School Schedule {fall 2012}

**This post is for my records for what our school plans are for this coming fall.

For all of our children we have decided to follow the classical method of home education. This decision completely overwhelms me but this is the direction we feel is best for the kids and for their future. Even if it is a lot of work for me. Our decision to homeschool isn't to make life easier it is to give the kids the ultimate best that we can.

Kate:
Kate will officially be in kindergarten for the fall. I am still having a hard time grasping that she is old enough to be in kindergarten!
For both Kate & Emma our schooling will be guided by Classical Conversations. We will attend CC every Thursday morning from 9a until about 1p. The girls will be in a small class and will learn math, history, Latin, and English grammer facts. They will also do art projects or science experiments and learn about classical music and their composers. I'm very excited for this program. During the other days of our school we will work on learning the CC information, will check out books from the library related to what we're learning and will hopefully do a project related to that information.
For math at home we will be using Rod & Staff {grade 1}. Kate has struggled with other math programs but for some reason the black and white of Rod and Staff works for her and she is very successful! We will also work with manipulatives and play games just to keep math fun.
For language arts we will be using Language Lessons by Queen Homeschool Supplies. This book is divided into short lessons {they will take us about 15 minutes}. With these books Kate will further learn or secure her knowledge of alphabet letters, picture study, narration, poetry appreciation,phonics, copywork of short vowel words... progressing to sentences.
For Science, Daddy is taking over! He will most likely do science 1 day a week. This is a completely hands on activity with little to no writing. We will also go on a nature walk 1 day a week and continue to write in our nature journals. {for science we will be using Elemental Science as a resource}
Our main focus for all of the 2012/2013 school year will be reading! She is successful with the "at" family but frustration rises greatly after that. We will slowly work on this. We use a variety of resources to help including: Hooked on Phonics, Bob Books, Teach Your Child to Read in 20 easy lessons & Institute in Excellence in Writing's phonic program. Mixing it up seems to work best for Kate when it comes to phonics/reading.

Emma:Emma will technically be a preschooler in the fall. After long discussions and a lot of prayer we really feel like keeping Kate & Emma in separate grades, at least on paper, is what is best for our girls {even though they are only 8 months apart}. With that being said they are pretty much doing all of the same things.
The key difference is that Emma is a strong reader and will finish the kindergarten Hooked on Phonics program this summer.

Other Resources:
We love to listen to books on CD in the van. Our current favorite is Story of the World by Susan Wise Bauer. The kids beg to listen to history!
We also listen to Sing Song Latin in the van. I feel like a successful homeschool mom when my 3 year old asks for Latin :)

I strongly feel like the library will be our best friend come fall {or July 1st actually when we start school}!

Music theory will also be worked in but most likely just for Kate. We are in the process of looking for an inexpensive piano or a keyboard with weighted keys. I hated piano for all 13 years that I took lessons but now that I'm a mom I see the value! I'm hoping that I will be able to teach my kids at least the basics.

The only thing that I feel like I need to add is Spanish but I'm just not sure how to get that worked in, in a fun way. I might just see what pandora.com has to offer  us, just so the girls can start hearing it at  ages 5 & 6.

I still need to remember that they are just little and that playing and being read to is still of the greatest value. I can't give them back their childhood and I want it to be full of fabulous memories!