Our Curriculum Reveal

Well, it's HERE! Pretty much everything we need. I am so thankful and grateful that we were able to get all the books that I really wanted. I am going to be going through all the teacher's guides in the coming weeks and formulating our plans.

We have also chosen the following theme for our school this year...

STEWARDS OF THE LAND

I am hoping that this is evident by the curricula that I have chosen and through our emphasis on geography, history, the earth, and science. I want my children to have an appreciation for who we are, what transpired to get to this point, and what we must do in the future to protect the earth and it's history.

Here is everything all together...

Language Arts

We will be continuing on with the Explode the Code series and the Handwriting Without Tears series which I have previously posted about. There are two components that I have not yet ordered but will be doing so in the coming weeks. They are the Grammar, Spelling, and Writing programs from JacKris Publishing and a classical language program called English from the Roots Up. We don't need either right to start to I wasn't as concerned to order them right away. 

Mathematics

For mathematics our eldest will be starting the Math U See Alpha. Math was always a difficult subject for me so I am determined to give my children the best grasp of mathematics as I can. I am not going to rush through it and try to hit certain levels at certain times. That is not my concern. Rushing the concepts and the idea of "being behind" are not part of my homeschool. We reach milestones at our own pace. Come January though our middle one will be starting the Primer version to coincide with him turning five. 

Bible Study

Our Bible Study is the Great Adventure Kids which I have also previously blogged about receiving. 

History

I chose The Story of the World. Out of all the history programs I looked at this one best fit what I was looking for. This year we are starting with the Ancient Times. In years coming up we will be able to also follow the Middle Ages and Modern Ages. It is done storybook style. I chose to order the main paperback as well as the test book, the activity book and the audio cds. They also refer to the two Usborne encyclopedias on the top so I ordered those as well. 

Geography

For Geography we are going to follow A Child's Geography of the World Volume 1. This particular volume focuses on the physical geography of the earth. It is all about Exploring His Earth. In future years we will work through volume 2 (The Holy Land) and volume 3 (The Classical World). 

Canadian Studies

Our Canadian studies curriculum is quite possibly my favourite out of everything I ordered. Okay, not possibly, it IS! Being a Canadian I am big on knowing about our country. I did order the text Canada, My Country last year but it just wasn't the same without all the supplemental books, so this year we bit the bullet and ordered the all inclusive package (which also means each boy gets their own activity text). The resources included in this package are truly magnificent. I am thrilled with the collections of books on the provinces and the regional animals. There is the atlas, map, and card game. The picture book and story of the flag and Terry Fox are awesome. The best part?? The books to read with the kids, we can cuddle up and learn all about our country by reading stories that ring true to those who live in the different areas of our beautiful Canada. Ah, I love it!

Science

I am quite excited about our science this year. We are going with Intro to Science from Elemental Science. I posted previously about a great customer experience with them. This curriculum relies a lot on experimentation as well as the importance of nature study. I ordered the Instructor guide as well as two student books. I also opted to order the suggested supplemental resources and I am very happy that I did. They are all books I am pleased to have as part of our "library". 

Environmental Awareness

Here is our environmental awareness. In my previous post I also spoke  about ordering this set of materials. We opted for a family membership. I truly feel that all families, homeschooling or not, should go through the action guide. We are at pivotal points with our environmental history colliding with the future of the earth, all children (and adults) need to learn the importance of caring for our planet. 

In addition to the curriculum I ordered we have these as supplemental resources:

and for literature sake we have a lot of this...

We have quite a collection. Chapter books, early readers (some Dick and Jane even), picture books, books from different series, books from different characters (hello Pigeon and Scaredy Squirrel). You can also see we have some Star Wars, Bible stories, and a collection of Christmas books. And I SWEAR this shelf was organized two days before. 

I am also looking at some extra activities for outside the home. I am thinking about getting the boys into dance (like Jazz/Tap style). I am leery of them going into any martial arts (they'll just use it on each other). We are hoping to get a family membership soon for a fantastic local health/gym facility so we can keep up our level of physical activity through the winter. We also already have a family membership to our local museum so on days when it gets really bad outside we will take solitude in the Planetarium, Science Centre, and travel through time in the museum's Main Gallery. 

Additionally I have to hide in shame while I say that I am a libraryphobe. My kids are loud and librarians intimidate me. However I am pledging to take the kids to library this year, get them their own cards. Instead of fearing that that will turn the whole place topsy turvy I am going with the attitude that they will learn an important skill...being quiet ;) . I'll call the library before hand and set up a time where the librarian can give us a bit of an orientation so we know where to go, where to look, and what programs they offer that will suit us. PLUS I am hoping to meet some other homeschooling families there, I'll keep my eyes peeled for mum's with multiple school aged kids there in the middle of the day. 

What's Mummy Learning This Year?

Last year I posted a bit about what I was going to do along with the kids. Sadly I didn't get as much done personally as I had hoped so I will keep trudging away with my own spiritual studies and advancing of my own knowledge.

I do have one educational trick up my sleeve though. It all depends on financing but if things work out I will be applying to do a distance education nutritionist certification program. I am very EXCITED and PUMPED about taking that direction in my own education. It isn't set in stone yet as tuition is pricy but if things keep going as they have I am confident I will be starting my own studies before the new year. Can't. Wait. 

This about wraps it up. If I could add anything else it would be some education on the body and health but I think they are getting a lot of that already just through living. They know what is healthy, they know what is not. We'll get there.

Oh, and school supplies. Yep, I have to make a school supplies list. So far fat pencils and crayons are big on the list and the boys both LOVE those those pens with the five different colours. And paper, reams and reams and reams....

Oh, and a lesson planner. Must find a lesson planner. It never ends does it? 

If you made it this far KUDOS. I'm a wordy gal. I know it is just August 1st but I am so happy to have so much of this already taken care of. If you are searching for homeschool curriculum or sending your youngins off to school in a few short weeks I wish you all a wonderful and blessed start to a new "school year".

Orders Are Arriving

Yippee!! We've had a few orders arrive for our curriculum the last few days. It's all so shiny and new and I really love what I have chosen so far.

At this point we have had one set of supplemental science books arrive (plus a few board books for the little missy), our Math U See order, our labels (Mabel you rock!), as well as our environmental awareness information.

I would like to take a moment to mention what I am speaking about when I mention environmental awareness. When I was a child/tween I guess, it was the early days of recycling and push for environmental awareness (or it seemed that way to my child mind). At that time there was a small organization called Kids For Saving Earth (KSE for short). It was started by a young boy who went to the hands of God at an early age, but his time on earth was spent well as he lived his passion for taking care of the earth. His young message resonated with me as it was coming from a child to a child. To this day I have always remember the little KSE book I had as a kid and because I loved it so much (I seriously went through two at least from flipping through them so much). So I wanted to see if they were still around. THEY WERE!! And they have kits for different groups, families, and schools. I bought for us the family membership which cost $15 and included a whole selection of materials (activity books, cds, sheet music for their song, and certificates/pledges). There are several types of memberships (the individual is even FREE). Check out the KSE site for more information and to order a membership package of your own!  

Everything else is shipped or otherwise soon to be in our hands. Elemental Science, a few other science books, plus our world history and geography (both texts and supplemental books). I have had some great experiences already from both Elemental Science and Christian Book.

