A new school year, a resurrected blog

So, it's been almost a year, but we are still homeschooling!  It turns out it's really hard to find the time and concentration to write with three little kids running around.  Also, I participate in several other activities such as roller derby, (slooow) running, and crafting/sewing.  I'm usually behind on housework and could stand to work on my time management skills, too.

Since I last blogged, Suzi finished her first grade year!  Our last days were spent at the beach--reading books about marine life with Grandma, digging in the sand and looking for shells, and having fun together.  I am now officially homeschooling two!  Ivey is just starting kindergarten, and Suzi is starting second grade.  We started June 1, the first day we could start, and now have three days down, 177 to go!

At Pajama Party Academy, we frequently decide to find a YouTube video on an interesting subject, or watch a history or science documentary on Netflix, or run to find a book we just realized we want to read.  Sometimes we feel like a certain resource isn't a good fit or that there's something better out there, and we quit using it.  But, so far, here's what we plan to use during the 2014-15 school year.


For Suzi's second grade year...

Comprehensive:
Brain Quest Workbook, Grade 2 (contains work for all required subjects and more)

Math:  
Sir Cumference series (Suzi loved the first book last year!)
Life of Fred (finishing up set #1, then moving to set #2)

Science:
No comprehensive science book or curriculum for us this year, but we will be using...
Science Arts (for ages 3-10)
Science Crafts for Kids (8+)
National Geographic Kids magazine (Suzi has a subscription)
YouTube and Netflix

Social Studies:
Story of the World Vol 1:  Ancient Times
Beginning Geography (K-2)
Welcome to Josefina's World, Kirsten's World, Addy's World
Sheppard Software geography games, mostly U.S.
Supplemental history books, websites, and videos by topic

Reading and Writing:
Little House series (also counts for social studies)
Finishing The Neverending Story
Harriet the Spy
Other independent reading books
Introduction to Poetry (book TBD)
Book reports/reviews, hopefully on this blog!
Independently written journal
Creative writing prompts found online or written at home
MAYBE:  Handwriting:  Cursive, Grades 2 and Up (may wait until next year)

Spanish:
genkispanish.com
Duolingo

Art:
Express Yourself!  Activities and Adventures in Expressionism
Various introductions to artists that might interest/inspire her (any books TBD)
Weekly dance class


For Ivey's kindergarten year:

Comprehensive:
Brain Quest Workbook, Kindergarten

Math:
Classroom clock, wall calendar, counting bears, abacus, and various other manipulatives
Simple practice problems that I write myself
Life of Fred Apples

Science:
National Geographic Science book (originally bought for Suzi)
See Suzi's list, as Ivey usually joins Suzi for science

Social studies:
Ivey will join Suzi when appropriate
Beginning Geography (K-2)
Discussion of community helpers and careers (with internet as main resource)

Reading and Writing:
Easy-Reader books
The Ramona Collection
Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Your Child to Read
Sandpaper letters (lowercase)
Magnetic letter-forming manipulative (uppercase)

Art:
Ivey comes up with her own project ideas, or joins in with Suzi
Weekly dance classes


That's all I can think of for now.  Years ago I realized I preferred not to get an all-inclusive curriculum after we spent lots of money on one that was lovely but didn't fit us in all areas.  I enjoy picking materials out individually by subject and frequently by topic.  We do enjoy our Brain Quest workbooks, though!  To be sure we are covering the important topics, I consult the typical course of study by grade level.


Coming soon:  A series of photo-heavy posts about our 2013-14 homeschool year!

Homeschooling Math: Glad we found Fred!

I haven't had much time for blogging lately, but wanted to post about a math series we love.  A friend who is a homeschooling pro recommended it and let us borrow her book for a little while until we get our own.  Have you heard of Life of Fred?  It's a fun little set of books that go from kindergarten to calculus and teach children math through stories.  Fred is a 5-year-old math teacher at KITTENS University.  In Fred's daily life, situations come up which show why certain math skills are important and relevant before asking children to learn them.  For instance, it is 5:00 AM and Fred wants to go jogging, but he thinks he will wait two hours until it is 7:00 AM and no longer dark outside.  5+2=7.  We just finished chapter four in the first book, Apples, and Suzi and I both love Fred.  She really relates to this strange math teacher child who sleeps under his desk and has a doll named Kingie!

Suzi isn't quite ready to answer the end-of-chapter questions on her own yet, and I don't want to push her too hard, so I help her answer the hard ones.  If it gets too frustrating for her, we'll take a few weeks out and come back to it later.  As a child who felt crushed under rows and rows of repetitive math problems, I'm so happy to have found something totally different for Suzi.  I'm even thinking of trying out the higher-level Fred books for myself.  They aren't even expensive!

As for our general homeschooling progress, I do have some pictures, but I don't have much time to upload them right now.  We are swiftly approaching day 90, which is the halfway point of our 180-day school year and time to fill out forms and send in a mid-year checklist to our accountability association.  I'm oddly excited about it, maybe because it's the first official thing we'll have to do besides joining.  Our schedule has been fluctuating due to holiday events and activities, but we'll almost certainly be halfway done by Christmas.  Instead of taking a long Christmas break, I think we'll take advantage of Daddy being home to help with the little ones and keep on schooling.

Well, naptime is probably almost over around here.  I hope to have some pictures up soon!