What TS 1 Has Been Up To

As you may have read, I'm sharing about what each of our test subjects have been up to so far this year.  You can read all about TS 2's year so far here and TS 3's here.  This week is is TS 1's turn in the spotlight.  TS 1 is in sixth grade, and we are using the following curricula as part of our Classical Christian/Charlotte Mason style homeschool.

Humanities Core:

Includes History, Geography, Church History, Music and Art Appreciation

Tapestry of Grace, Year 2, Units 3 & 4

Language Arts

Growing with Grammar Level 6 (Grammar)

Following Narnia: Writing Lessons in Structure and Style (Composition)A Reason for Handwriting, Letter F  (Cursive Practice)

Math:

Complete Math-U-See Epsilon Level and Begin Zeta Level

Science:

Apologia: Exploring Creation with Anatomy and Physiology

Bible:

Apologia: Who is God?

Foreign Language:

Rosetta Stone Spanish (Latin America)- Homeschool Edition

Keyboarding:

Typing Instructor for Kids

Art/Music/PE/Sci, SS or Lit Enrichment:

Activities within Tapestry of Grace
Weekly Piano Lessons

Weekly Homeschool Co-op (PE, Art and U.S. Government and Elections Class)

Community Sports (Baseball and Basketball)

This year, I decided to try TS 1 in the Dialectic level of TOG.  He is a sixth grader this year, which is the first year that TOG recommends trying the Dialectic Level of the curriculum.  Since TS 1 enjoys history and is a fairly quick reader, I thought he might be able to handle this level.  The difference between the Dialectic level and the level he was on last year (Upper Grammar) is that in addition to learning important facts about people and events, the student is also challenged to make and articulate connections across events, people and countries.  Moving up to the Dialectic level has turned out to be the right decision for TS 1.  He is enjoying history more than ever before!  The amount of reading has not been overwhelming and he is so curious and interested in the content.  We are having a discussion of the content and the connections across the different readings and events at the end of each week plan.  We both really enjoy these discussions, but we have had to spread them out over two days because they are quite lengthy.  I can't really express in words just how delighted I am to see TS 1 enjoying history, to see it coming alive for him.  This was one of the subjects that had been so dry and lifeless for him in school, so to see this change makes my homeschooling mama heart happy :)

(What?  Doesn't everybody do their math hanging off the couch???)

TS 1  finished his MUS Epsilon book a few weeks ago- hurray!!!  He started right away on the Zeta level, and is moving quickly through the introductory lessons.  I seriously considered switching to a new math program for TS 1, as I am not sure MUS is the right fit for him.  However, since I had purchased the next level already, and he was not opposed to moving forward with it, we decided to bite the bullet.  Before we came to this conclusion, I researched Teaching Texbooks (looks great!) and even had him take a couple of the assessments to determine the level he would enter if we switched.  I also looked into Life with Fred (so fun!), but decided I would need to do too much supplementing with it to feel he had covered all he needed to for a full year's study.  In the end, I decided that it didn't make sense to switch now, when he is only one level away from Pre-Algebra.  If we still feel a change is in order, I think it makes more sense to do it at the end of this level than now.  Since he had already changed from a spiral math program at school to MUS, I was worried than another change now plus the change to Pre-Algebra next year just left too much opportunity for gaps in his learning.  I'm still not sure if we made the right decision, but a decision had to be made nonetheless!

Spelling Power has turned out to be a truly painless way to work on spelling a little every day.  Growing with Grammar works the same for us for grammar.  This year I added a handwriting component for TS 2 because his handwriting is quite poor.  He learned beautiful d'nealian print and manuscript in school, but he usually rushes when writing and produces sloppy work.  He is capable of much more in this area, so we are working on that this year.  He works on handwriting three times a week, and keyboarding once a week. 

(What?  Doesn't everybody do writing on their knees leaning on the chair???)

For composition, TS 1 has been working through IEW's Following Narnia curriculum.  The program is a combination of review of what he learned last year and assignments that build upon and expand the skills he already learned.  He is doing well with the curriculum and works independently on it for the most part.  If he had not completed the Student Writing Intensive last year, Following Narnia would have been much more challenging for him and labor intensive for me.  I would not recommend that one start with this curriculum if you are new to IEW unless the teacher had time to prepare for and directly teach each lesson. 

