using Exploring Countries & Cultures. Things we love...

• I love that it is a complete curriculum
• I love that we can all use it together - 3rd, 5th, and 8th grade
• I love that it is available through high school.
• I love that it is all planned out for me - every day- every week.  I never thought I'd enjoy a boxed curriculum again but this one works for me.  I can tweak what I need to and pick and choose.  I do not do everything.
• I love the fact that a shopping list is there in my planning book - just waiting for me every week and  at the beginning of a new country.
• I love the fact that the books used have a Biblical Worldview.
• I love that the kids love it too.
• I love that it is hands on and combines both Classical and Charlotte Mason methods of learning because we love both! 

Here are some pictures when we first received our goodies!

Be sure to stop by and see what other homeschools are using!

• Science and Worldview by Beth @ Ozark Ramblings
• Nature Study as Science by Christine @ Crunchy Country Catholic
• Virtual Curriculum Fair Week 3- Social Studies and more Science by Leah Courtney @ The Courtney Six Homeschool Family 
• Curriculum Fair–Exploring Our World by Angie @ Petra School
• Paths of Exploration by Jen @ Forever, For Always
• Learning Geography at Our House by Jessica @ Modest Mama
• Mapping Out Our Social Studies by Susan @ Homeschooling Hearts & Minds The Fascinating World Around Us by Cindy Horton @ Fenced in Family
• More Heart of Dakota Praises by Nicole @ Schooling in the Sun 
• Playful US Geography for First Grade by Pam @ Everyday Snapshots 
• Heart of Dakota-The Fine Details-Part 3 History by Lynn @ Ladybug Chronicles
• Exploring Our World Through History & Science by Brenda Emmett @ Garden of Learning
• Two History Must-haves by Letha @ justpitchingmytent
• Learning About The World Around Us by Laura O from AK
• Social Studies and Science - What do we do? by Joelle @ Homechooling for His Glory

Our Choices For Math

During the month of January, Susan at Homeschooling Hearts & Minds is hosting a virtual curriculum fair.  


Week 2 - Discovering Patterns: Mathematics, Logic, and some Science. This theme can include anything to do with mathematics, mathematical thinking, numbers, arithmetic, symbolic logic, critical thinking, and math-y sciences (physics, chemistry, etc.).



Math We Love


Ahhh, Math - a subject that makes my heart sing.  I know that is a crazy statement for some but I LOVE math!  We have tested and tried many types of Math curriculum since I am a member of the crew.  Several of those have been computer programs.  I must say that on many occasions, I went into these programs already biased.  My love of math leads to a love of teaching math. If my children use a computer based program then in my mind - my teaching of something I love would end!  But...


I gave in with my oldest this year and purchased Teaching Textbooks.  The ease of the grading was what finally did me in.  Teaching math - I love, grading math - not so much.  Really, I still get to teach too because if he just can't get a problem, he still comes to me.  And he says he gets it better when I explain it :). 


For the youngest 2, we are using Saxon.  I love Saxon but for ease of our homeschool day and grading, we will be going with Teaching Textbooks for all 3 next year.


Check out these other math ideas...

• Math Lapbooks---Virtual Curriculum Fair Week 2 Angie Wright @ Petra School
• Virtual Curriculum Fair Week Two: Discover Patterns, Mathematics, Logic and Some Science by Leah @ The Courtney Six Homeschool 
• A Magnificent Math Manipulative by Letha Paulk @ justpitchingmytent
• Our Math Choices - Virtual Curriculum Fair by Tristan @ Our Busy Homeschool
• Math Literature?!?! by Christine @ Crunchy Country Catholic
• Learning Math at My House by Jessica @ Modest Mama
• Math Using Hamburger Paper by Debbie @ Debbie's Digest
• Math Facts or Fun? Why Not Both! by Beth @ Ozark Ramblings
• Heart of Dakota- The Fine Details- Part 2 Science by Lynn @ Ladybug Chronicles
• Learning Math Block by Block by Laura O in AK @ Day by Day in Our World
• Plugging Along with Math by Cindy Horton @ Fenced in Family
• What's Working and What's Not: Math Edition by Leann @ Montessori Tidbits
• Math Anyone? by Cindy @ For One Another
• Ahh, Math. by Nicole @ Schooling in the Sun
• Flying Without a Parachute: Math with no Curriculum by Pam @ Everyday Snapshots
• Math in Our Homeschool by Christine T @ Our Homeschool Reviews
• Math, Math, and More Math by Dawn Chandler @ tractors & tire swings
• Thinking Mathematically- How I Choose Math Curriculum by Kristen @ Sunrise to Sunset
• Discovering Patterns: Math, Logic, and Some Science by Christa Darr @ Fairfield Corner Academy
• The Science of Math by Brenda Emmett @ Garden of Learning
• "Mom, did we do math today?" by Chrissy at Learning is an Adventure
• Math, Math, and More Math by Joelle @ Homeschooling for His Glory

Language Arts Curriculum That Works For Us

During the month of January, Susan at Homeschooling Hearts & Minds is hosting a virtual curriculum fair.  Basically, several homeschools have volunteered to show and discuss what is working for them.  I have decided to join up and show some of the curriculum we love and what is working for us.

