Homeschooling A Houseful

For our preschool we will be using, lots of fun and games, educational activities we own, or I make. File Folders, etc. I will also be doing a letter a week preschool from confessions of a homeschooler . Peaceful will probably do a few of these activities too, as she would think they are fun! Along with that, they will cause plenty of mischief and make tons of noise!!!!

Along with our family studies, Peaceful will be working with her workboxes. She will have 12 boxes to complete through the day. Most are fun and games, with these included throughout. I also might try to incorporate five in a row, maybe with Valiant and Peaceful together, we will see... if I feel I can add one more thing to my teaching schedule or not! MATH~ Peaceful is working with Rod and Staff Math . PHONICS~ She is using Rod and Staff Phonics, we call them the green books. Along with that we are using the Abeka Sounds and Letters K . Peaceful, loves to color and do "busy work" so I am using that, with her for now! HANDWRITING~ Peaceful is using a reason for handwriting K . This is one of my favorite parts of this curriculum. She learns each letter individually. Then there is an animal we discuss for each letter, and she colors it. The A's have enjoyed keeping these, as animal notebooks! BIBLE/COLORING/BREAK TIME!!!~ We have used the Abeka Bible Friends for my last 3 A...

I am letting everyone know that I just updated my laundry detergent recipe, click here to see the update and new recipe.... I am now loving this detergent. I like it before, and felt it was helping with the budget, but not quite up to Mt. Washmore, and all the stains and dirt that 7 little A's can make, along with their Papa Bear. {Okay so Mama Bear is definitely up on the list of spilling on herself! Whenever I get bibs out for the youngest A's, Papa Bear, teases me and asks where mine is!!!} This stuff actually bubbles in the washer!!! I love seeing bubbles!!!

Valiant has a hard time studying and staying on task. I think this might be the year, he is finally finding a reason to read, and seeing that maybe holding still long enough and putting forth enough time and practice to finally learn! He too tends to lead to the right brained learner style. Along with our regular family lessons, Valiant will also be doing the following.... PERSONAL DEVOTIONAL~ Every morning, Valiant reads 2-3 verses in his scriptures. MATH~ Valiant uses the Rod and Staff math . I like using this until around the 3rd level for my younger A's. It seems to work. Valiant is on level 2. I will have him also do the multiplication.com website. PHONICS~ Valiant is using the Rod and Staff phonics , we call them the green books! SCIENCE~twice a week Valiant, Peaceful and I will read through the Abeka Science Reader , enjoying God's world. HANDWRITING~ Valiant is also using the Reason for Handwriting Series. SPELLING~ We will see how this will work out. I have the Abeka S...

Along with our family studies, Charity will be doing the following as her independent studies. PERSONAL DEVOTIONAL AND JOURNAL~ Every morning each of the A's has a personal scripture devotional time. They are reading through the scriptures 1 chapter a day. She journals about what she read, copies on scripture from the chapter. Then she also journals about her life, or something she wants to write about. MATH~ Charity is currently working through Rod and Staff Mathematics . She has almost completed 4 and will probably move into Saxon 54 or 65. I will test her and see which is a better fit for her. Along with that she will be working with the online math facts drills... Multiplication.com . This is a daily subject. Again she must get less than 10 wrong to pass off the lesson. GRAMMAR~ Charity is working with Easy Grammar 3 . This will be a daily subject. SPELLING~ Charity is using Spelling Workout , along with Noble. She is working on level D. This is 1 lesson per week. Pre-Test take...

Along with our family studies, Virtue will be completing the following as her independent studies. Let me just say, it was a struggle teaching Virtue in the beginning. She doesn't learn, at all like Noble, and well Noble learns in "MY" style. I have had to change a lot of "MY" thinking when it comes to Virtue. This is not saying she is not as smart, or not as talented. She definitely has her strong points, as do all kids. For a long time I pushed her to do what I wanted, and forced her to work her way through different curriculum.... only to push her to a point she was over loaded and bogged down. It has taken some time for me to figure out what works for her, and even then sometimes I choose something, she isn't untested in! If you have ever had a child who didn't learn in the typical learning style. You really should look into Right Brain Learners... this is what finally made learning click with Virtue! This is a link to Dianne Craft , this is the fir...

Here is a look at Nobles IS sheet . Not all his IS subjects are included, there are a few I will add later. There are a few subjects I mentioned, but don't know how often he will complete them. This will give a general idea of how I keep it all {somewhat} straight! Notice they also turn in their planners every day 5 {typically Fridays} so I can look it over and make sure everything was completed. Along with that they must show it to me daily, before I okay them to be done with school. If I noticed they didn't complete much, or as much as I would have liked. I will make suggestions, but I only suggest. The only time I require is on Day 5, the whole sheet must be finished... no exceptions. All the kids have had weeks where they have "learned it the hard way" but that's how it goes, sometimes.