TS 2 continues to work through the first book in Apologia's worldview series, Who is God?  I am pleased with how the curriculum teaches biblical concepts plainly and clearly and then links them to real-life situations through stories and probing questions.  We use the accompanying notebook, although it is not a necessary component of the program.  It simply enhances it and makes it easier for me to be sure he is understanding and applying what he has read. 

Tom is doing science with the test subjects again this year, and they seem to be enjoying the Human Anatomy study.  They recently completed the lesson on muscles and are on to the Digestive system this week.  I have been finding you tube videos to reinforce what they are learning this year, as the content is much more detailed than last year's Astronomy study. 

TS 2 is continuing through the first level of Rosetta Stone's Latin American Spanish course.  I believe he is almost through with Level 1.  To be honest, since this is not a required elective and won't be for some years now in our state, my goals for Spanish right now are just to provide exposure to the langauge.  As a result, I haven't been as diligent as I would like in keeping tabs on his progress up to this point.  I'm working on that :)

As for all the extras, co-op  is in full swing and TS 1 is really enjoying his classes.  He is taking U.S. Government and Elections, Physical Education and Art.  Piano lessons are also going well and he performed Bizet's Habanera from Carmen a few weeks ago at co-op assembly.  He was also invited to play on the sixth grade basketball team at the school he attended through fourth grade.  Practices have already started and games begin sometime around Thanksgiving.  He is enjoying it so far!  TS 1 also participates in a weekly baseball clinic, and has learned a lot of new skills so far.

Co-op Assembly

Each week at our homeschool co-op, a different family takes a turn performing during the morning assembly time.  This week it was our turn.  The test subjects decided to recite a Bible verse together and then the boys each played a piece on the piano.  They were followed by TS 3, who sang a song and did the sign language to go along with it.  It was very cute and since I am wiped out this afternoon, this little video will have to serve as my weekly post :)

What TS 3 Has Been Up To

When my IRL life friend, Vanessa, commented on my post last week to say that she was looking forward to reading about what TS 3 was up to in our homeschool, I got right to work on this post.  I have a saying, "what Vanessa wants, Vanessa gets."  This old adage is true for a myriad of reasons.  First of all, Vanessa and I have similar roots, and roots like these must be respected ;)  We both grew up in New York City and both of us are Puerto Rican- these two things might not seem like much, but when you are raising your family in suburbia, these commonalities provide for lots of laughter between us.  Secondly, we have very a similar sense of humor.  I know I can say something outlandish, and without missing a beat, she will respond with something even more hilarious.  Thirdly, she is my sister in Christ, an encourager and a prayer warrior on whom one can depend.  And if all that isn't enough, get this: the girl brought me a Pumpkin Spice Latte to our last field trip!  It was an outdoor hike at a nature preserve and she knows how too much nature gets this city girl all worked up.  Love you, V!

So, without further ado, here is what TS 3 has been up to so far this year.  TS 3 is in Kindergarten, and we are using the following curricula as part of our Classical Christian/Charlotte Mason style homeschool.

Humanities Core:

Includes History, Geography, Church History, Music and Art Appreciation

TS 3- Story of the World, Sections selected to correspond with Tapestry of Grace readings for TS 1 & 2 as well as selected Lower Grammar picture books from Tapestry of Grace

Language Arts

TS 3-  Institute for Excellence in Writing Primary Arts of Language (Reading, Writing, Spelling and Handwriting)

Math:

TS 3- Math-U-See Alpha Level; Math Made Easy 1

Science:

TS 3-  Human Body Study using a variety of workbooks and books from the library

Bible:

TS3- Explorer's Bible Study, Beginnings I, Precious in His Sight

Art/Music/PE/Sci, SS or Lit Enrichment:

Activities within Tapestry of Grace

Weekly Homeschool Co-op (Three Group Classes including PE, Music and Literature Enrichment on Fridays with Other Local Homeschoolers)

