The New 09-10 Year!

We started school yesterday. I still have some tweaking to do and we aren't full fledge yet but we are close. I'm studying more on Charlotte Mason's methods. Haven't quiet made up my mind on a few things.

Today was definitely a better day and I'm sure next week will flow more smoothly. I'll be glad to finish up our schedules.

:)

End of the year testing went well. I got the girls test results and I was very pleased. Both girls placed where should be. Higher on some ends and lower on others but within the mark. I'm very pleased.

End of the Year Testing

I have tried to post our science project on color mixing many times but can't locate the pictures in my folder. I have so many and somehow I have lost them. I know they are there I just don't know where. As soon as I locate them I'll share. It was really a pretty project and we truly enjoyed it.

Today we began our end of the year testing. The girls are testing right now as I type. Normally we would have tested in the spring but our school year had a late start so we are testing a bit late as well. We haven't tested in the last few years and the girls have really dreaded it. This is one of the main reasons I decided to begin testing them again. It isn't that I put a lot of stock in the test, it's more that they are familiar with taking them. I had to stop with them after the first one and pray. The fact that they are being timed really brought forth the anxiety in Sky. It is my prayer that she test very well and that her scores will give her a boost of confidence. She is such a smart girl. I believe that her late start in reading and her struggle with spelling has really taken a toll on her self confidence.

We have been schooling right along and we have started some new things. That excites me! I love starting new things. Sky finished up her English, The All in One English Series, recommended by My Father's World and has moved onto Lightning Literature 7 by Hewitt. I am extremely pleased with this program. Sky is having a hard time adjusting to the slang in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer but I think once she finishes the book and gets more exposure to those times that she will have more appreciation for Literature in general and how different each time period and culture use to be. I am confident that we will be able to complete LL 7 and move onto to complete Lightning Literature 8 this school year. I am really looking forward to reading the Hobbit with her.

Sky has is also finishing up The Phonetic Zoo level B and she and Meadow both will be moving into Spelling Power with the activity cards. I am hoping that it will be a success for us also.

Another new program for Sky is in her writing. She has just finished The Student Writing Intensive Level B by The Institute in Excellence for Writing and already started Jump In by Apologia Educational Ministries.

Math is also joining our change this year. Sky has almost completed Teaching Textbooks Level 7 and will be beginning Saxon Math with the Teaching Tape Technology which are teaching dvds. We are not sure what level Sky will be going into yet. She will test once she has completed her Teaching Textbooks.

Meadow is going to continue doing math through real life, hands on and worksheets that I have here. As soon as I feel she is ready and she can pass the entrance test, she will be going into Teaching Textbooks 4.

We are going to continue along in My Father's World Exploration to 1850's and pick up in My Father's World 1850 to Modern Times.

We just finished reading The Hallelujah Lass and we will be moving onto another book in The Daughters of Faith Series. If you have never heard of or looked into this series check them out. They are one of my all time absolute favorites because of the way that Wendy packs Jesus into them!

We are also beginning Sarah Witcher's Story by Elizabeth Yates. This one shouldn't take us long.

For science both girls continue along with Apologia. Meadow is using Exploring Creation with Botany and Sky is continuing on with Exploring Creation with General Science. We are really liking both of these programs. Both are very thorough and very intense. I ease Meadow's for her age and I push Sky to work at that highschool level.

It is summer! I love the summer and we plan to shorten our school days and hit the pool a few days a week around noon. The girls are really looking forward to the break and I'm hoping the pool will be an enticing enough reward that they finish their school in the mornings to receive it!

I'm very pleased with this school year. We have accomplished a lot and completed several things and I'm looking forward to completing more. Lots of bad habits were untrained and I really look forward to next year!

MFW and our Plan for Next Year

(This is more for me. I want this as a reminder for me to refer to. It looks like a lot and isn't meant to discourage anyone. It doesn't take as long as it looks.)

We use My Father's World, this year we are doing Explorations to 1850's and the following year we will move onto the 1850's to Modern Times. I use the 2nd and 3rd grade supplements for my 2nd grader.

Sky-7th/8th grade,

Bible-memorizing the book of James and Boy Have I Got Problems by Kay Author and Trial and Triumph

Hymns- Then Sings My Soul Volume One- This is so much fun. (I download the hymns from itunes as we go, which is just .99 cents every two weeks. Very convenient and we'll have a complete cd at the end of our study.)

