Our Curriculum Plans for 2016-17

This year, we are keeping some of our favorites from our first year, adding in some new subjects, and changing out some things that weren't a good fit for us.

For starters, we enrolled Ethan and Alex in Kolbe Homeschool Academy using their homeschool courses. With the flexibility they offer, we will be using some of their courses and some of our own choices, while also taking advantage of their transcript services and future use of their diplomas. 

Ethan's officially a high schooler now (we basically repeated 8th grade last year to give him a chance to mature, hit some areas where he struggles and find our groove since we were coming from a public school setting.) I felt it would be good to have some guidance on certain courses, a way to track his grades and write a transcript that would be from an accredited school since he will - hopefully! - be my first homeschool graduate in approximately 4 years, and I am a bit nervous about the transcript portion. We will be starting to do career and college research this year, and look into PSAT/SAT/ACT testing as well.

Alex did almost all 6th grade work last year, save religion and wordly wise which he did at the 5th grade level. Since he is officially a middle schooler, and starting 7th grade, I thought it would be good to also use Kolbe to have some guidance in courses, and tracking grades. Plus if he takes Algebra 1 in 8th grade, I believe he can get high school credit on his transcript! He will be doing 6th grade religion and possibly level 6 of wordly wise.

I didn't enroll Jackson in Kolbe this year as he won't be 5 until January and even then I will likely wait to enroll him until he is in 7th grade if we go that route. However, he has really surprised me the last few months with the amount of learning he has done and continues to want to do, without formal schoolwork! We will be doing K4 together this year - basically preschool/kindergarten combo - and then K5 next year, unless he seems ready to just dive into 1st. Jackson is able to write letters and number fairly well, attempts to spell simple words by sounding them out and asking for help, and can write his name. He is trying to read words by sounding them out. In addition, he can draw and identify shapes, add 1+1 and can count to 20 consistently. We won't be doing a really formal curriculum this year with him.

English Language Arts

Since Ethan and Alex are both naturally good spellers, there's really no need for them to use a formal spelling program anymore.

We will continue to use Wordly Wise 3000 online for vocabulary. We purchased a yearly subscription through Homeschool Buyers' Co-op a few months ago, and the boys really like it. Ethan will be doing level 9 and Alex will do level 6.

For our grammar lessons, we will continue using IEW's Fix it Grammar books. Last year, we used book 1 and about half of book 2. This year, we will finish up book 2 and move on to book 3.

We decided to try something new for composition and writing this year with all three of the boys. WriteShop 1 will be used by Ethan and Alex for their main English curriculum. If you are able to print, and have more than one child using it, or have other children who will use in the future, I highly recommend buying the workbook in e-book format. You can print as many as you need for single-family use!

Jackson will be using WriteShop Primary A over the course of the next two years.

Although I like IEW's Student Writing Intensive B, it didn't feel like a great fit. We may revisit it later in the year to continue to glean more from it. It did help the boys learn how to pull out key words and take notes, as well as expand their word usage by giving them the banned word lists.

For additional essay topics, I plan to use the 100 philosophy questions from Westvon Publishing, as well as history essays.

Literature/Reading

Alex will be using Kolbe's Junior High Literature Course over the next two years, and has already planned out which books he would like to read for both years! There's always the chance he'll change his mind for next year, but there are plenty of wonderful options.

Ethan will be using a number of selections on the book list from the JH Literature even though he will not be taking that particular course. The choices are just that good!

Ethan and Alex will both be reading the following (as well as several other books that are history related):

• 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
• The Black Arrow by Robert Louis Stevenson
• Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson 
• Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha by Evelyn M. Brown

Alex's list also includes:

• The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
• Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
• St. Benedict by Mary Fabyan Windeatt
• Short stories
1. The Ransom of Red Chief by O. Henry
2. The Last Leaf by O. Henry
3. The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry
4. The Story of the Other Wise Man by Henry Van Dyke
5. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
6. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
7. The Red Headed League by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
8. The Devil and Daniel Webster by Stephen Vincent Benet
9. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Ethan will also read:

• Animal Farm by George Orwell
• Little Women by Louis May Alcott
• The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
• The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway 
• Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis
• Perelandra by C.S. Lewis

Jackson and I are going to be using Five in a Row Volume 1, as well as using it for inspiration to "row" other great picture books. It really covers more than just reading for him. It also gives science, geography, social studies, etc suggestions.