Based on my experience with Elemental Science I would suggest if you are in Canada to place an order by phone to get a proper shipping rate. The shipping on the web site was pricy but the books for well priced so I bit the bullet anyways. I was highly impressed when a representative emailed me saying they'd like to SAVE ME MONEY on the shipping, and they arranged a lower shipping cost, as well as THREW IN A STUDENT BOOK FOR FREE!! Within minutes I had a $30 refund to my paypal! I would say that gets an A+++ in the customer service department.

I was even able to order our Canadian Studies curriculum from Northwoods Press yesterday. This is really the piece de resistance of our curriculum choices. The books selections included in the bundle are amazing and very much in line with books I would want in our library to begin with. Seeing as it's shipping from inside Canada (I think Ontario) then it shouldn't be too long of a wait.

I do have another cart waiting for checkout from Christian Book but it is more so books for me, a few things for my own spiritual development so I'll be waiting on that for a while before I can finish it.

I am guessing (hoping, praying, fingers and toes crossed) that a lot of our material arrives next week. Fun mail week COMING UP!!. The latest I should have the most of everything is early August (perhaps the 2nd, but it's not like I'm obsessing on tracking or anything). I can't wait to take pictures of it all to share with you. I am really happy that we chose the direction we did. While I hemmed and hawed over and over again purchasing the Sonlight curriculum I feel that what I have chosen will give us the depth and variance of knowledge that I am looking for.

If you are a homeschooler like I am have you ordered or chosen yet? Please share some of your selections! If you AREN'T a homeschooler do you order books online for yourself? Are you an amazon addict like me?

Curriculum On Order

I am so FREAKING excited. I went on a bit of a blitz the last few days and ordered pretty much everything we will need for homeschool right up until I need to order stuff for the little super hero to delve into kindy come January (specifically math and handwriting, everything else he will already be following along). The only thing I haven't ordered yet is our Canadian geo/hist program which I will be ordering within the week.

So as it stands I have nine orders due to arrive over the next few weeks. I am doing a happy dance in my chair right now. I love books and I love getting fun mail so it's going to ROCK!

Once things start arriving I will begin compiling a post on all of it but for now I have this on order:

Math U See Alpha from Math U See
Supplemental History Books from Rainbow Resource
Supplemental Science Books from Amazon.ca
Science and General Reading Books from Amazon.ca
Veggietales (including a piano book) from Chapters
Environmental Awareness Info from Kids for Saving the Earth
Science Curriculum for Elemental Science***Great story about them!
Story of the World I and A Child's Geography of the World (plus a few extras) from ChristianBook

Lastly, I ordered Mabels Labels. I admit a total impulse purchase. I used the labels I still had from them a few days ago and noticed they were both low and then recalled that Evelyn doesn't have her own. I'm not sure if anyone gets it but there is a certain irony to needing name/school supply labels as a homeschooler, like really?? But honestly we do use them. So I ordered some up for each kid plus I ordered a sticky label set for us to have as a family. Can't wait for them to arrive!

I am totally tickled to get everything arriving in time. I feel like I am on top of everything. Now I guess I should teach the stuff eh?? I guess that means I can start making our school supply list. I get just as jazzed about trips to staples as I do about ordering books online ;)

Great Adventure Kids: Our Bible Curriculum

I am so excited that we got our new Bible Curriculum today!! It looks FANTASTIC!! I am wowed at the size of the colouring books. The little prayers beads are so cute (they like wearing them actually as a bracelet). I think it is really what I am looking for at this stage. It really will be a Great Adventure going through the Bible this way. I shamefully say that I really don't know as much about the Bible as I really should so we are all going to be on this adventure together.

The same company also has a Great Adventure Bible study for adults as well so I am going to be taking a look at that for myself, depending on how this goes.

My only concern is that the timeline isn't as "teachery" as I thought it was going to be. It really isn't a guide. So I do really need to go through the materials to see how I actually will be going about teaching this. We have been putting in our LA time the last while so in a few days I hope to be prepared to delve into this curriculum.

Here are a few pictures of our new Great Adventure Kids

I ordered the one pack which contained a colouring book, the timeline, 1 prayer beads, one bookmark and then one card game set. I ordered an additional bookmark for Max and 2 more prayers beads for Max and Eve.

It really seems well though out and co-ordinated.

The colouring books looks really nice, the pictures are lovely. I had to hold back the boys from just going to town in them. They sometimes forget that most pages have directions, they like to just do it their way. WHERE on earth did they ever get that idea??

Just for size comparison that is a standard piece of paper in front of it. 

The colouring books are actually quite large. 

Well, a few curriculum pieces accumulated, a few more to go. We are getting there and I am feeling more at ease with how it is going. Next up I am hoping to get math and start chipping away at the Canadian social studies bundles. THOSE will feel like Christmas when they come :)

Assembling Our Curriculum (First Part of Series)

I love getting things in the mail. I love books. Getting books in the mail? TOTALLY AWESOME!! Judging by how my boys ran to the post truck yesterday was an indication that they take after their mother in this regard.

We were about to get in the van when the mail man came up so yes,

 I am that geeky and couldn't wait. We opened it all in the van. 

We were waiting for two packages. One contained some of our new homeschool books. The other contained our new VeggieTales movies. Both boxes contained fantastic resources that would be additions to our homeschool curriculum.

So yes it is that time. When all the homeschool bloggers start ordering, receiving, and talking about their latest finds. I am no exception. So I am going to share with you what we have received so far, what will be ordering shortly, and how our year will be shaping up.

I have been a relaxed homeschooler so far. I feel that exploration of self is important in these early years of learning and education. However now that my eldest is seven and entering grade two territory we will doing some fine tuning. We also have our four year old joining the school ranks. He is chomping at the bit to get his own books and work.

I am also a year round homeschooler. I don't feel that learning and education exist between the confines of September to June, Monday to Friday, 8 am -4 pm. Learning is a constant process that continues 365 days a year, 7 days a week, all waking hours. Children also continue to develop at differing rates so one child's behind is another's advanced.

Because of my relaxed nature I am sure my seven year old would be classified as behind however I know that there are many things where he is excelling. The current plan is to due fine tuning over the summer, expanding come the fall and then after Christmas level up. I try not to get caught up in the grade levels though so we will take each subject and each level and each student one day and one progression at a time.

Sooo, here is our plan for summer and into fall....

Language Arts
Handwriting Without Tears (My First School Book and My Printing Book)
Explode the Code (ABC, 123)
Soaring With Spelling, Soaring With Writing, Soaring with Grammar (all level one and ordering ASAP)
**We will work on all of these and progress as we finish each previous book.

Math
Math U See Alpha (ordering ASAP for seven year old, Beta come January)
Math U See Primer (for September start for the four year old)


Bible
Great Adventure Bible Kit (ordering ASAP)

Social Studies
Canada, My Country Bundle (ordering to start ASAP)
Usborne Internet Linked Children's Encyclopedia (ordering soon)
A Children's History of the World (ordering for September start)
A Children's Geography of the World (ordering for September start)

Science
Elemental Science Intro to Science plus all recommended books and experiment kit (ordering ASAP to start)

Home Economics
My plan here is to get the boys into the kitchen, doing basic recipes. We will also be tackling the soap and bath product making. I would also like to get the boys each doing some very basic knitting. If I can get them to each do a dish cloth in a year I'll be pretty darn happy.

Music/Art
We will do some basic music and art appreciation and history. I have some fun flashcards, we'll take some trips to the art gallery and maybe some symphony presentations. I would love to start teaching Mr. Seven on the piano and guitar very soon, we just need to decide which books will be best.


