Hello all . I had to switch blog websites because I have have problems getting into our old site. Its not as pretty as the other board but it will do , and I feel bad that I have to leave all of those memories behind . All of those days were just such wonderful memories. But I guess we have to move on now don't we ?
This will be our first blog entry . I will post our pictures later on of the girls doing their school work , and enjoying our homeschooling journey. Maggie has her own seperate page. I think its only right that we keep the medical stuff seperate from our schooling stuff. Even though those things really go together I guess .
Alright , well I'll at least try to keep it all seperate.
Well to start off ... Marilyn is working currently with Calvert 4th grade curriculum with 5th grade math . We have really enjoyed the 4th grade curriculum for the most part. I can venture to guess that Marilyn's favorite subjects are my favorite ones two . This year her all time favorite subjects are : reading .. so far we have read Robinson Cursoe . Honestly all the girls loved listening to mommy read this story ( I'll talk more about this book later) . Right now we are reading Mighty Men and they are a collection of stories from the times of the Greeks , Romans and so on . It is nicely put together and Marilyn now loves to read me stories from this book . It also correlates nicely with our next favorite subject: History . We are reading Child's History of the World , otherwise known as CHOW . I had read alot of not so great reviews about this book . Reading that many people donot like it . But we've found that we REALLY like this book . No its not flashy with lots of photo pictures and lots of color .. but it has pencil drawings , is plain , but is FULL of history . It is so well put together that a child reading at a 4th grade level or so could read this on his or her own . With the exceptions of some of the hard Egyptian , Greek and Roman names . But its right there at a child's level . We all have learned so much so far about the Greeks and Romans right now . The book starts from the beginning and ends with the time of the Vietnam War . Of course we had to discuss the "theory" that was presented in the first chapter. It didn't really go into the big bang theory but more of a short story of what someone THINKS the way the world started . Which led us to a very nice discussion as how our family doesnot believe in that and that God is the Creator of all things . As well as talking about cavemen as well . I think it truely is important for children to have both sides presented and let it be a learning opportunity as to what our family believes . There are also stories of times in the Bible in the History book and it really had helped actually all of us to understand some of the stories and the times in the Bible . Marilyn especially enjoyed the fact she had a short story book ( written at a preschool level ) that she read to Maggie and that she knew and understood the story of Queen Esther . I highly recommend this book for those of you that piece meal your curriculum for grades 3 -5 . I usually read the story aloud because Marilyn is very much an auditory/visual learner . Plus I like to listen to each chapter myself as well as Tim ( who is very much a history buff ) . Geography is the next subject Marilyn really likes as well in the 4th grade Calvert . She just thinks its fun to learn about the world . Our least favorite is math this year. Even though math has been Marilyn's strong subject she is finally hitting her wall with 5th grade math . And let me tell you it is tough . I don't care for Calvert's math anyways in how they teach math . It is very foreign to me and not at all the way I was taught in school . Plus they have no real review to keep concepts fresh . I am looking into Christian Light Math to supplement this math program . Even though we are with a cyberschool , math is math and it doesn't matter where we get it from . As long as she can pass her lesson tests . Science is very borning and dry . I really believe if you take God out of the equation in this subject there is nothing to it . It will remain dry and boring . But we're plugging away with it . Last of all spelling . Its not Marilyn's favorite subject but she is doing well with it this year .
Katie is doing well with her 3rd grade subjects . Her reading is great. I can't ask for anything more that she reads 1 year ahead of herself . Technically she is a 2nd grader , but is working in 3rd grade work . She loves Gods of Greece . It seems to be her favorite , and spelling . Katie is a VERY good speller. It comes naturally to her . Science , again is boring for us . Math is NOT her favorite subject at all . Too many tears and having her tell me she is stupid. I don't like that . That isn't what homeschooling our children is about.
I think that is the one issue I am having with cyberschooling my children . Is the fact that we keep having to plug on wether they have mastered a concept or not . This is not something I really believe in doing . I want to make sure that they understand what they are doing before we move on .
I've really contemplated going back to traditional homeschooling because of this . I would like to work more with Katie as 3rd grade is that transition to simple , fun learning to academic work . And I would love to stop for a bit and work on more of the math facts with Marilyn before moving on with this two digit division .
Hannah is finishing up PreK at our church . It is part time prek so I try hard to keep her busy with some things I find off the internet. But lately this isn't enough for her and she just wants MORE . She wants "School work " she tells me . So with that I'm thinking between the Rod and Staff ABC Series or Alpha Omega's new Preschool program for her . Choices , choices .
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