Since today is our first day of school, I thought it would be fun to participate in Heart of the Matter's "Not Back-to-School" Blog Hop. If you haven't decided for sure on all of your curriculum yet, this carnival is a great place to go for ideas. If you're not interested in a bunch of books, then feel free to skip on over this post.

I of course, being the obsessive over-planner that I am, had all of my curriculum selected back in March (I know I'm ridiculous). I'm so excited to finally start using it all!

I'll start with the basics: this year in our home-school we have a 4th grader, a 1st/2nd grader (she's way up there on some subjects, and a bit slow on others), and a four year old who is so excited to start pre-school.

For my little pre-schooler I selected a lovely set of workbooks from Rod and Staff. They are super basic, super cheap, and very cute. To be honest I'm not really wild about formal schoolwork while my kids are young, but when there are two big sisters doing school of course the little one is going to want to join in. I think these books will be perfect because it will give her some "real live schoolwork" without taking up too much time or overwhelming her with something too challenging.

On to the big girls.

I've grown very fond of Rod and Staff's spelling books. This year we'll be using the 2nd and 4th grade sets. This will be our third year using their spelling materials, and I really do love them. Obviously the price is a draw, but I also appreciate that they're very basic and take a minimal amount of time. Once general phonics have been learned, I feel like spelling is just all about the practice. These books are perfect for some focused spelling time every day without getting long or boring.

For reading practice my girls really enjoy these Pathway Readers, also from Rod and Staff. They are sweet with simple black and white drawings and pleasant stories with zero questionable content. This is wonderful because I can send them off to do reading alone without feeling the need to keep an eye on what they may be reading about.

Next, the dreaded mathematics! We use Singapore math and I'll be honest, it's been a bit of a journey for me. First of all, almost nothing is taught in the way that I learned it as a child. There's a very heavy emphasis on mental math skills and that has been a stretch for me to adjust to. But I do see the benefits, and that's why we've stuck with it the last three years. 

Partway through last year I got extremely overwhelmed by trying to figure out how I was supposed to be teaching certain things without doing them the way I'd always learned. I was ready to throw out the whole book and forget it. But I did some searching around online and discovered the missing piece to a blissful math experience…. instructors guides! I had only ever used answer keys, but these instructor guides changed everything. Math has been so much more enjoyable ever since.

For my 4th grader we'll be using Writing Strands and Wordly Wise to give some added attention to composition and vocabulary. We used Writing Strands last year and were very happy with it. This will be our first try with Wordly Wise.

For the rest of our subjects everyone will be working together. 

Science: Apologia's Zoology 2 and nature study

Geography: A Child's Geography (I'm so excited about this one!)

Art: Drawing with Children (used this growing up and with my oldest previously and loved it)

Music/Bible: Passion Hymns for a Kid's Heart

History/Social Studies: I am mapping out my own study of our home state. You'll hear more about that later, if I succeed!

Bible: A Family Guide to the Biblical Feasts and a more devotional style Bible study that I am again making up on my own (with lots of help from my husband). 

Looking at all of this stuff listed out, it looks like so much! I'm really not sure how we're going to get through it all. But I'm working on being flexible.

My book for inspiration and instruction over the summer that I will still be referring to regularly has been The Charlotte Mason Companion. I love the methods explained in this book and am working to incorporate more of them into our school days.

Well, I think that's about it for our curriculum this year. Just in case you're wondering, we really loved all the books we tried out last year.

Now tell me about what you're using this year!

One of my favorite things when summer comes is doing creative/crafty things with my girls. We try to do this sort of thing throughout the year, but with schoolwork to get through, crafts get pushed to the side a lot. When summer hits, they become the main focus.

Here's a peek of some of the things we've been spending our time on…

Clothespin dolls. These were a huge hit and have been a very popular choice for play ever since we made them. They keep asking to make more. All of our crafts are a collaborative effort. With these, the girls were the designers and I became the constructor/ glue gun manager.

This was all Miss E's idea. Her little Rapunzel desperately needed a tower, and after watching her multiple failed attempts at constructing one all on her own, I decided it was time to lend a little architectural support.

And here you see the popcorn bags. Every Monday night the snack that keeps everyone occupied for Daddy's softball games is popcorn. I had been using paper lunch sacks, but for a girl who's become obsessed with all things cloth, it just felt so wasteful. 

The girls have requested time for sewing non-stop since we finished school, so I decided this was a great first project. We cut together, I ironed and then we sewed together. I've found that the easiest (although not always the most comfortable) way to help my kids sew is to just sit them on my lap and let them guide the fabric while I watch closely and control the pedal. These were a lot of fun and it only took a couple hours start to finish for all of them.

Your turn. What have you been creating lately?

Because I absolutely love this and just can't help myself, I'm sharing….

Enjoy!

I've been reading a lot lately about the ideas of Charlotte Mason regarding children and education. All very thought provoking and inspiring. 

One of my favorite tidbits so far is her essential guidelines for educating your children:

What is the best curriculum for a well brought up person?
Whatever the specifics of the curriculum used in your home,
be sure that your children each day have:            

Something or someone to love

Something to do

Something to think about

(A Charlotte Mason Companion pg. 24)

Well, I've been trying to keep these ideas in mind through our days as I think they are very wise.

Today we added a little more to the "something or someone to love" category.

Meet Cecily Parsley.

Or, as Miss A will clarify for you, "Her name is Cecily Parsley, but we can just call her Cecily".

We're all in love. She's completely adorable, and so far has a very sweet and mild disposition. 

All this would of course mean we have now officially entered the new world of pet owners. This is very big for us. Something we've put off for a long time. But I have high hopes that this will be a gentle transition into life with animals for all of us.

Now of course, I have to share the inspiration for her name, just because.

I never knew this, but apparently Beatrix Potter wrote a small collection of nursery rhymes. When I read them today I knew this had to be our sweet new bunny's name, and all the girls were in agreement that they loved the name.

This is Miss Potter's little Cecily Parsley, and here is her rhyme:

Cecily Parsley lived in a pen, 
And brewed good ale for gentlemen;
Gentlemen came ever day,
Till Cecily Parsley ran away.

This is probably the most ridiculous nursery rhyme I've ever heard, but I thought it was hilarious. And I really do think it's an adorable name.

And now we are blessed with another someone to love!