HOMESCHOOL REFLECTIONS

As this year of homeschooling comes to an end, I thought it would be fun and interesting to take a trip down memory lane. So I’ll be posting a series of homeschool posts from my past (old dead blog) and reflecting on what I’ve written and if things have really changed every Thursday. It should be an educating journey.

April 2004
Even though my kids are still in the first and 3rd grade, I’m doing alot of research on curriculum and books for next year. This is what I have decided so far… I reserve the right to change my mind at any time! I went to a local book drive and got four boxes of bookd for free. So for this first year my decsions for science and history are based on what I was able to get for FREE.

Saxon Math 65 & 43
Easy Grammar/Plus
Spelling Power
A Combo of Rod & Staff and ABeka Science.
History: BJU… I’m still looking for some good Ancient History books
Latin: undecided curriculum but very easy for a 2nd and 4th grader to comprehend.
Konos Character studies… obedience, patience, orderliness, attentiveness ( I will cover many of these over the summer and then review in fall)

Books to read:
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne (Treasury of Illustrated Classics)
Moby Dick by Herman Melville (TIC)
Avalanche by Ron Roy
Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss (Abridged)
The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare
The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks
The Trumpet Swan by E.B. Whit
Helen Keller

I’ll be doing a Civil War unit Charley Skedaddle by Patricia Beatty and Behind Rebel Lines are books used in this study. Other Civil War books we will read are:

Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt (Newberry Medal)

Bull Run by Paul Fleishman

Other books we own and may read this year are: (TIC)

Call of the Wild by Jack London (we also have the movie)

Robinson Crusoe By Daniel Defoe

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

Well those of my plans so far. But as we all know, “The best laid plans of mice and Men often go ary.”

Needless to say, I was an eager beaver. Though we stayed on track with Saxon Math (though it took my oldest over a year to complete 6/5) we never got around to Spelling Power.

We tried and ditched Latin, Konos, and wasn’t quite thorough with ABeka science, though I did hit science heavily the first year and then backed off a bit on the second and third years. In fact, we hit history hard the first year also, but then again I was only homeschooling two kids.

We read a lot of the books, but never got around to the Civil War. In fact, we’re just hitting the Westward exspansion this summer. We traded off with Ancient History first semester and American History the second semester that’s why we’re a little behind in American History. Plus we hit the French and Indian War real hard, which I doubt the schools even touch on.

This summer we’ll be reading the Revolutionary War stories by Nancy Rue which will hopefully propell us into the Westward expansion and the Little House series. I just wish Grace was old enough to enjoy these stories!

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