Weekly Dance and Gymnastics Classes

If you've been hanging around our lab for long, you might have noticed that TS 3 was a Kindergartner last year, too.  She went to Kindergarten at the school that all the test subjects attended before this experiment began.  Going in last year, we knew she was on the young side for Kindergarten and anticipated some challenges for her in the very academic program she entered.  She held her own, though, with the encouragement and support of her wonderful teacher.  Once we decided to bring her home for this school year, though, it was an easy decision (relatively) to have a Kindergarten do-over.  She simply needs more time and practice to nail down the fundamentals before the pace and workload of a first grade curriculum begins.  With this in mind, our focus with TS 3 is simple: building up her reading, writing and math skills.

When she and I meet first thing every morning, we begin with a lesson in her Bible study book.  It is a very sweet curriculum and consists of a short Bible story, some questions to check her comprehension of the story, a song and a prayer.  

After Bible time, we spend a few minutes working with the calendar using a small magnetic calendar and this calendar journal I found on Pinterest.  We end Calendar Time with a journal entry  each day.  

After Calendar Time, we begin our reading and writing lessons for the day.  This time usually includes some combination of the following: reading and summarizing a story orally, learning how to print new letters and learning new phonogram sounds, reviewing phonograms that were learned in previous lessons (or from last year) and/or reviewing printed letters that were previously learned.   Now that I've said all this, I should mention that I am going to be changing the way we do reading together soon.  The PAL program I mentioned above seems to be moving too fast for TS 3, and there have been several instances recently when she seemed more confused and taxed than I think she should be so early in the year.  After talking with my trusty, experienced homeschool mom friends, I am going to pare down our reading time to include working through words lists, phonogram cards, sight words and phonetic readers until TS 3's fluency is more solid.  

My morning meeting time with TS 3 lasts about 60 to 90 minutes, and then she is off on her own for about an hour.  During that independent work time, she listens to an audiobook in her room and then has a Center Time.  

Center Time changes every day and every week for variety.  The centers that she rotates through include:

• Mondays- Writing, Stickers or Stamping
• Tuesdays- Puzzles, Coloring or Blocks
• Wednesdays- Scissors, Playdough or Painting
• Thursdays- Arts and Crafts, Games or Dance

After Audiobook Time and Center Time, it is Snack Time for everyone.  This is when I do the history related read aloud for all three test subjects.  After snack, the boys go off for a break, while TS 3 and I work on her math lesson.  In addition to her Math-U-See lesson each day, she either plays a math game on the iPad or completes a page in her Math Made Easy workbook.  After Math time, she has a break to play while I catch up with the boys.

Next up for TS 3 is Reading Eggs, an online reading program she has been using since late last year.  She completes a lesson a day on Reading Eggs.  She is usually able to complete this lesson independently, although she does need my help from time to time.  We may put Reading Eggs on hold as well soon, and switch to Explode the Code online for some additional lower level reading practice.  

After Reading Eggs comes lunch and a break for all of us.  TS 3 does another Center Time in the afternoon with one of her brothers using the file folder games I created from the PAL reading curriculum which reinforce what she is learning.  At some point in the afternoon, I sit down with her again to read aloud one of the Lower Grammar books from TOG for history or a few pages from the science books we are studying about the human body.

She's doing the skeleton dance from this video at the end of our science lesson on bones this week.

TS 3 uses this schedule chart to work through her day.  It helps her "see" where she is in her day, and it helps me, at a quick glance, to make sure she is on track even when I am not working with her.

All things considered, I think TS 3 is doing well so far this year.  Once we implement the tweaks I mentioned here, I hope she will feel more confident in reading and make steadier progress in this area.

Are you home schooling a Kindergartener?  I'd love to hear all about.  Leave a comment or a link to your blog, please!

What TS 2 Has Been Up To

I thought I'd mix it up a bit this week and write about how TS 2 is doing so far this year.  (I'll write separate posts about what TS 1 and TS 3 are up to in the coming weeks.)  TS 2 is in third grade, and we are using the following curricula as part of our Classical Christian/Charlotte Mason style homeschool.

