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Mar 5, 2011

Homeschooling Changes

I have blogged about our education choices briefly in the past.  For whatever reason the topic is not something I normally put on the blog.  This last year has been an up and down one for us as most of you know.  That includes the kids school work.  I have been torn on exactly what to do.  I am a classical homeschooler, it is the method that speaks to my hyper-organized left brain.  I like the preciseness, the chronology and the rigor of it.  It speaks to my heart.  However it does not fit with my child(ren) at least not the way I want to implement it.

I have spent months mulling it over in my head, weighing, pondering, and praying about the coming school year.  I have spent weeks on end watching the kids and really noticing the how and whys of their actions, thoughts, and interest level in school.  After much consideration I have (temporarily) jumped the classical ship.  I plan to head back that way come 5th grade or so (just in time for the beginning of a new 4yr rotation) but for now we need to relax, laugh and have more fun.

What did I go with?  Well besides all the issues regarding the kids, I also wanted something that I just didn't have to think about and plan out every single day.  I wanted it all grab and go with lesson plans already done for me.  So we went with Sonlight.

We went with the customizable Yr 1 package and the customizable Yr 3.  We stuck with Horizons math for Ian but switched to Saxon for Caitlin.  I do not like Saxon math for reasons I can not put my finger on but Caitlin thrives on it.  So who cares what I think, she learns better with it.  I added in a few things like Explode the Code for both kids plus Wordly Wise, Sequential Spelling, and a couple of other things to beef up the language arts program.  Caitlin will be learning Latin and both kids will play around with typing and Spanish.  I feel so much better about next year and I have to say I have never been so excited to see lesson plans in my life!

We also found out we have an amazing homeschooling co-op here. WOOT WOOT!  I am so excited to join the group next year. (They work on a semester base with the last class in 6 weeks).

1 comment:

Amanda Pittman said...

This is my first year homeschooling, as my oldest is in kindergarten this year. We are using Sonlight as well. I really enjoy the ease of the lesson plans, and the flexibility. We switch it up a lot, sometimes doing all of the history/geography in one day, and science the next. I have added Explode the Code (last week), and can already see a difference in her ability to sound out the words. We really like it, although I am thinking of exploring other curriculum for next year. Just thinking, but the lesson plans being made already are SO appealing!