History

We really enjoyed RC History Connecting with History Volume 1: Ancient History and the Old Testament and have decided to stick with it. We have one unit left from last school year that we will start with. It's a chronological program so we can just continue right on into Volume 2, which is Early Medieval history through 1066 AD, the New Testament and the Early Church.

The book list for RC History is extensive and includes many non-fiction and historical fiction selections.

Ethan will mostly use the Logic level books, but will also use a couple from the Grammar level. Alex will use a mix of Grammar and Logic level books. Jackson and I will read a few of the Beginner level books together as well.

We also have some hands-on books about castles and the Middle Ages and animated versions of Ben-Hur and The Odyssey that we will use to enhance our studies.

Geography

Geography is a new addition to our home school this year, even though I've had the curriculum for about a year. Using GeoMatters Trail Guide to World Geography, Ethan will do the Secondary level, and Alex will do the Intermediate level, and both will use the student notebooks.

To enhance our geography study, and to include Jackson, I purchased Give Your Child the World. There are so many great books listed in it, and I'm currently matching up different choices from the age groups to the places from each week of our formal curriculum.

Mathematics

Ethan finally seemed to find his groove last year once we switched to Teaching Textbooks. He'll be doing the Algebra 2 course this year.

Alex finished the year with Saxon 7/6 but found it boring. He practically begged to use Teaching Textbooks like his brother, so he'll be using their Pre-Algebra.


Science

Ethan will be doing Kolbe's Introduction to Physics and Chemistry (Physical Science) course, which uses the Prentice Hall Physical Science textbook.

Alex will use the Life Science course from Kolbe, that uses Holt Life Science short courses A,B,C and E.

We will likely do some nature study as a family as well.

Foreign Language

Ethan and Alex will be learning German, using Kolbe's German 1 course. Jackson will learn some simple German words, like colors, numbers, animals, and food. Things that I remember from my high school German classes ;)

Religion

Ethan is going to be confirmed in the Spring of 2017, and has chosen his Confirmation Sponsor, and Patron Saint. Our Parish requires that he use the same religious education curriculum that they do, and they would like him to attend the classes as well as the youth group meetings. I don't believe they can require the class/youth group portion though, and I explained that as homeschoolers, we have the chance to do religious education daily, just as a private Catholic school does. The new DRE said that we can do the classwork at home, but she didn't seem extremely pleased about it. The class is on Wednesday from 6-7:15pm, then a quick snack that they provide (that he won't be able to eat due to the Feingold elimination diet we follow), followed by the mandatory youth group meeting from 7:30-9:30pm. I know my kiddo, and there's no way he could handle basically a 3 and a half hour class in the evening, starting right at our dinner time, and ending after his normal bedtime. All of our kids are in bed by 9 or just after, with Ethan usually being the first one choosing to go to bed! He is an early riser, and is usually quite tired by 9pm. In addition to the Parish's required Confirmation Religious Ed text, Ethan will be working through the Didache Series' Introduction to Catholicism, which we may break into a 2 year course. It's a fairly thick textbook, with an in-depth study of Catholicism, and since he's going to be doing double-duty for formal RE this year, I feel it's only fair.

Alex will be using Faith and Life 6: Following Christ this year, following Kolbe's 6th grade religion course.

We are planning to start attending daily Mass on Wednesdays for a couple of months, and transitioning to going on Tuesdays and Thursdays. They will also be reading several books about Saints throughout the year, incorporated into History as well as just extra reading assignments.

Also new for this year, we will be using the free Virtues in Practice from the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia - Nashville starting with the Faith year. Ethan and Alex will both be doing the 6-8 grades level, and Jackson will do the Pre-K/Kindergarten level.