This is our basic plan. I am sure some things could be subject to change but I feel very confident with all these resources. The Language Arts and Math books will be appropriate levels for the boys' ages. Bible, Social Studies, and Science both boys will work from the same material but I will have different expectations for them (obviously).

Be prepared for me to post on our curriculum as it arrives and we unpack it. So far the books we have received I am very happy with. I am especially excited for our Social Studies and Science books. Heck, I am excited for all of it.

Down A Healthier Path

As I have continued down my weight loss path we have made a lot of food changes. We have become a much more active family. And in doing this we have also found a wealth of information that takes us further into the rabbit hole of healthy living.

It is really quite surprising how simple one can live healthy. Step number one is definitely what you put into your body, that is the foundation. Step number two is what you put ON your body. Step number three is what you expose yourself to around your body. Lastly, what you put into your mind.

All these elements in, on, around, are what greatly affect your overall health. I am talking full physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. These aspects work cohesively together. When one part is down the rest get down.

When it comes to the body though we are doing ourselves so wrong. As I took away the chemicalized and processed foods from our diet I started looking more and more into the chemicals in other things around us. That has led to yet another shift in thinking.

Our skin is the body's largest organ. And we put chemicals on it. Every day. We wash ourselves with chemicals, we clean our homes with chemicals, we wash our clothes with chemicals. It is baffling how much out there is just....I don't even want to think about it.

Then we use different products to compensate for other things our body is missing. Low fat diet? Dry hair? Get whatever new chemical is going to give you softer hair. I am being 100% sarcastic there by the way.

While I am in no way perfect with any of this I can trying very hard to seek out as much information as I can on more natural and DIY living. Luckily living in the time of the amazing internets there are thousands of like minded individuals who I can learn from.

A massive change for me was discovering the Village Green Network. It was like I stumbled upon an amazing collection of bloggers. For realz. That is exactly what it is. A group of bloggers that share recipes for all things natural and DIY living. I am on the road and they have the map.

So far I have learned the following things:

-Essential Oils are the bomb yo
-Baking Soda rules
-Vinegar rocks

Funny enough with those three things you can replace pretty much every cleaning chemical in your home. While essential oils do carry their own risks by their nature alone when used properly they can be used in AND on the body. I am still in the research phase but the other day I washed my floor with water, baking soda, and tea tree oil and WOW it was the best thing ever.

I am also in the phase of discovering the amazing properties of coconut oil. While I LOVE it in all things baking I haven't ventured with it too much into what it can do for the body with topical application but there are many, many suggestions on how to use it (deodorant? toothpaste?). You can make body and cleaning products literally good enough to eat.

On the docket for my first DIY projects are going to be some basic household cleaning products, getting some soap nuts for laundry, making our own bath bombs, plus a whole host of other ideas. Even the fact that I can knit (sort of) and sew (again, sort of) fits quite well here. Some of these are even going to be great homeschool projects. I'm a modern pioneer over here.


So if you are asking yourself what you can do to improve your health in these areas I say get rid of anything and everything synthetic. That means foods, cleaning agents, unnecessary medications, and anything else that is causing you more harm.

Heal your body and mind and home. These are things that are making me very happy.

Homeschool Fess Up

So it seems as though this past year has been a big derailment from what I envisioned. I hear on the homeschool grapevine that that happens a lot. Each year is a new year to learn about your children and yourself. Each year presents different challenges, different goals, different gains and losses.

One big thing I discovered about myself is...I HATE CURRICULUM PLANNING. While I love the idea and the practice of using "real books" it is the tying everything together that really really bogs me down. On a yearly overview I can plan it out, even on a monthly overview I can plan it out. But when it comes to the day to day I get so overwhelmed.

Spring is around the corner (I'll keep telling myself that) which means that homeschool convention time is nearing. That means that talk and planning of curriculum comes up. Sometimes I think homeschoolers spend as much time deliberating and debating as they do actually teaching the dang stuff. I know that is true in my case. I have read my guide books, I've done so much online research.

I feel like I sit between wanting to be the perfect planned daily homeschooling mother and wanting my children to learn an all encompassing and self guided approach as is unschooling. Rock meet hard place.

Truth be told we have been doing a lot of unschooling. I don't like to admit this because I fear the fall out from it. What will others think?? Am I failing my kids?? How are they possibly learning?? Those are some of the guilty thoughts that pop in my brain. But all I have to do is really observe them to see that they ARE learning. They are absorbing so much. Sitting back and allowing them to gravitate to their interests and learn various concepts seems both lazy and gratifying to me at the same time.

Nonetheless I don't feel 100% confident in unschooling so it is not a path I can take. Not to mention what *gasp* others will think. I care to much about what others think really. I have to work on that.

So where does that leave me? It leaves me waffling between curriculums. Where do we go from here? Thankfully I have never made a massive financial investment into resources (thank you internets) so I can shove any guilt there. And as a homeschooler I have the flexibility to shift gears whenever I think we need to.

Who says curriculum starts fresh and book spines cracked for the first time in September. I can rock and roll this thing anyway I want.

In going forward here are a few random thoughts:
-I can't stand the daily curriculum planning
-I know what I would like to approach subject wise
-I don't like printing. Free resources are great...until you are on your 10th ream of paper and millionth ink cartridge
-While my boys are rambunctious they do seem to enjoy sitting down and doing worksheets, go figure.
-I really need to separate my homeschool pinboard into different areas.
-With three kids already and a very busy husband I don't have time to spend fretting about daily lesson plans
-I like knowing what I *should* be doing and then doing my own thing based on that

With some of these points and other in mind here are some less random thoughts:
-We need a core curriculum to guide us through each day
-The free resources will make great supplemental material
-We need flexibility to take days off
-We need flexibility to delve deeper into areas of greater interest
-I need to use both curriculum and my children as my guide
-Most of all I want learning to be fun and exciting for my children

Over next while I am going to be working on creating more balance where all of this is concerned. Say a little prayer for me. Imma gonna need it.

2013: Onward and Upward

While Christmas was awesome the very end of 2012 and the very beginning of 2013 has been slightly less than stellar. A nasty cold bug has claimed all of us. We came home from the farm to find our basement sewer drain is broken. The coffee maker inexplicably doesn't work. Then yesterday morning, new years day, my plans of making waffles was thwarted by plugged up sinks. But I say whatevs. Those are all still first world problems. We can buy medicine for our colds, I can drink tea instead of coffee, and as long as I don't let out much water at a time we can temporarily see past the sewer drain problem.

Thus I say ONWARD AND UPWARD. I see a many great things coming our way. If we focus on our plans and dreams then any other road blocks just become bumps in the grand scheme of things.

Here are my predictions for 2013...

-A lot of craftiness coming down the pipe. With my new found love of knitting and rekindled relationship with my sewing machine and my addiction to Pinterest I see so many projects. Where sewing is concerned there is potential for  curtains, slipcovers for the sofa, cute outfits for Evelyn (a great use for my stash of fat clothes), and quilts for all. Then there is the knitting of scarves and leg warmers, and gloves oh my. I put love into my cooking so why not throw some love into the things we wear and also dress our house with.

-Continued progress on my health and fitness goals. I started the new year at 179. I took my measurements today as well (Bust 39.5, Waist 37.5, Hips 45.5). I kicked off 2013 yesterday by starting the 30 Day Shred over again but this time with my new 8 lb dumbbells. With my workout DVD collection and the Sworkit and C25K apps there is no excuse for getting bored. My inlaws also moved into a new condo with a pool...hello free lap swimming. Don't forget about what fuels the body too. While we don't consume a lot of processed food there is still a lot of progress to made in the clean eating department. This will be an ongoing challenge for the future.