History MFW uses: Exploring American History, In God We Trust, Building a City on a Hill, George Washington's World, The Last 500 Years, The Story of the World 3 (we have this on cd and LOVE it), and read alouds Almost Home, Amos Fortune, Free Man, Madeleine Takes Command, William Carey, Mary Jones and Her Bible & Bound for Oregon. (Plus odd and ends/writing state report, state flag stickers, state sheets and cards, maps of US and the World, presidents flash cards, and lots of projects)

Math-TT 7th grade and we plan to stick with Teaching Textbooks as long as it continues to work as GREAT as it has.

Spelling-Phonetic Zoo Spelling level B moving onto C (then if needed will try Spelling Power as recommended by MFW)

Language Arts-All in One English Series then Applications of Grammar Set, I will choose two Literature units from Progeny Press. I'm still undecided on which two. 8th grade we will do two more Progeny Press units but I'm undecided about LA, I do have English from the Roots Up, so we will probably pick this up.

Writing- IEW-SWI-B and will continue on with SWI C

Science-Apologia General Science (plan to stay with Apologia as long as it works)

Music-Studying Schubert, Mendelssohn, and Chopin using the 6 cd set: The Story of Schubert in Words and Music, Schubert Symphonies (music only), The Story of Mendelssohn in Words and Music, The Best of Mendelssohn (music only), The Story of Chopin in Words and Music, The Best of Chopin (music only)

Art: I have a vhs doodle series that they love to work from and I'm adding in God and the History of Art. Also planning to add in The Gluck Method: The Art of Drawing with dvds set one and two to continue through highschool. (adult set)

(link for those who may want to look at this: The Gluck Method )

Meadow 2nd/3rd grade does the same for Bible, hymns and music we add the Celebrate America cd.

History: The above list and her age level read alouds (both girls listen to each others books) American Pioneers and Patriots, North American Indians, Red White and Blue, The Fourth of July Story, Squanto, Friend of the Pilgrims, The Courage of Sarah Noble, Sarah Witcher's Story and The Thanksgiving Story.

Math- 2nd grade BJU (for 3rd grade it will be 3rd grade BJU or 4th grade Teaching Textbooks depending on where she places. I've always used BJU math and really like it, but for older grades I like the instruction and the dvds are expensive. After finally trying TT the plan is to use this for both girls through highschool.)

Spelling-Spelling by Sound and Structure/Rod and Staff 2nd grade. She is almost done with this and she just finished Sing Spell Read and Write. I'm either going with Phonetic Zoo A or Spelling Power. Undecided.

Language Arts-moving into Prmary Language Lessons for 2nd and 3rd. Writing we plan to move into IEW-SWI-A either 3rd or maybe 4th grade.

Science- we are almost finished God's Design for Life/Animal Kingdom and will be moving on to Apologia Exploring Creation with Botany. I also use Kingfishers The World of Animals as a supplement.

Art: Meadow also watches the Doodle series I have, and I plan to start her in The Gluck Method:The Art of Drawing Kids package. (Use same link as above.)

Both girls also have book baskets to enhance our studies.

We are in week eleven. A little later for us due to the late start last fall, we began around the last week of October. For details on next years history, visit the 1850's to Modern Times .

And there is a great review of MFW on our review page here at HSC MFW Review!

Also next year we will be adding in Rosetta Stone Spanish for our Foreign Language.

It looks like so much but our days are full not jammed. It's been our greatest year by far!

Oh and my reasons for choosing My Father's World is multiple. I chose this mainly because of the biblical content/focus. There is simply no way to take God out of this. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the teacher's manuals that Marie Hazell has created. It is very open and go, I can tweak if I so desire and plan my heart away BUT if I cannot it is there for me as is. I love that she has a schedule at the beginning of each week to give a complete overview of what will be covered each day that week. Again, this makes great ease when I want to tweak and makes my planning ahead easier BUT if I can't I simply print my schedules put them on my clip board and school away. I love the added lists of books for the book baskets and I love that the program has been around long enough that I can easily find full book baskets for sale. I do plan to incorporate our library more in the future but for right now owning these book baskets has been a REAL blessing. I feel the program gives you much freedom to choose in other subjects such as math, science ect... I try to use what MFW recommends as much as possible but after homeschooling for 7 years and having things that I know work, its no problem using what works for us.

I love the rotation and it will work out beautifully for Meadow as she will finish 2nd and 3rd as listed above and then be able to start the whole 5 year cycle over again in grades 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8.

Year One	Geography: Exploring Countries and Cultures
Year Two	History: Creation to the Greeks
Year Three	History: Rome to the Reformation
Year Four	U.S. /World History: Exploration to 1850
Year Five	U.S./World History: 1850 to Modern Times

I LOVE the ministry that MFW supports. I love that we have been able to learn about the people and numerous different nations that still do not have God's word in their native tongue. I love that we are enabled to be missionaries in essence right from our living room. (Of course you don't have to have MFW to do this BUT I love that MFW has birthed this in us!) I could go on and on and on and on......................