Life Skills

Having finally decided that they really need to learn HOW to clean and cook among other independent living skills, I've purchased and printed out both the Complete Girl's Guide to Home Skills and The Boy's Guide to Home Skills: The Young Man's Handybook as well as the lesson plans for each. Some of the skills overlap, and some we may not use at all (building a cabin or hosting a dinner party, for example), plus they are a bit "old-fashioned" in a sense, but we'll use what we feel will be useful. The whole part about one being written for girls, and one for boys doesn't really fit us, hence the reason we will use a combination of both.  They need to know how to keep a clean home, cook, and manage a budget, among other skills to run a household after they move out and I hope that any possible future daughters-in-law will appreciate that I tried to teach them these things.

In regards to managing a budget, Dave Ramsey has a financial literacy program called Foundations in Personal Finance. He's written a curriculum for both high schoolers and middle schoolers, both of which we will use. Ethan will start the high school one this year, and I may have Alex start the middle school one next year, after I get a chance to really read through it. For Jackson, and possibly Alex, I also bought Financial Peace, Jr, which is for ages 3-12.

In an effort to really help them, and make it fun, we also chose to buy the Act Your Wage board game at the same time as the above. Homeschool Buyers Co-op had a fantastic deal on all of them, so it was definitely worth it.

The best laid plans. We'll see how it all plays out. Two 18 week semesters, broken into either 9 week quarters, or 6 week sessions. I really need to write down our weekly lesson plans in my book for at least 6 or 9 weeks and see where that leaves us. I'm starting to, but keep getting distracted!

I hope everyone has a great school year, whether your kids go to public, private, or charter schools, or are homeschooled! They all deserve the very best, and it isn't going to be the exact same for any child.

It's definitely a journey

It only took almost twelve full weeks of us homeschooling to (I hope) find our groove. This week has been good. We've gotten most of the things done I'd like to cover each day. Some days it takes longer than planned, or we need breaks. On Thursday, we decided to try a new order or schedule.

I've been having the boys do their individual things first (two days a week after a grammar lesson, and sometimes after a read-aloud about that day's Saint): cursive, journal entry, literature, math, even their religious ed workbook on the days that we set aside for that. While they always got those done, I found that by the time we were ready to do group lessons of history, geography, science, religion and anything else I would like to do, they were burnt out, or too full of energy to give their full attention. We started spending less time on those things, or it was a battle, or working on them late in the day when Jason was home. That wasn't working. It was just too distracting. Once Jason gets home, they want to play or watch TV, or Jason does, or it's dinner time.

This week, as I said, we've done better about hitting most or all subjects each day. I've adjusted my expectations. If they read the bible as part of the history lesson, it counts as religion as well. (Yes, our history syllabus includes reading parts of the bible. First, we are doing Ancient History, which includes Egypt, and the surrounding areas, so it makes sense in terms of additional historical reference to how people lived, culture, etc. Secondly, we are Catholic Christians, and we believe in the bible. Just clarifying in case anyone is curious or has anything to say. Not debating this or trying to sound rude. Nothing but love for our family and friends :) )

So on Thursday, I opted to have us start with our group lessons. And coffee. He he he. My older boys like the iced frappés that McDonald's sells, so I figured I'd ask if they'd like a small cup of hot coffee with French vanilla creamer. The little bit of caffeine has done wonders for all three of us!

Alex almost immediately said he likes doing the group lessons first, and E seemed more involved and answered more questions than usual. So a grammar lesson and history reading (The Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt and Tales of Ancient Egypt) were first. Then we read about Saint Theresa of Avila from my awesome resource book Saints and Feast Days and St Martin from 57 Stories of Saints. We would have done chapter 2 and the lab from our Chemistry book, but realized we didn't have toothpicks anywhere. After lunch, they watched a quick episode of Physical Geography. Alex took his facts practice test and first math test from his new book (Saxon 7/6), E did his next math lesson, and both did spelling, cursive, literature, additional grammar work, and journal entry.