-More consistent blogging. I have so many posts that I don't finish and don't publish. I have a lot of ideas of things I want to blog on. I am thinking a lot on how to narrow down what topics I speak on. I want to provide more information from things I have learned. The trouble is fitting in when to write. That brings me to the next point.

-More organized living. We need to purge so much from this house. We need to bring less and less into this house. I already pitched a few bags of junk yesterday. Thankfully the Ikea opened a month and a bit ago so I am making plans on how all of this will happen. I also want to have our time more organized. In general I want to organize our lives so that there is less time wasted and more time spent just being together and doing the things we enjoy (such as blogging).

-MUSIC!! The tribute act that Daddy is in has garnered a lot of interest. So far they are signed to an agency already with other agencies on the horizon. We could potentially be looking at some big life changes come March. I also would like to further my musical education, work on my technique and theory to the point where I could do RCM grade 9 practical and harmony exams. That is just something in the back of my mind.

-Potty Training for Evelyn. She is showing some definite signs of readiness. Perhaps in another few months we will order up some cloth trainers and get that ball rolling.

-Continued homeschooling. Fall somewhat came and left and seemed like it was one long big sick day. Sadly we got nowhere in terms of what I had planned. The new year though gives us an opportunity to change some ideas, scrap a few things, and focus on a few others.

-Renovations and upgrades for the home. Our house is old. Over 100 years old. It is in much need of a makeover and not just a mani pedi either. The insides needs some upgrading, specifically the furnace and the finicky hot water tank (which likes to leak pour from the pressure valve every so often). Carpets need to be ripped up and floors either refinished or painted. Walls need to be painted. The back room has been on hiatus for almost two years. The bathroom could use some renovating. Then there is the kitchen. None of this comes cheap either so we will chip away at things as best we can. I envision a much nicer and more comfortable living space near the end of 2013.

So those are all the BIG things that I see coming up. There are also some smaller things I would like. More trips to the bulk food store. More tea. A new coffee maker. A new book series to read (specifically the Lily Bard Series by Charlaine Harris). A new printer (to replace the broken one). Bunk beds for the boys and a toddler bed for baby girl. Possibly throw in a some new bedroom and school room furniture (again woot woot for the newly opened Ikea).

In the immediate future we have Max's 4th birthday coming up and on Monday we will be "back to school". Oh yeah and that pesky basement plumbing issue to take care of.

 It is going to be a big year for sure. Onward and upward I say. Wishing the best to all of you in 2013.

Homeschool Mother's Journal

IIIIIIIIIIt's Homeschool Mother's Journal Time.

In our homeschool this week...as usual I do a separate blog post on this. I do that almost more of a way for me to keep track. Plus I like the idea of being able to look back on my thoughts on how each week went. It is a learning process for me as well. In short, we had a bit of a lazy week but in the end some great seeds were sewn and we will be ready to get back at 'er on Monday. For a longer description please check out Homeschool This Week (Sept. 17-21).

Places we're going and people we're seeing...We saw our friend the geologist this week. He brought over some very neat and shiny rocks for the boys to check out to help introduce our earth science. Evelyn kept trying to pocket the fool's gold. It went over very well. We also had some nice evening outings that included fall evening walks, hazelnut lattes (for me of course) and pit stops at the park. 

My favourite thing this week...stocking up on tea. I am a bit of a tea nut. I love finely flavoured loose teas. I happen to live in decently close proximity (15 minute walk/5min drive) to a fabulous tea store in Canada. If you live in Canada and have a David's Tea nearby you MUST get there. I had intended on only restocking two of my favourites and trying one new but as usual I couldn't restrain myself. I restocked three (Pumpkin Chai, Fantasy Island, and Salted Caramel). Then I just HAD to check out their Fall teas. I picked up Banana Nut Bread (which has real banana chips in it) as well as Toasted Marshmallow. I have already made myself a Toasted Marshmallow latte and it was AMAZING! I drink tea on average two to three times a day so I go through it a lot. 

Things I'm working on...operation get the junk out of the house. It is pretty simple really. I am going through all those deep dark tucked away spaces (like closets and and basement corners of boxes and bins). I turfed out a contractor size garbage bag full of stuff yesterday. That was JUST from our bedroom closet alone. 

I'm reading...Colossians. I am enjoying the Good Morning Girls study so much. So far I am finding it affirming, refreshing, and inspiring. 

I'm cooking...hamburger soup for supper tonight. Mmmmm. I have the nice parmesan to sprinkle on top and we picked up a couple mini multigrain baguettes to go with. Totally perfect for the cold, gloomy, and rainy last few days we have had. It also makes a TON of leftovers so I am happy to have lunch tomorrow covered. 

I'm grateful for...my wonderful husband. Not a day goes by where I don't tell him how much I love and appreciate everything he does for us. He works in the sun and heat for us and in the snow and cold for us. Today he is out their in the wind and rain. A part of him enjoys his job but a greater part I know wishes he were already out on the road touring. All in due time. All in due time. 

I'm praying for...patience. Oh man do I need it. If I keep it in the forefront of my mind I do much better. It is so easy though to lose one's cool when one child if driving his hot wheels on the tops of canned goods, one is whining about not getting the cereal they wanted (which was already in the cart btw), and the baby is literally trying to scale her way out of the cart. I survived. And decided that shopping carts should also come with shoulder straps in addition to waist straps. 

I'll close it off with the last question...A photo to share...this was my view from the kitchen the other night. I love being able to look over and see my family enjoying the music. 

Homeschool This Week (Sept. 17-21)

It's Friday! That means it is time for another wrap up of our homeschool activities this week.

This week didn't have a whole lot going on. It became a bit more of a learning by living kind of week. We had a variety of things going on so I figured we would just flow with it.

Monday began with a visit from a dear friend. Hold tight and I'll quickly explain. He is one of my sister's besties. His dad is our dad's bestie. His dad is my Godfather. We chose him to be Max's Godfather (along with my sister as Godmother). Not only is he a friend BUT he is also a geologist. He is a super cool guy. He goes on geological digs most of the year (except when a volunteer forest fire fighter in the summer). So when our dear friend the geologist came over he brought us some rocks. We learned about igneous rocks, deep mining, fools gold, differences between hard and soft rocks. The boys just kept firing questions and he kept answering. Next time he visits he plans to bring some other rocks samples for the boys to look at. It was a great way to kick off our earth studies. We followed up a little throughout the week with some reading of See Inside The Earth.

In general geography we continued making some more circles. It is going to be fun putting all of them together.

Throughout the rest of the week we remained a bit low key. We hit up math a few times. Viktor worked through more pages of basic addition in his workbook. I am finding that the more basic the question layout the better he understands it. We will be doing some additional worksheets to solidify before we move on for sure. Max worked on his Number 2 worksheets. He really likes getting right in there (for short bursts anyways) so I am always printing off a variety of sheets for him to do.

At first glance it seems as though we didn't do very much in the way of Language Arts. We have yet to really delve into the phonics curriculum. I am not overly concerned though. We do a lot of reading. They really enjoyed hearing A Prairie Alphabet. It is even a childhood favourite of mine. This book serves double duty as well with both lessons in both LA and Canadian Geography. There are other versions as well I look forward to nabbing such as A Mountain Alphabet. Viktor also does a TON of spelling and reading prep with all the Angry Birds stuff he does. It is CONSTANT! He knows more words than even he thinks he does.

