Today started our second week of school so I thought I had better get on and update otherwise I may never get to it!!!
David and I were both home schooled so making the decision to home school our children came pretty easily. I could give you a very long list of the reasons this is the best choice for our family but I'll spare you today!. Every year when the school bus starts driving by again my heart overflows with thankfulness that we have the freedom to keep our children home with us. The thought of being away from them every day literally makes me hurt.
Here are our little scholars this year!
Darin is almost three so he's in that magic pre-Pre-School year, meaning that school only happens if its fun and wanted. I've learned the hard way that pushing school on a little one doesn't ever pay off. Learning is a gift and one of life's most exciting adventures. At ages two, three and four they learn to either enjoy and anticipate learning or dread and despise it. Darin has been DYING to do school so this fall his school consists primarily of several Usborne books that are fun, beautiful and great learning tools. Here are some of his favorites!
Esther- First Grade
Ella- Second Grade
While Ella and Esther have their own Math, Handwriting, and Reading, the bulk of their school they do together following Ambleside Online's curriculum plan. I discovered Ambleside Online two years ago and have found it to be an excellent fit for our family. It is a Charlotte Mason style curriculum and there is actually nothing you buy from the site. It's merely a booklist with a detailed schedule of what should be read when. Most of the books are older books that can be found for free for the Kindle. I'm not a huge Kindle fan so I've had good luck finding them on Thriftbooks and Amazon.
With six children doing school at the same time it works beautifully to put multiple girls doing the same level in this program. They progress at their own pace in Math, Writing and Reading and then together they read beautiful books each year. Our favorite book this term is by far Pilgrim's Progress. Even these young girls are LOVING the story and I am just relishing this time reading aloud such a tremendous story with such great discussions added to it. I'm amazed at what they are able to pull out even with the difficult language.
Havilah- Fourth Grade
Bethany- Sixth Grade
Bethany and Havilah are also doing their own math, writing, and reading and doing an Ambleside year together. This term they are reading about Winston Churchill, Albert Einstein, 20th century world history, wonders of the world, creation science and more!
Lydia- Seventh Grade
Lydia's school year is a little different this year. High school is just around the corner so we figured it was a good year to dig a little deeper into her specific interests so we can have a little better vision into what her high school years should look like. She is doing about 50% of what Bethany and Havilah are studying. In addition she is studying Anatomy and Physiology, European geography and history, typing, Spanish, and creative writing.
We're only on week two, but so far the year seems to be going wonderfully. This is my absolute favorite time of the year (except maybe Christmas...) and a huge portion of that is starting school and regaining some schedule with my kids. There are hard days, (in fact I have someone crying about math right now), but I love that overall, from pre-pre-school to seventh grade, they all have a zest and excitement for learning!!!
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