Yesterday, we were planning to attend a field trip that unfortunately got rained out and rescheduled for 10/30. It threw our day off though, as I hadn't planned anything outside of spelling tests and a quick journal entry. They both ended up doing some math, and then playing together with Jackson. I figure it was already going to be a day of little to no formal lessons, so we should just roll with it.

Next week, starting Monday, my tentative plan is to start with a walk/run for PE, then history - even though we are waiting on our new syllabus from RC History, I plan to include some if not all of the books/ideas from Ancient History through Literature that we are currently using, as there are some great books! - followed by grammar 2x a week, science 2x a week (reading the text one day, and the lab on the other), IEW writing, Saint study/Baltimore Catechism/Pearls of Peace, geography and literature. After that will be the independent or one-on-one with mom lessons of spelling, cursive, journaling, literature narration and/or independent reading, math, religion using their Faith and Life books and activity books, grammar or copy work, and IEW essay assigned earlier in the week. It will look a little like this:

Mon/Wed/Fri:
Together we will do:
PE: 1 mile walk/run
History: Lesson 10(etc) - read-aloud and notebook
Writing: Watch the IEW DVD for the current lesson and do the outline 1x week
Religion: Saint of the Day from Saints and Feast Days and/or 57 Stories of Saints; next lesson in St. Joseph's Baltimore Catechism #2 once a week; Pearls of Peace once a week
Geography: Mapwork or episode of Physical Geography
Literature: Current book (starting The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe this week)
Spanish 

Tuesday/Thursday
PE: 1 mile walk/run
History: read-aloud and notebook
Grammar: Week 20(etc) - lesson and first sentence
Science: Read the text Tuesday, do the lab on Thursday
Religion: Saint of the Day from Saints and Feast Days and/or 57 Stories of Saints; next lesson in St. Joseph's Baltimore Catechism #2 once a week; Pearls of Peace once a week
Geography: Mapwork or episode of Physical Geography
Literature: Current book (starting The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe this week)
 
Daily:
Independently or with mom, in any order, they will:
Spelling: Mon and Fri are pretest and test, the rest are activities
Cursive: one page a day
Journal: using the prompts from a kindle book I have, they each write a short paragraph or two
Literature: a short narration of what we read, either aloud or written in lit notebook, or answer some questions; independent reading of a book of their choosing
Math: the next lesson or a test in their book, both are using Saxon although we are currently waiting for E's new Algebra 1 book
Religion: Read and discuss a chapter with mom, followed by the activity book each day.
Grammar: the rest of the day's grammar lesson 2x a week (We do one full week's lessons on Tuesdays and Thursdays since it's fairly easy. We will finish book 1 before January, and move on to book 2 and may slow down then.) copy work from a poem or similar 3x a week
Writing: IEW, using the outline, write a rough draft and final draft for all of that week's articles and stories.

It sounds like a lot written out!

I just told Jason this morning how the days and weeks are all blurring together. One minute I look at the clock and it's 8 Monday morning, next time it's 5:30, then it's Thursday, next thing I know it will be December, and after I blink, it will be 2020 and E will be getting ready to graduate! Only half joking! Time to go enjoy our Saturday for a few hours, since it's nearly NOON already!!

Science and swimming! What a day!

*originally written back in September! Forgot to hit PUBLISH!*

Our first official homeschool field trip was AWESOME!

To be honest, I was dreading the 2 hour drive. Right up until the morning of, in fact. But I really, really wanted to take the boys, and they really, really wanted to go. So after breakfast, packing some lunch, and loading the car, we drove to Juno Beach to meet up with some friends. It ended up being just a small group of four moms, our kids, and one other parent's kids, so I think there was right around 18 or so of us?

We met up at the park first, and let the kids run around and eat lunch. Then we walked across the road to the beach. The real beach, like at the OCEAN! (Like every other beach isn't a real beach, or something. But it is something special to see the ocean. It was all three of the boys' first time at the ocean. I'm kind of sad that Jason wasn't there with us, but it is what it is, and we will definitely go again. It was a beautiful stretch of beach, and hardly anyone was there. Well, it was the middle of the day, on a Friday, so...