Max did some letter B worksheets this week. Same kind of thing as his number worksheets. Keep a variety on hand and keep them coming. He blasts through them.

Music class this week was comprised of a few rock out sessions with Daddy. Sometimes we will crank the iTunes, Daddy plugs in and plays along, and we, well, rock out. The kids play air guitar, someone starts plunking on the piano, someone is dancing and someone is pretending that two pencil crayons are drumsticks on a bench.

In our Daily Wind Up Viktor continued to record the temperature, weather, and moon phase (picture), in our log book. It is really neat now being able to look through and see the moon phases like that. We also discovered some neat NASA videos that show us the September sky and what planets, constellations, and events we can see and when. Very cool. Viktor kept pausing and playing the video so he could draw it all. I also had to start a log book for Max. He was none too impressed that he didn't get to draw the moon (don't know what I was thinking there).

Today is Friday!! That means our week is also done. Today was a grocery day. I am going to start altering things so that Friday is a free day. I need the one day a week to do our grocery shopping and whatever else needs to be done. Stores on the weekend are busy enough that they don't need our level of crazy added. At first I felt kind of guilty that I wasn't getting that full five day week but now I just figure we can call it Life Skills Day. They help make the meal plan, they help make the shopping list, they help look and shop for the groceries and other necessities.

This weekend holds some a lot of house cleaning and some a lot of finishing off of a few things that we didn't fully get through this week. I have a few tracer pages for both of them in a few subjects and we need get in some more dino unit. I got an email from my parents and we know what they have been up to so this weekend we will begin piecing some things together poster board style. We may do some nature walks to collect a few items for upcoming art projects. Hopefully by Monday we are further ahead than we are behind. Here's hoping.

Is it just me or is it really scary how fast September is going by??

How About a Little Faith 1/2

I decided to make this a two parter. This part is some back story with some kids involved. The next is more about myself.

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In the past I have been a bit tentative to speak about my faith, especially here on my blog. I have made a few mentions in past posts and a listen to any of my music is usually a good give away. BUT I have never really dedicated a post to it. I am however feeling a little inspired right now about sharing this part of my life.

So just a quickie back story. I was baptized Catholic. I received my first communion at age seven. I took weekly Catholic Catechism classes all through out my grade school years. I was confirmed at age 15. I attended Mass regularly in my early twenties. I was a Music Minister at my parish for five years. I have been on a pilgrimage where I had the awesome opportunity to hear the Pope speak to hundreds of thousands of youth on the banks of the Rhine in Cologne, Germany. My husband and I were married in the Catholic church and both boys have been baptized as Catholic. Evelyn isn't...yet. I worked as a secretary at a Catholic high school for 3 years and was an executive assistant for the executive director and board of the Catholic Women's League of Canada for 9 months (I discovered Evelyn was on the way when I started working there).

Confession: I feel guilty that I do not take my children to Mass regularly. I have a few poor excuses. First off, I feel overwhelmed taking kids to church. I always feel that their hijinx are distracting to the other parishioners. I also feel guilty going to my Parish and not being musically involved. It hurts my heart to be at a Mass without a note of music and know that I have the power to completely change that BUT I can't do it with three children in tow. Unfortunately my husband often has to work on a Sunday if the weather during the week was uncooperative so that puts a major crimp in plans. Pretty lame excuses. I know. I am working on this. No longer feeling a connection to my Parish doesn't help either. I have become a C&E Catholic and I don't like it much.

Moving forward. We may not regularly go to Mass BUT we have a A LOT of faith and spirituality in our home. My children know about God and Heaven and Jesus on the cross. They know that Christmas is about celebrating the birth of Christ. Sometimes they wear one of my rosaries because it makes them feel good. We read stories from their children's bibles. They enjoy hearing Just In Case You Ever Wonder before bed. We listen to the Christian stations in the van and they hear me singing my own songs of praise all day. Without a doubt my children know that God is great and powerful and amazing and awesome.............

Given the ages of the boys now it is time to start some more official Bible studies and learning about the faith they have been baptized in. As a homeschooler I have the opportunity to add this to our day. While I did not choose to homeschool for reasons of faith I can not deny the possibility that God still led me to the choice to homeschool. I will be ordering very shortly two important resources. Our Bible study The Great Adventure Series and our Catechism study from the Faith and Life Series.

In addition to those we are beginning our character studies with the Kids of Integrity materials. That is some super cute stuff there. I am also looking forward to getting into the Truth in the Tinsel materials (but in due time, I'm not rushing fall, yet).

We are also going to be veering off in a different direction. Anyone who has seen a picture of my husband (there are a few on here) may notice that he is of Aboriginal descent. It would be shameful on our part to not teach the children anything about their Cree heritage. With that in mind we will be teaching them in a variety of ways the Seven Sacred Teachings. These teachings are very plain and very simple. They are at the core of one's being. They are: Love, Respect, Courage, Honesty, Wisdom, Humility, and Truth. Now some may run for the hills upon hearing us teaching our children aboriginal teachings but they do not stray that far off the Christian path. True they may refer to the Great Creator (but in this house we interpret that to mean God) and yes there may be additional symbolism (that we understand as such) but the core values are universal.

I can only pray that using the tools at my disposal and the guidance of God that I am doing a good enough job to lay a foundation of Faith in my children. Nothing like setting some lofty goals.

That about wraps up my Part 1 on this subject. Part 2 is coming up shortly.

Homeschool Mother's Journal Entry

This is my second Homeschool Mother's Journal Entry. I am already enjoying these. I enjoy the element of introspection. I normally don't have too much trouble looking within and deciphering my levels of oddness but this is different. I get to delve a little bit deeper. Here are my answers for this week...

In my life...we bid my parents farewell as they go on a long journey overseas. They will be gone for a month and visiting China, Vietnam, and Cambodia. We will follow along with their itinerary and check out our atlas and the internet to see where they are and what they are doing. Voila! Following Grandma and Grandpa on their trip becomes a Geography Unit!

In our homeschool this week...overall everything went well. We made great progress in our social studies units and got into our math curriculum. For more on what we covered this week please read my post Homeschool This Week (Sept 10-14) or my School of the Rock page where I will be chronologically filing our Homeschool This Week posts.

I am inspired by...the beauty of fall. I've had to stash my Birkenstocks and bring out my moccasins. I think the duvets are next. I love sweaters and scarves and cool noses. Fall flavours, colours, smells, and textures are invading my home!! I <3 fall. Thank you God for Fall.

Places we're going and people we're seeing...just our regular errands and seeing regular people. Nothing extraordinary. One thing for sure though is that we try to spread smiles and happiness where we go. A walk to the grocery store needn't be a chore. There is a lot to be said for making a conscious effort to enjoy life.

My favourite thing this week was...finally seeing the finished promo video for the bands that Daddy plays in. The videos were simply awesome. We watch them every day. The kids love dancing and singing along and pointing out when Daddy is on screen.

Things I'm working on...time management. I look at the hours in the day and I look at what I have to accomplish and while I know there is enough time I just can't seem to get things into the right time slots or segments. It's a juggling game. I'm working on it though. Experimenting if you will with what works best for us. I am not seeking a strict schedule per se but more of a general routine. We'll get there. Slowly and steadily.