Humanities Core:

Includes History, Geography, Church History, Music and Art Appreciation

TS 2- Tapestry of Grace, Year 2, Units 3 & 4

Language Arts

TS2- Christian Light Publishing Reading, Grade 3 (Reading Comprehension)

TS2- A Reason for Handwriting, Book T (Cursive Handwriting)

TS2- Institute for Excellence in Writing: Student Writing Intensive , Level A (Composition)

TS2- First Language Lessons, Level 3 (Grammar)
TS 2- Spelling Power

Math

TS2- Math-U-See Gamma Level; Math Made Easy 3

Science:

TS 2- Apologia: Exploring Creation with Anatomy and Physiology

Bible:

TS2- Explorer's Bible Study, Beginnings II, Jesus, My Shepherd

Foreign Language:

TS 2- Rosetta Stone Spanish (Latin America)- Homeschool Edition

Art/Music/PE/Sci, SS or Lit Enrichment:

Weekly Piano Lessons

Weekly Homeschool Co-op (PE, U.S. Government and Elections and Art)

Community Sports

In an earlier post, I wrote about how I decided to try TS 2 in the Upper Grammar level of TOG this year.  As it turns out, we have moved back down to the Lower Grammar level for now.   The history readings were too detailed and he was feeling lost and confused.  He seemed to be holding his own with the literature readings, but was a bit overwhelmed with the jump in the amount of reading each week.  It was not an easy decision for me, even though he is on the young side for Upper Grammar level.   In the end, I realized that my goal for history at the grammar level is to expose the kids to the big picture of the people and events of a given time period in an engaging and interesting way.  The best way to provide that experience for TS 2 right now is to stay in the Lower Grammar level.

TS 2 is flying through his MUS Gamma book.  At this point, he has learned his 0, 1, 2 and 10 times tables.  He seems to be understanding the concept of multiplication as well and is applying it successfully to simple word problems.

Spelling Power has turned out to be a truly painless way to work on spelling a little every day.

He is doing well with IEW as well.  I did not realize that the Student Writing Intensive was actually geared to 4-6 grade when I decided on it for TS 2's third grade year.  We are taking it slow and he is doing very well so far.  

We still love First Language Lessons and he has memorized Robert Louis Stevenson's poem, The Land of Nod, already.  Christian Light's Grade 3 Reader and workbook are providing a good foundation for our reading comprehension work this year.  While we read a lot in our homeschool, I still felt TS 2 needed a reading comprehension program that covered all the bases.  Using it, I feel more confident that he is working on these skills more explicitly, more completely and more often than if we just discussed his history readings each week.

TS 2 just finished his Studying God's Word book from last year for Bible.  It was a study of the doctrines of the Christian faith.  Part of his work in this book was to learn the answers to a series of 60 questions about the faith.  I am so proud of all he learned!  I'm working on a video to share.  He just started the Bible study listed above for his daily bible time, and it seems to be just right for him.

Tom is doing science with the test subjects again this year, although we have gotten off to a slow start so far.  They seem to be enjoying the Human Anatomy study and wrapped up lesson by making and eating an edible cell.  Throughout the first lesson, they loved these two videos about cells, and the information they learned in the reading was reinforced through them.  TS 2 especially seems to learn quickly when information is put to music or rhythm.

As for all the extras, co-op started a few weeks ago and TS 2 is really enjoying his classes.  Piano lessons are also going well and he will be performing a piece at co-op assembly in a few weeks.  He was invited to play on the third grade team at the school he attended for pre-k, kindergarten and first grade.  Practices start next week and games start around Thanksgiving.  He is very excited about it!

Weekly Wrap Up: The One in which We Got Our Groove Back

This first (almost) month of school has been a whirlwind!  While homeschooling three has turned out to be quite a feat (for me, at least), I think I can finally say that we have found our groove.  We tried several different schedules before I felt we fell into a workable one.  

First, we tried a "little ones first" schedule, which equated to me spending about 90 minutes with my daughter for kindergarten followed by 30-45 minutes with my third grader.  This left my oldest waiting until after lunch for any focused time with me, which was just not working out for us.