Grammar
Our favorite homeschool curriculum that we love in grammar is Classical Conversations Foundations & Essentials programs.

In Foundations, you memorize English Grammar facts for 24 weeks for three different cycles. Most facts are memorized to catchy tunes and it amazes me how the kids can recall facts learned last year in week 1 without any review! Although, I have recently come up with a memory work binder to begin more review.  Currently, we are in Cycle 3 - week 12. Each year is a different cycle so next year we start over with Cycle 1.

Here is a sample video of Cycle 3 - Week 1 English Grammar memory work.  It is so simple but it really works!

The Essentials program is where you apply the facts that you've memorized by diagramming sentences and seeing how the facts you've memorized actually apply in a sentence and that leads to writing.  

Typically, the Essentials program doesn't begin until 4th grade so for grades 3rd and under we love First Language Lessons.  This program falls pretty much in line with what is taught in Classical Conversations. The definitions of terms may be a little different but overall, the skill is the same.

We have used Abeka, Primary Language Lessons, and Intermediate Language Lessons and none of those really worked well for our family.

Spelling
We have also tried different spelling curriculum including Abeka, All About Spelling, and Spelling Power without success.  So, we just go over spelling in writing assignments as they come up and learn to spell our new vocabulary words in our IEW writing course (see below).

Reading
Our all time favorite reading curriculum is definitely Sonlight! The kids love their books and I love the questions in the Instructor's Guide (IG).  I also love the schedule that is laid out for me in the IG.  To save in cost, I try to buy used and combine the levels.  For instance, this year in Classical Conversations we are studying American History.  So, I chose Level D readers - Introduction to American History for both Stephen (5th) and Sarah (3rd).  Stephen follows the advanced reading schedule and Sarah follows the regular reading schedule included in the IG.  Many of the books are the same - it just has Stephen reading them at a faster pace than Sarah.

Latin
I must tell you that our favorite curriculum for Latin would be the Latin for Children series.  We have tried just about all the Latin curriculum choices there are and this is still our favorite go to along with the memory work that we learn in Foundations during Classical Conversations as well.

Writing
Our favorite here would definitely be Intitute of Excellence in Writing (IEW).  Both of my boys struggle with writing and IEW has broken writing down step by step so it is not so intimidating for them.  You can read my review here for more information.  

There are so many great choices out there but these are our favorites!  As you can tell, we are very eclectic in our curriculum choices.

Be sure to check out what other homeschoolers choices are for Language Arts by clicking the links below.

• Reading on Time by Cindy Horton @ Fenced in Family
• Playing with Words: the Language Arts by Christa Darr @ Fairfield Corner Academy
• Reading and Beyond: Language Arts in Our Homeschool by Laura O in AK @ Day by Day in Our World
• Learning Language at Our House by Jessica @ Modest Mama
• Virtual Curriculum Fair: Language Arts by Christine T. @ Our Homeschool Reviews
• The Learning of Language by Dawn @ tractors & tire swings
• Reading and Spelling: Modifying the Magic by Pam @ Pam and Everyday Snapshots
• An In Depth Look at All About Spelling by Missouri Mama @ Ozark Ramblings
• Virtual Curriculum Fair: Let's Talk About Words by Debra @ Footprints in the Butter
• Why We Love Classical Conversations Essentials (and how I know that is not a complete sentence!) by Nicole @ Schooling in the Sun
• Virtual Curriculum Fair---Playing with Words: the Language Arts by Angie @ Petra School
• Whole Language vs. Phonics by Christine @ Crunchy Country Catholic
• It's All About the Art of Language by Brenda Emmett @ Garden of Learning
• Watching Movies for Language Arts Class by Debbie @ Debbie's Digest
• Only 5 Spelling Tests a Year! (Can we do that?) by LP @ justpitchingmytent
• Playing with Words by Chrissy @ Learning is an Adventure
• Playing with Words, the Language Arts by Cindy @ For One Another
• Language Art at Our House by Joelle @ Homeschooling for His Glory
• Virtual Curriculum Fair Week One Playing with Words: the Language Arts by Leah Courtney @ The Courtney Six Homeschool Blog