I'm grateful for...my dear friend Becky. We met online over a year ago. We got to meet in person this past Spring. We chat online frequently, sharing ideas and stories. We have bonded over our similar age babies, faith, and our choices to homeschool. This past week she also started a blog. Please pop over to Raising His Children and show my friend Becky some love.

I'm praying for...the upcoming week. That it be filled with love and peace not only for our family but for everyone out there in the big wide world.

Now it is time to go and spread some happiness :)

Homeschool This Week (Sept. 10-14)

This will just be a short little review of what we did during homeschool this week. During the week it seems like we do so much but when I look back after we are out of the thick of it it doesn't seem like we did much of anything. I know we did accomplish some things though. Some activities we flew through and some made me feel like beating my head against a wall. You win some, you lose some.

I am approaching September with a very lax attitude. Not lazy. Lax. We are going through our subjects at a nice easy pace. Introducing things gradually so as not to blow anyone's mind yet.

Language Arts
So far we are just doing a lot of reading together and a lot of me reading out loud to the boys. I like to think that we are creating an environment for reading enjoyment. I am adding more discussion after our reading. Getting a little reading comprehension in there. This coming week though brings the introduction of our phonics unit.

Math
We began working out of our math curriculum. This is something that will require A LOT of patience on my part. I could sense right away where I was pushing too much. I must also say that I have already seen where more reinforcement is necessary and acted appropriately and sourced additional worksheets which I was immediately told were "so much easier". It wasn't that they were easier but presented in a slightly different way. That just goes to show how much difference a delivery method can make. And once again one of the beauties of homeschool :)

Max on the other hand took to his worksheets right away. At his level he is simply colouring but the concepts are there and getting nestled in his grey matter in a subconscious kind of way.

Social Studies
As always, my favourite. We continued working through our "Who Am I/Where Am I" unit. We made our Neighbourhood, City, and Province circles and after another week they should be ready to be assembled.

We also began our Canadian Social Studies Curriculum. So far we have begun to learn how to spell Canada and sing our national anthem (which we sing every morning). The boys also coloured a map of Canada. I continue to be fascinated at how they approach things. While I imagined Vik colouring the map how I would (orderly with each Province a different colour) he took to drawing the ocean currents and what I presume is the Trans Canada Highway. It may look like a mass of scrawl on the page but I know what he is doing.

Our dinosaur unit proceeded as planed with reading another chapter of our book, learning to spell Pteranodon and other relevant words and colouring a few pictures of the creature.

Science
We did not delve into our Science this past week. I am gradually introducing subjects and concepts this month and next week will bring on some science. I do not want to overwhelm anyone, myself included.

Art
We did a few little crafts this week. So far we are tailoring most projects to represent the season/holiday. For now we are focusing on fall crafts. The boys really enjoyed their Fall Tree Craft. Any free drawing or colouring they did was Angry Birds or Batman. Go figure.

Music
Nothing cooler than watching your Dad's own music video for music class. That's all I'll say about that.

There it is. Our week in a nutshell. Not too shabby actually.

Before I close I would like to make mention of something totally cool I found this week. I found CUSTOMIZABLE TRACER PAGES!!!! How cool is that?? I am busily compiling a list of all the many words we will learn with this resource. So far we used it for learning to spell Canada and words for our Dino unit. Max is doing an amazing job with the tracer sheets. To get your own tracer pages go to http://www.kidzone.ws/tracers/none/index.asp. Happy Tracing!

Homeschool Mother's Journal Entry

Yesterday I had posted regarding our first week back into homeschooling. I then added it very excitedly to the iHomeschool Network Blog Hop for the Homeschool Mother's Journal. Today though I realized that my link was removed. From what I could deduce from what I read it would have been removed due to not following the proper format. WHOOPS! Funny how in yesterday's post I noted how the boys need to learn to listen to directions better and here I am hastily linking without checking.

Sooooooo.....lets try this again. And with proper form this time (using the guideline questions that were given).

In my life this week...we started homeschool for the 2012-2013 school year, I did several high intensity work outs, we went on a few long walks and the biggest breakthrough-Evelyn slept 5 hours straight in her crib!

In our homeschool this week...please check out yesterday's post.

I am inspired by...the sunrise. Each new day is a new opportunity to make better choices that will impact my family today and tomorrow. Each day is a gift and I am inspired to lead a better and more fulfilling life every morning I am blessed to wake.

My favourite thing this week was...finding my son's second lost tooth. It fell out about a month ago and I put it in a safe spot. And then...I LOST THE LOST TOOTH. I was mortified and dubbed myself a horrible mother. BUT I redeemed myself earlier this week when I found it! Phew. So last night I got to play tooth fairy. Can you say stressful? The pressure! Rule Number 1: Don't blow your cover! I made it out alive though and the big boy was mighty excited this morning.

Things I am working on...music, music and more music. About every day consists of 1-2 hours of it. Mostly arranging and composing and writing with a little bit of audio and video recording thrown in for fun. Writing music for God is my personal vocation (along with motherhood) and I take it seriously. Hopefully soon I can share more of my faith through my music.

I'm reading...besides homeschool resources? Nothing at the moment. Sadly I don't have much time for reading (see because of Things I'm working on). However the most recent book I read which struck a chord in me was The Red Tent. Amazing. Biblically based fiction (oxymoron anyone?). By far one of the best reads I have had in maybe years.

I'm cooking...a lot more in the oven. It seems that as soon as September hit the cool weather came and with it the urge to make more stews, roasts and apple crisps.

I'm praying for...love, health and peace for everyone in general but then everyday there is something that happens where more concentrated prayer is needed. Such as for this little guy.

There, that ought to do it. There were a few more questions but I didn't have any good responses in mind for them. I am happy though that I noticed my link was removed so I could do this post. It was rather fun and I always like a chance to participate in things.

Back At It

It is official. Our 2012-2013 homeschool year has kicked off. The boys are excited. I am jazzed. This is a journey that my children and I are taking together. Even just yesterday watching them learn together brought tears to my eyes. It was a strong affirmation that YES we are on the right path. YES this decision is still the right one.

I could say I was surprised by how well our first days went but I'm not so much surprised as I am relieved. I set fairly low expectations (in a good way). I know there is a lot for the boys to take in. Even in public and private school the first few days are all about review, going over curricula and gearing the students up. That is what the last few days has been. Gearing them up and they are right revved.

I have to say too that there has been significantly less whining and rough housing as well. The structure and routine suits the boys. They need more focus and this is going to help them get it. We are getting our groove and I already feel more confident than I did last year. Maybe I just feel more prepared (found a way to lesson plan that really works for me). 

The vision that I have for our homeschool is taking shape before me and I am loving it. In just a few days I can already tell what some ideal strategies will be for making our homeschool a successful place for learning.

Such as but not limited to:

-Doing Math and LA when Evelyn is sleeping (this requires more concentration from both the boys and myself and I don't want them to miss out on anything, plus when it comes to math manipulative time having Miss Grabby Hands napping is just wise).

-Don't force the day to start too soon. I once had this idea that I could get up by six and have school going by 8. Nope, not happening. Am I bummed? Not really. I don't mind the extra sleep, we can leisurely get up, have a nice breakfast, kids get some early morning energy out. It also makes no sense to be in the middle of things when Daddy is leaving for work. Once Daddy is gone we get ourselves started.

-Don't start the day too late. There is a fine line between too late and too soon. If we start too late the boys have lost their "school drive" and quite frankly so have I. For example we started later today so I skipped our Wind Up. That sucked and nothing else felt right or flowed. Seems as though 9:30/10 is the ideal time around here. 

