Being sick and homschooling.

Well, yesterday was my oldest son's birthday, so we took the day off.  It was nice. The not so nice part is I am now sick for whatever reason.

So I am sitting here with a stuffed nose, headache, feeling weak and trying to get through school today.  I just want to sleep all day!  Those with children know that is not possible especially if you are a single parent.

Thanks to a friend, I have revamped how we do reading. As I have written before we are reading the Magic Tree House series. I break the chaoter up ad have him read a section at a time. Then I have him repeat to me what he just read.  The section can be anywhere from 1-4 sentences long.  This has greatly improved his comprehension of what he is reading.  I think it is great!

I am so thankful that the Lord has blessed with wonderful boys and wonderful friends!

Gearing up for co-op

Went to a friend's house this morning to get help with what I would be teaching.  I have never taught a class before so I am very nervous.  I still have about 2 more weeks. And so, Egypt here we come. Got a layout and several activities that I am planning on doing.  Thank you Jean for all the help!

Back to School.

We are back to school and have been for the last 2 weeks. It's been somewhat crazy!  We have had some great days like the day we made the solar system we painted and labeled and hung up.

I was having a lot of trouble with Jaedon and his Math.  We took a break off Saxon Math 2 and are working through Spectrum Math (although it covers not nearly as much as Saxon) for a Review or some problem areas that Jaedon was having. Such as 9+8 and the harder sums.  He does great as 2-3 digit addition but these he has struggled with periodically. 

In Language Arts, we are working our way through Spectrum Langauge Arts Grade 2, he will complete this book near November and we will start Learning Language Arts through Literature (LLATL) (3rd grade) which will cover everything from spelling, vocabulary, literature, and grammar. He does well at this although he hates writing all the sentences out, so I usually don't have him do that if it is not necessary.  

History, We are still going through "Of Light and Glory" and after every chapter, I pick a couple of key people and we get books from the library and read them. We will be reading about Cotton Mather and Roger  Williams this next month.

For reading, he is reading through the Magic Tree House series along with select research guides.  There are some research guides such as the Dinosaurs that we are not doing, due to the evolutionary theories/ideas that are throughout the whole book. We are currently reading "Knights and Castles" the research guide that is a follow-up to "The Knight before Dawn". he really enjoys these books.

Spanish, we have progressed through the book.  However, once we finish the book, we will start the book back over for more reenforcement. I love Language and hope to pass this on to him. We did do some German, however, I can't find anything geared for children and we have put that on hold.

Science, which is one of Jaedon's favorite subjects, we are studying astronomy.  He loves it! We are using Apologia "Exploring Creation through Astronomy". There are projects every chapter and he makes a notebook of drawings and other things while we travel through this book. For this book, I have to make my own tests and questions which I like.  He is doing very well so far.  On his first test, he missed some vocabulary and that was it.  Made a 97% with extra credit. 

We are still working on phonics.  I use Saxon Phonics 2, which I love their curriculum for this subject. constant review on a daily basis and then introduction of new learning.  he reads very well! Jaedon does struggle with reading comprehension.  As in he has a hard time aswering any questions after reading a paragraph on his phonics work. I don't know if this is due to his lack of understanding, lack of interest, or he just doesn't feel like putting forth the effort. We just keep plugging away. 

We are also working through Maps and Geography.  This is Jaedon's second favorite subject.  He finds it very interesting and like learning this. 

We are working on A Reason For Handwriting, which he doesn't like too well.  We are taking a break from that and writing a letter to grandma which he is happy about.

I have been struggling with finding a good devotional or Bible curriculum.  So, I started reading to them from Genesis.  With Awana starting up, we will also be working in Scripture memorization.

Sounds insane? right? Our days varies from 2-6 hours.  And that 90% of the time depends on Jaedon's attitude. Hopefully after getting into a set routine, things we ease up.