After a quick picture,

we went back to the park, and to the Loggerhead Marine Life Center. The impending storm drove us inside, and we barely made it in before the torrential downpour started.

We walked through the visitor center and store for a while, before heading outside to wait for the rain to stop.

My phone battery was nearly drained, so I didn't get any pictures of the many sea turtles that we got to see. There were green sea turtles, and, I think, loggerheads.

Ethan liked seeing the turtles, but wasn't interested in signing up for the vet lab, and was being a bit camera shy. Not to mention it was terribly hot and humid out. Jackson was running around like a wild man, asking questions, playing in the little play area, and pointing out every turtle to us.


Alex decided to sign up for the vet lab, and really seemed to enjoy it. In it, each child got an "injured" plastic green sea turtle, that they had to take care of. They had to figure out it's injuries, name it, tag it if it wasn't, do "bloodwork", measurements, etc, and fill out paperwork, and listen to some facts given by the teacher.

The younger boys each chose a small stuffed animal from the gift shop before we left.

Time to go to the beach before our drive home. After taking what felt like forever to get Jackson to eat something, and then get him and I changed into our swimsuits, the four of us followed our friends back to the beach.

No pictures, because my phone was charging, and I was having too much fun swimming in the ocean with my guys! Between digging in the sand, and swimming, they all three had a blast. E made a friend while they played a game of sort of riding the waves. A and his friends made up a game to see who would be the last one pushed back to the beach by the waves. J and I swam together, and looked for shells. One of my mom friends caught a tiny crab, baby shrimp and even a itty-bitty fish using some sea weed. Nearly 2 hours later, I decided we had to call it day, as I knew they would be getting quite hungry, and J would probably fall asleep in the car before dinner if we didn't leave soon. We said our goodbyes, and after a quick rinse and change of clothes, we headed out to dinner. Several slices of pizza later, we were back on the road, and home by around 9pm.

I'd call that a huge success. The boys are already planning to go back, as a family this time so Jason can see the turtles and the beach, and when extended family visits, it's on our list of possible places to go.

And we are off!

Taking some time for myself lately has entailed watching some TV shows, and printing off lots of paperwork!

It's been quite a while since I sat down and written anything. Far too long. My laptop is still on the fritz, so I'm sharing Jason's (turned-family-computer) laptop.

So much has been happening for us. Jason started his new job last month, but has been training up here in MI while we have been preparing to sell our home. He leaves MONDAY! to drive to South Florida. E and A have just over a week left of school, with their last day next Friday.

Our home went on the market just 3 weeks ago! Within a 10 days, we had an offer, and executed contract. Last week, we went through inspection, and just had the mortgage appraiser out on Tuesday, and the septic tank paperwork taken care of. The buyer has been satisfied so far, so unless something extraordinary happens, we should be closing on June 30th. I'm feeling beyond grateful that this process has been fairly painless so far.

We don't currently have a place to stay in FL, but the boys and I will stay here until Jason flies back to load the moving truck. Then we are spending a little over a week with my parents and visiting the inlaws, followed by about 10 days at my sister's house in Columbus, OH. Then we are off on our "little" roadtrip! A week or so visiting a friend in MD, another week near Greenville, SC "meeting" another, and then a drive down the coast, stopping in Charleston, Savannah, and wherever else we decide to on our way to the greater Miami area. While we are stretching our trip out some, Jason will be looking for a home and maybe even moving our things in. Better than all 5 of us staying in a little hotel room for over a month.

On a sad note, we had to euthanize our dog last week. His body was failing him, and though he was alert and aware, he could barely stand, couldn't get up and down the steps to go outside/come inside, and the night before, he laid on the floor and didn't move from that spot until after he passed away and was carried to the hospice vet's vehicle. I'm glad we decided to have her come to the house, where we could all be there, and he was in his home, comfortable, not in a cold room on the hard floor with just Jason. It was sad but also comforting.