-Keep activities and lessons short. I think the longest we can probably extend something is to twenty minutes, twenty-five minutes tops with a sweet spot of probably just fifteen. Anything longer than that and I have completely lost my audience. I also have to keep them engaged the whole time or I lose them. 

-Religion class will become an evening activity. I think. I am not 100% on this yet but I feel that bible readings and prayers and learning about our faith make a perfect wind down activity before bed. I like to think that filling their little heads about God and Jesus before bed will make for nice dreams. 

-Don't Cram! Ease Up! Lay Back! Don't forget that patience is a virtue. I have to constantly remind myself to be patient. The more I push the more they will push back. Knowing what and how to push something is becoming a fine art and I am becoming a skilled painter. 

-Let go of perfection. Vik likes to do goofy things when working on sheets. He likes to do it his way. It may say make an X over something but he likes to circle it instead. It won't be unusual to see an angry bird midway through a line of 5s. I know that. I accept that. That is him and I accept him unconditionally. We can work through that. 

With those observations out of the way, how about a bit of a run down of what we did during our first three days. 

Wednesday

My sister had the boys for a sleepover on Tuesday evening (she took them to a corn maze the lucky ducks!).

I picked them up Wednesday around noon and we headed home for lunch which was homemade Mac & Chz with these. Perfect right? After lunch we got a few of our plans underway. We went outside and took our 1st Day of School pix and afterwards we did a little interview of what their favorite things were. This is something I plan on doing each year with them. Here is a peak of it put together.

Then the boys got to go through their buckets. Not so fast though. It was an exercise in listening to directions. I had them pull out specific things to put into their pencil cases and look at their scribblers and binders. Kind of like Simon Says. Mamma Says find your pack of crayons. Mamma Says find your eraser. At the end each were left with a bag of smarties in the bottom. Smarties for my smarties :)

After that we looked through the variety of books we were going to learn from and I told them about the things we would be learning about. They really enjoyed getting a look at the Earth Science book. Every day now (and I am sure until we actually do it) I am asked about doing the volcano. 

That was about it for our first day. Nice and easy. See low expectations.

Thursday

This was our first full day. The first day where we would really get into things. Some started smoothly, some rockier but everything we started we finished. We began with our Wind Up. Some people call this Circle Time or Gathering Time or Calendar Time. I'll have to do a post on that itself someday soon. 

Snack time followed our Wind Up. Then we got into our Social Studies unit "Who I Am/Where I Am" with a little project I picked up from pinterest. I look forward to sharing it when it is finished. Next we started our History unit about Dinosaurs. I am basing this unit off of the Magic Treehouse Book Dinosaurs Before Dark. We will be taking info from the book, fact checking it, doing some timelines, some colouring, some flow charts.

After that we took a walk around our neighbourhood (which isn't out of the ordinary but did serve a greater purpose in this instance).  We capped off our day with some math. I made a last minute change to my math curriculum plans and will have to fill you in more on that later too. 

Friday

As I said before we skipped out circle time and were behind all day. Evelyn slept quite poorly last night and was quite cranky all day with a very short nap which meant a lot of our plans for the day wouldn't get done. Really the only thing we did do was some more activities for our "Who I Am/Where I Am". Today I printed off the map of our neighbourhood and we traced out the route we walked yesterday. This whole unit is for them to develop a greater understanding of where and who they are in the world which will lead nicely into our October unit on Maps/Globes/Compass. 

We didn't hit math today or science or history BUT there in lies the beauty of this whole homeschool thing. IT DOESN'T MATTER. We will do the things we missed very casually over the weekend and be back on pace on Monday without feeling like we didn't get a break or feeling like we got behind. 

Next week is going to be a big week. A full week. This is where the testing of ourselves starts. Testing the limits, boundaries, strengths and weakness of our own person. It is also where the learning really begins. It is where happiness will be shared. 

Soooooo Behind....

Yup, that is me. Always behind. I am sure I could even be found procrastinating about procrastinating about something at some point. My room in high school and University was always cleanest during exam time. Hmmm, I wonder why?

I think it is because I am always thinking. I have a lot of things on the brain. I am easily sidetracked. There is always something that grabs my attention away. Perhaps on the verge of some kind of attention deficit (no enough to make it a disorder but it creates disorder in my life nonetheless). Then I tell myself it really is because I am a closet perfectionist. I deal with it best by just not doing something. If I can't do it perfectly why try. I see these traits in my son (perfectionism, lacks attention span, short fuse, obsessive, compulsive) no question who he gets it from.

Enough of the late night psycho babble though. I have excuses to lay down for my lack of posting:

-Getting ready for homeschool. Making lesson plans. Downloading and printing off resources and materials.

-Getting the laptop back up to speed. Yeah, that put me behind in a lot of things. The downed laptop threw wrenches in a lot of things and I am now finding myself recreating a lot of documents I had before. NOT fun times.

-Baby E has been a cranky sleeper. That has completely sapped all my evening time. I am on stolen time right now even. Daddy wonderfully helped her crank herself to sleep but it is a ticking time bomb as to when she will wake up. Crossing my fingers.

-Max has been taking late afternoon naps. Again. Every so often he dips back into this weird habit of having an afternoon nap. I am suspecting it is related to growth spurts. That leads to him not going to sleep well in the evening. Right now he is hanging out on the stairs nowhere near sleep. His late nights are later than I want to be awake.

-How about life? Yeah, pesky how life just gets in the way. Not even big things mind you. Just little things like laundry and dishes and cooking and kids. Believe me the number of pants I wash and the number of bowls and spoons we go through in a day would knock socks off, but I don't want to wash more socks so I won't say.

That really doesn't actually sound like much does it? Makes me feel even worse for not posting more when I see that what I have been doing doesn't amount to really anything.

Something I am trying to do though is create more order and balance. We are getting better though. Step one: The Mighty Meal Plan, has been going over swell. And step two: Implement Homeschool Schedule, should also go fairly decently. It will come together. It will come together. I will repeat that until it does. It will come together.

That is about it right now. I am procrastinating about doing the dishes right now, hence why I am writing :) and there is a kid on the stairs that needs to be led back to his bed. I have a few post outlines under way (more for the iHomeschool Blog Hop and Nature Project update to name a few) and a fun baking idea.

Part of the whole schedule/order/balance thingy includes allotting better time for blogging. I suggested to Daddy I need a few hours a week to get a coffee and take the laptop with me. We shall see about that one.

Our 2012-2013 Homeschool Curriculum

When it comes to curriculum planning for our upcoming year of homeschool I have been a busy bee. I have made up and changed my mind so many times. As soon as I think I have decided on the best course to follow I see something else and my interest is peaked. I have waffled between the shiny boxed curriculum and bare bones style single texts. I have had to keep my addiction to books in check. 

I have read and dogeared the pages of 100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum and Home Learning Year by Year. In doing so I believe I have come up with some great ideas and plans for the upcoming year. Throw in a dash of ideas from Pinterest and I have high hopes for us.

Language Arts
Canadian Handwriting Workbook
Letter of the Week (from Confessions of a Homeschooler) *For Max
Phonics Pathways
Assortment of Readers (Usborne, Bob, and any other books that interests the kids)
Dolch Word Lists
First Language Lessons

Picking Language Arts curriculum has by far been the most challenging. I found it difficult to find things that would fit together right. First off there is just so much. Secondly there are a few different elements to Language Arts that needed covering yet no program would cover everything, and some only parts of things. At first I had two reading programs, a composition program, and a spelling vocab program picked out. I really thought about my own philosophies and decided to separate the wheat from the chaff. The above was what I came up with. 