Today was a long day

Especially after such a relaxed week last week. It took the girls a bit to get back into the swing of things. Sky's science Apologia General Science is a huge adjustment for her. I'm not as informed as I should be on learning styles but I know that she can't just read something and understand it. The companion cd helps us out a lot with this program but I also have to come behind her and read the lessons to her, pulling out definitions adding in deeper explanations or giving different examples. I do ask that she read her lesson first. I'm hoping that over time she will begin to process the information on her own better, but until then I must make the time to reread her the lessons in the afternoons. This can make for long days sometimes. I myself, don't mind the reading, I'm learning a great deal. It's the time that can be hard to come by. I know its time well spent and there will be a great reward for it later.

History with My Father's World Exploration to 1850's, just keeps getting better and better. We have finished reading Squanto and are learning more about the pilgrims and the development of their colony. I want the girls to do a Thanksgiving diorama. I'm going to go to Walmart and see if I can find a few nifty things in the crafts section. We had made wigwams the second week and I want to use those in something, they turned out so pretty.

If you have any neat ideas for crafts for Thanksgiving please share them.

Homeschooling is Going Great!

We are using a variety of things. I have several *favorite* things and the first one is My Father's World which is a small unit study that includes Bible, History, Science, Music and lots of read-alouds. We are using Year Four, Exploration to 1850. One of my favorite things about My Father's World this year is that we are studying old hymns and their history, who wrote them and how they came about. We begin each morning singing praises to our King and then move directly into the bible study. We are studying James and doing a lot of memory work. I'm very excited about what I see transpiring in the girls even in such the short time of a two week period.

The first hymn we are studying is actually called My Father's World. It was written by a young man named Maltbie Babcock. We have studied how Maltbie was a very well liked young man, he was very talented in most anything he done, including music and sports. He stood up for what he believed in and he confronted others when their language or behavior was not appropriate. He was very aware of the beauty of God's creation and he spent a lot of time enjoying it. Observing the wonders of this world is how he came to write the song My Father's World.

I had never heard this hymn before and I have very much enjoyed becoming aquainted with it. I found a neat little book called Hymns for a Kid's Heart that includes a great version of My Father's World. In the My Father's World curricula they add a new hymn every two weeks. The girls and I decided to add a new hymn to our studies this week. Meadow chose 'O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing, written by Charles Wesley. Charles was also homeschooled, and his mother used the Bible as their text. He wrote over six thousand hymns in his lifetime! I thought it a good idea to go ahead and cover all of the hymns included in this book, even though it only has three of the hymns studied in My Father's World.

Once we finish in prayer we begin our history. I love doing history as a family. I love studying U.S. History. I didn't pay a lot of attention to it when I was in school so I missed out on a lot. The girls don't love it as much as I do but they are learning and remembering so much. They are both creating art pictures several days a week of what we cover that day. They are drawing explorers, ships and other things. These make for a beautiful notebook.

Then we break for lunch and come back to work separately. Sky is using Teaching Textbooks grade 7 for math. It has truly become a huge blessing in our home. She can work completely on her own and the program even grades each lesson for me. You can see examples of how it works by visiting the link. She is using Phonetic Zoo for spelling and this has proved, thus far, to be a wonderful hit. I love finding things that make my job easier and learning more fun for the girls. For science Sky is using Apologia General Science. My Father's World has conveniently created a schedule that makes Apologia General Science easy to implement in our studies.

Sky is also using the recommended curricula from My Father's World for English and Writing. I have another Writing program that I hope to move her into soon but just getting started out I haven't had the time. I will be sure to share when we do.

Meadow is finishing up Sing Spell Read and Write with only a few more steps to go. This program has been my all time favorite for teaching kids to read. Its catchy and loads of fun with the music, games and prizes. We have also moved into Primary Language Lessons and Spelling by Sound and Structure by Rod and Staff. Somedays we have enough time and stamina to complete all of these and other days we alternate. For math Meadow is using BJU Math 2. I used BJU Math with Heaven all the way through school and I love it. However since finding Teaching Textbooks once Meadow reaches the fourth grade level we will be switching over. Teaching Textbooks is just to easy and fun and I have to say the price is much better than BJU's dvds.

I'm hoping to add in God's History of Art and Rosetta Stone Spanish as funds allow. Our days are full and eventful. I feel so accomplished when our work is complete. I praise the Lord for leading us back home and for continuing His work in me. I look forward to sharing more of our days soon!