School

On Friday, we will complete our 9th week of school. That is one-fourth of the way through the school year. It's going pretty well, and I'm happy with our curriculum choices.

Landon is using Sonlight 400 to study government. He is loving this, of course. We're also using the American Literature part of this core although he does not need another English credit. We're not doing any writing with the literature, simply reading the books. He is taking Calculus using Thinkwell. This was one change we made. We started the year using the AP Calculus BC course from Florida Virtual School. Landon HATED it. The "instruction" was basically like reading lessons from a traditional public school textbook. Landon said they spoke in "formula" language rather than English. So, we went back to Thinkwell, which he loved last year. At the end of the course, he should be able to take the Calculus BC exam. A 4 or 5 on this exam converts to 10 credits for Calculus w/ Analytical Geometry I and II at CFCC. We planned for Landon to take Physics via dual enrollment at CFCC this year, but that didn't work out for several reasons. So, he's using the Apologia Physics textbook to take a class "for fun" at the Virtual Homeschool Co-op. He's also studying the take the Biology CLEP test. He's taking a Personal Wellness class at CFCC. It's an online class, and a pretty easy one at that. He continues to play the piano as well.

Gerren is using Sonlight 100 to study American History this year. For English II, he's using the second half of Easy Grammar Plus, the literature from Core 100, and the Institute for Excellence in Writing's Student Writing Intensive. The Bible portion of this core is part of a Life Management course I put the kids through that extends over their high school years. Although we love Apologia for science, I knew it was not for Gerren when it comes to Biology. There is simply too much memorization of vocabulary. So, I opted for a program called Power Basics Biology. He will probably go back to Apologia for chemistry next year. Gerren is beginning his two years of high school foreign language using Tell Me More by Auralog. He really loves this program! Gerren is also using Thinkwell for Algebra II. I really like Thinkwell for high school math. He continues to play drums for 30 minutes a day even though we had to stop lessons when Greg got laid off.

Both of the boys are taking Dave Ramsey's Foundations in Personal Finance class which I am teaching once a week to a group of homeschoolers in our local support group. I am getting as much out of the class as the kids!

Chase is using some of Sonlight 5 for history this year. I really did not like the Eastern Hemisphere Explorer the first time we did it. So, I decided to replace this with Florida history, which I did with the boys when Chase was really too young to get much out of it. We're also using the Complete Book of Maps and Geography and a several different items to memorize the states and capitals and the presidents. We are using the Bible portion of this core, for the most part. The boys loved the book Remembering God's Awesome Acts when we went through it, although I do skip some of the more tedious parts. For language arts, we're using several different items as well: Easy Grammar 5/6, Daily Grams 5, Italic G, Writing Trails with Great Composers, Vocabulary Cartoons, and the readers from Sonlight 5, of course. Chase's math consists of Singapore Primary Mathematics 5 and the Daily Math Practice Grade 5 workbook. The only thing I don't like about Singapore is the lack of frequent review. Chase needs that, so that's why we're using the other workbook. We're also using Sonlight science. Chase continues to play the piano and guitar and sing in a girl's choir.

Finally, I am using Sonlight's Core P3/4 with Carys simply because I need to MAKE time to read to her every day. Having a schedule helps me do this. She loves it as well!

What a full schedule! Thankfully, the older kids work pretty much on their own on workbook type stuff. I read to all of them every day at least a little bit. I'm learning a lot myself, as usual!