As we are slowly packing our things, to move from the house we've lived in just shy of 5 years, in a state we've lived in for almost 6 years, I try to think of all the adventures we are going to have. Moving so far - 1500 miles - and away from family and friends, to a new state, a different climate (after all Michigan and Florida don't share much in common when it comes to weather/seasons) will surely be a challenge, but there is a whole new place to explore, people to meet, and things to learn. We are leaving behind so many friends that we've made over these last few years, and I, as well as Jason and the boys, will miss them very much. What's that saying? It's not goodbye, it's see you later? Everyone that has touched our lives will not be forgotten, and thanks to cell phones, the internet and social media, we don't have to lose contact. So, as I've been reminding my 12 and 10 year olds, we aren't just going to make new friends, we are going to add more to the ones we have. Friends are forever, and we just have to remember to cultivate the relationships. A had his last den meeting last Friday, and at the end, I was on the verge of bawling. The other parents are so awesome, and nice, and so are their boys. Then there's Julie and her 3 guys from Learning Life with 3 Sons, and the boys' friends from school and their parents. Not to mention that our parents, Jason's sisters and brother, one of my sisters, nieces and nephews, and now my little, sweet baby great-nephew won't be just a short drive from us! That may be the hardest part. I know we lived 8-10 hours away from them before when we lived in MD, but that was many years ago now. And Florida is the furthest from "home" we will have ever lived (well, minus Jason when he spent 6 months overseas as a contractor...). I'm scared, and excited, and just overwhelmed about it all. In the best possible way. I feel like everything is falling in to place BECAUSE this is what we are supposed to do right now for our family. The timing couldn't be better - end of the school year - and the house is selling quickly.

If you haven't been following on Facebook, you may not have seen our other announcement! And no, we aren't expecting a baby ;) We have made the decision, partly due to the large school size and poor rating, especially for high school where we are moving, that we are homeschooling the boys next year. There are other reasons, and because we have also tried every option out there besides this one (public, private, special and now public charter) we feel this is going to be a good fit. It took a lot of discussion, research and planning to come to the decision. Not something we chose lightly, and I really feel it is the best decision. Many who know me personally, know that I would have loved to homeschool from the start, but it wasn't in the cards for many reasons. That's ok. Now is the right time. We plan to go for a year, and then take it one year at a time from there. We will be doing an eclectic curriculum, a mix of classical and Charlotte Mason. Chronological (classical) history, starting with ancient history using living books and a textbook. Latin. Spelling. Grammar and writing using Institute for Excellence in Writing, Shakespeare, poetry, and novels for literature. Chemistry, biology and possibly physics (middle school focus subjects). Life of Fred middle school math (fractions and decimals & percents) and LOF beginning Algebra. Nature study. Bible study, Catechism and Saint study. Art and Music study. Handicrafts and life skills. Health and couch to 5k for PE. Maybe even throw in some Spanish after we get settled. With our move, we are taking some books for the start of the year with us, while the rest will go with the household goods. We are planning year-round school, per the boys' request (!) and my preference. 36 full weeks of school, starting July 27. Broken into two 18 week semesters.

The first 18 weeks will look like this:
5 weeks of school (7/27 - 8/28)
1 week break (8/31 - 9/4)
5 weeks of school (9/7 - 10/9)
1 week break (10/12 - 10/16)
5 weeks of school (10/19 - 11/20)
1 week Thanksgiving break (11/23 - 11/28)
3 weeks of school (11/30 - 12/18)
2 week Christmas break (12/21 - 1/1)

The second 18 will be:
5 weeks of school (1/4 - 2/5)
1 week break (2/8 - 2/12)
5 weeks of school (2/15 - 3/18)
2 weeks Easter break (3/21 - 4/1)
4 weeks of school (4/4 - 4/29)
1 week break (5/2 - 5/6)
4 weeks of school (5/9 - 6/3)

Summer break from June 4 - mid July with some reading and writing assignments probably and Nature Study just because ;)

On top of all the changes, we are also working towards 1000 hours outside! Slow going so far, but we are trying.