I personally believe that the mechanics of writing followed by the mechanics of reading then the mechanics of the English language are the basic foundation to everything. Reading and writing are vital and critical. That being said I don’t think anyone requires fancy and fangled bells and whistles. I plan on us doing A LOT of reading and writing. Not just reading and writing associated with LA but in all subjects. I plan to draw on much of that for expanding our LA skills. Spelling, vocab, composition and reading comprehension will continue to evolve naturally as they already have. I just need the Phonics Pathways to guide me in teaching the phonetic code and the Dolch Word List to cover sight words and the First Language Lessons to give a foundation for Grammar. 

Mathematics 
Math U See Primer & Alpha

There is a great deal in the Primer level that Viktor knows. There are also a few things that need some tweaking and a few things that need introduction. The plan here is to blast through the Primer level between September and December and then move onto the Alpha level in January. This also means that I will already have the teacher’s guide and manipulatives for when Max moves up and so on. 

Social Studies
Canada, My Country
Personally designed curriculum 
Variety of Usborne Books

This is totally my thing. History and geography have always been right up my alley. World cultures? Anthropology? Bring em on. Had I actually finished my first degree (instead of all those humanities electives) and actually gone on to being a teacher this would be my subject area. With that in mind I think I have written out some pretty awesome plans for History and Geography. 

Seeing as how we are only looking at grade one right now we need only scratch some surfaces and introduce ideas (same thing for Science). I have broken down what students in grade one “should” learn and then based my plan on that. To enhance that we will be ordering a variety of Usborne books. I purchased a bunch of books from this publisher last fall and I fell in love. They are bright, big and my boys LOVE them. Plus I love the idea of using real books vs. texts for teaching. This way we can colour, read, build models, etc. Prior to each unit the boys and I will sit down and choose 3-5 books together that we will use. 

The reason I have chosen an official text for Canadian History and Geography should be obvious, it is our home after all, so I want to go just a little deeper. The Canada, My Country text will also be useable for future years and we can choose what to spend more time on and what activities and backup resources we want to use. 

Science
Personally Designed Curriculum
Experiments
Usborne Books

Just as in Social Studies it is all about introducing concepts and building on current knowledge. Just as I have done with Social Studies I have looked at what we “should” be learning and planned out my units throughout the year. We will do a similar thing with the Usborne books as we will be doing for Social Studies. 

I hope to also do lots of little experiments to reinforce our learning. For that we will look at a variety of experiment kits and the boys can help choose what we do (just like with ordering the books). I really want them to be a part of that process. They will become more excited than if it is “just something mum picked”.

Health/Phys Ed.
Personally Designed Curriculum

I know I don’t specifically want a text for this. We are already currently garnering an interest in healthy food and healthy activity. At this level all I am looking for is a little honing of the skills and ideas. I am in the process of making up our own unit studies and outline for this. 

Music/Art
Personally Designed Curriculum

Another one of our strongest points. We are musicians. Daddy is also an artist (added bonus). I have some similar ideas on planning out our Music and Art units. The first part of the year in each subject will be introduction to the elements and parts of Art (colour, shape, texture...) and Music (rhythm, temp, pitch...). The second part of Music will contain a unit on instruments followed by a unit on a selection of composers. The second part of Art will be choosing a variety of mediums and then studying within that (famous artists who used that medium, creating our own works of art, etc.).

When it comes to Music and Art I also have a few field trip ideas in mind. Such as a trip to the Symphony and a trip to the WAG (Winnipeg Art Gallery).

Religion/Character/Manners
Faith and Life Series
Kids of Integrity

The Faith and Life Series is the same Catechism series I learned from. I’m not entirely sure if it is the best but it is familiar and when starting something new, having something familiar is always good. It’s fairly simply set up. Teacher’s guide, student book, workbook. With the exception of the workbook I can use the other books in the future. 

Kids of Integrity is a study of character and a few manners. We will alternate between that and the Faith and Life Series and a Bible Study (which I am still in the search of).

Additional Resources: 
i Homeschool Network e-books Omnibus
Pinterest
Youtube

I follow a few different homeschool blogs. These ladies are tight. They are pro. The resources and blogs that have are top notch. Many of them also posted recently about the iHomeschool Network e-books Omnibus. It is a collection of some the best homeschool bloggers resources/e-books. Supposedly a $350 value for only $25. Included were a handful of resources I already wanted that for even just those few came to more than $25. I am not 100% sure how all of them will integrate into our curriculum but whether we use them now, next year, the year after, I already appreciate having them. 

I am a major believer that life and experience is a huge teacher. I have pinned so many activities and experiments. I was going to link a few of the ideas but figured it would just be easier to link my Homeschool pinboard instead. 

*A few words on Max:

Max is 3 1/2. He is at a preschoolish age and level. He has an interest in saying the alphabet, counting and pretends to read. He is ready for more learning. The only thing specifically for him is the Letter of the Week. I will be on the search for some very primary math resources but I anticipate that in Max fashion he will want to play with the Math U See manipulatives along with Vik. In addition to that he will be present for anything else otherwise going on. Without any prodding or pressing he has already absorbed a lot, this year he will sponge up even more. Even now he keeps trying to push his way into our soon to be school room telling me he wants school to. 

To conclude:

In reality I think this is a very simple and basic way to go about things. Real books. A few guiding texts. Mostly reusable and multi level books. No major investment up front (only a few minor ones). Gradual buildup of our personal library. Children’s involvement in the choosing of the books, experiments, experiences, activities, within the units I have laid out. Travelable resources. I don’t think I can go wrong with any of that. 

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Side Note
Some Learning for Mum

Do you think I would let my kids have all the homeschool fun? I don't think so. I love learning too. I love reading. I love expanding my mind. I also feel that there is no better way to lead my children to study than to do some for myself. Monkey see, monkey do. No reason why when they are doing their quiet studies that I can't do so alongside them and vice versa.

I am feeling a pull towards some personal and faith development. I plan to rev back up into my Catholic Home Study and will finally begin the Woman of Faith Study Guide Series (first is about Balance, fitting eh?).

I also said to myself, "Jessica this is a perfect time to Teach Yourself German". I have this course from when I went to Germany 7 years ago and it is begging to be picked up again. I know a lot of basics but need a lot of review. Plus I don't think it hurts to have the skill of speaking German in my back pocket.

Lastly, I do have some areas of study which I would like to expand on. I am doing some further research regarding Health and Fitness. I am not at a point where I can or want to formally go back to school but if I can find some free resources out there (which the internet is full of) I will take full advantage of them. I would also like to work on my classical piano chops a bit more. While I play music daily and am composing a lot these days my technical abilities have slipped in some areas (while furthering in others). Areas of interest here would be theory, harmony, and technique. 

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As you can see we are going to be busy. I know it seems like a lot crammed in but luckily we have the luxury of time. The children and I aren't confined to regular school or work hours. We can back off on some things and focus on others as required. This is also a plan to go over the full year. While we will take certain times off for holidays, birthdays, sick days, etc. we will be spanning our studies over 12 months instead of the typical 10. 

Wish us luck and say a little prayer for us and our year of homeschool and I will do the same for you, whatever you endeavours may be.