Then we tried a modified "little ones first" schedule, which meant I still met with TS 3 first, but for a shorter time.  Then I met with TS 2 for about 45 minutes for Language Arts, and tried to squeeze in a little time in with TS 1 before lunch.  This schedule just left all of us feeling rushed all day long.

Our current schedule, which seems to be flowing more smoothly, looks something like this:
8:30-9:30       Meet with TS 3
9:30-10          Meet with TS 2
10:00-10:30  Meet with TS 1
10:30-11       Snack/Read Aloud
11-11:30       Meet with TS 3 while TS 1 & 2 take a short break
11:30-12       Meet with TS 2  while TS 3 takes her break
12-12:30       Meet with TS 1
12:30-1         Lunch
1-1:30           Meet with TS 3 while TS 1 & 2 have recess
1:30-2           Meet as needed (Recess for TS 3)
2-3                Meet as needed

While I am still bouncing from one test subject to the other all day, there is less waiting time for any one child for my help.  I was reluctant to separate the kids for their breaks, but I was noticing that TS 3 was choosing to do her own thing anyway during break time while the boys played baseball outside.  If she starts to feel lonely and wants to play with them during breaks, I will have to rethink this.  For now, though, we are all enjoying our homeschool groove :)

Everyone seems to be far enough into their studies at this point to know what to expect in a typical day in each subject.  This is probably also helping us to feel like we are in a groove with school.  

In other news, we had a great first week at co-op last Friday!  My first experience teaching at co-op went really well. I am teaching two U.S. Government and Election classes to two age groups, 1-3 grade and 4-6 grade.  I am so glad I did most of the planning and preparation over the summer!  I cannot imagine if I had to plan and prepare two group lessons every week.  Since most of the work is done already, I simply have to review my lessons beforehand and perhaps prepare a chart or two for visuals.

The weather was so beautiful after co-op on Friday that we wound up staying afterwards for almost three hours!  The kids had a blast playing outside together and the moms had the chance to catch up from the long summer break.

We went apple and pumpkin picking last Saturday.  

TS 3 and I have been reading lots of great picture books about apples these past few weeks, so it was a fun experience to tie into our reading.  She and I have been baking with apples all week.  We made apple muffins on Sunday.  

On Wednesday afternoon, we made an apple crisp to share with our home Bible study group.  We are thinking about making applesauce over the weekend.  

We have our homeschool group's kick off meeting this Saturday, which should make for a fun afternoon.  If we have another "groovy" week here at the lab, perhaps I'll have some time to share about what each test subject is working on in their various subjects :)

Have a wonderful weekend, friends!

Weekly Wrap Up: The One with 2 Baptisms and a Birthday

Phew!  Homeschooling three test subjects is kicking my butt!  Moving from two to three students has increased the demands and busyness of my day exponentially.  I am still trying to find a schedule that seems fair and manageable for each of us.  In addition to the hectic school day, a few after-school activities, namely dance and baseball, started up again this week, too.

I am still working with TS 3 first thing in the morning for about an hour, and then sending her off to do centers and computer work while I rotate among the boys.  I have decided, though, that TS 1 must get to his math in the morning, so meeting with him in the morning is also a priority.  He doesn't really need me to teach him the material.  My presence at math time is usually more for moral support than anything else.  If he has to wait until the afternoon to begin math though, it usually ends in tears or conflict.  

I am also re-evaluating how much work I have been assigning TS 2.  He is an industrious worker for the most part and does not waste much time, yet he is often the last to finish each day.  Considering he is only in third grade, while big brother is in sixth, I need to figure this out.  As I mentioned last week, I am contemplating moving him back to Lower Grammar in TOG to see if that helps.

Moments like these, make all the frenzy of this adjustment period worth it:

TS 2 reviewing sight words and phonograms with TS 3 

Switching gears for a bit, I have to share that both of our boys decided to get baptized this Sunday!  TS 2 was the first to tell us that he wanted to be baptized when he heard an announcement at church about upcoming baptisms.  TS 1 was not sure if he was ready even up to Sunday morning.  We want our children to take the step of baptism out of of obedience to God and of their own accord and not under pressure from us, so we talked to him about why a believer gets baptized and we helped him decide if the reasons he had for and against baptism were valid.  In the end, though, we left him to wrestle with the decision on his own.  Of course, we rejoiced that they both decided to enter the waters of baptism.  It was a beautiful day!

Today is TS 3's sixth birthday!  SIX years ago today, the most beautiful little girl in the world was born in Guatemala!  A little girl, 2,000 miles away, was born in our hearts and changed our lives forever. 

We started the day today with her requested breakfast treat: chocolate chip pancakes.

Tonight we will celebrate as a family with her birthday dinner at the local Mexican restaurant we go to for all our birthdays.  Obligatory birthday girl in sombrero picture forthcoming :)  Cousins and friends will join us on Sunday afternoon for a gymnastics birthday party.

Well, friends, I think this is about all I can muster today.  I am wiped out!  And next week, co-op starts!  I think I can, I think I can...

Weekly Wrap Up: The One Featuring Back to School!

After a productive Labor Day weekend which included a healthy balance of work (garage and attic clean out) 

and play,

we started back to homeschool on Tuesday.  

If I believed in Murphy's law, which I don't, but if I did, I would have expected the unexplained and out of the blue fever that TS 2 came down with on Monday night.  He was so excited for the first day of school that he came downstairs on Tuesday morning fairly close to our regular wake up time anyway and even worked through part of his schedule.  I encouraged him to take lots of breaks throughout the day, which he did whenever the Motrin wore off and the fever crept back up.  He had fever on and off on Wednesday, too, but has been fine since then.

I had this idea that since we already had a year of homeschooling under our belts that we would just launch full speed ahead on the first day of this school year.  (Stop laughing!  I'm still a newbie, you know :)  After that first day, I took all of our electives out of our schedule and pared us down to the basics for the next week or so.  Once we are on a predictable schedule again, we will add subjects like Spanish and keyboarding back into our days.   

After this reality check, Wednesday went much more smoothly.  My biggest challenge right now is figuring out how to balance my time between the three test subjects.  The way my schedule is set up right now, I spend about an hour first thing in the morning one-on-one with TS 3, working through her main curricula (Bible, Calendar Time, Reading, Writing and Math).  

Then while she is off doing some independent activities (Center Time, Reading Eggs, Audio Books), I spend 30 minutes or so individually with the other test subjects to review math and any other subjects that need my attention.  I circle back with TS 3 for history or science later in the day.  This routine is working well enough, but I feel like the the boys are getting frustrated when they have to wait an hour or more for my focused attention.  I know part of this process is training them to wait, but part of their frustration is understandable because sometimes they need my help before they can move on with their assignments.

A dear friend and veteran homeschooling mom gave me this index card idea, which has been very effective in guarding the individual meeting times I have with each test subject.

I keep one of these colored index cards out on the table (or couch) beside me to indicate whether I am available to help anyone but the child I am working with at the time.  Red says, "please do not interrupt us at all right now."  Yellow says, "you may ask a quick question."  Green says, "you are free to ask anything, or tell me whatever you have been waiting to tell me."  It has been working very well so far, although one test subject, who shall remain nameless, keeps forgetting to check the card before calling across the room for me.  

Thursday was another productive day, but, boy, was I worn out by 3 p.m.!  Homeschooling three children is hard work.  I have a feeling there will be a revival in my prayer life this year.  After only three days, I'm fully aware that I will not be able to do this in my own strength!  

It's Friday, and we seemed to have found our groove now.  I am still contemplating possible tweaks to our schedule, but I want to wait on any changes until the end of next week.  The other issue I am wondering about is my decision to try TS 2 in the Upper Grammar level of TOG this year. The jump in reading (both the amount and the level) per week might be too much for him.  Again, I am not making any big decisions just yet, but I am thinking about changing over to a mix of Lower and Upper Grammar for him.

Some of my favorite moments from our Back to School Week:

TS 1 and 2 climbing the walls, literally

All three test subjects creating baseball stadiums during "recess"

The finished products

Big brother "teaching" little sister during center time

When all three wandered into the same room to work- love being together!