We were planning to start homeschooling the first week in August, but when we got our assignment, we decided to bump it up yet another week to provide some extra wiggle-room. So we're toward the end of our fourth week of school now, and I have to say, it's - well - busy! Wow. I feel sorta like Drake when Levi was born. I always say that Drake knew he was going to have a new baby brother, and he had a grasp on what newborn babies are like...but he didn't quite internalize how much the new baby would affect his life. Yeah, that's how this whole homeschool "adventure" feels to me, now that we've almost finished our first month. It has been a major adjustment! I had all the details planned out pretty well, and I did suspect somewhere in the fuzzy recesses of my brain that it wasn't going to be all that easy. But suspecting and experiencing are two very different things!
Anyway, school is actually going quite well, aside from the fact that I feel like I more than earn my keep nowadays! Drake's reading is improving so much, and his desire to do it has improved ten-fold since I shelved his nemesis, the hated reading/phonics lesson book that we'd been using since March. (Planning to start a new phonics program soon, but for now we're reading lots of easy reader books from the library, and he's doing great!) He also no longer tells me he's "not good at math" like he did last year - he actually seems to enjoy math, and he gets at least some satisfaction from successfully mastering new concepts in math. I am very, very thankful that I chose the math curriculum we're using - it seems to fit his learning style very well. He is so not the worksheet type. Not at all. Also, his handwriting is actually legible now, and he forms all the letters correctly, most of the time! (Last year, he had no instruction in "how" to form letters, so he did it in the wackiest ways, like detached balls and sticks all over the place...not conducive to writing with any speed or legibility down the road.) So his handwriting has been "reworked" and I think it's pretty much fixed now - yay!
So all that to say...it feels like a snail's pace sometimes, but now that we've covered enough ground to look back a little bit, I can see a lot of improvement and a lot of learning that's happened over the past 4 weeks. And I pray it will continue to get easier as we get our "groove" even more deeply established! I'm so proud of my wiggly, imaginative, talkative, loving, very-much-a-boy first grader, and all he has accomplished so far! I believe he's in the ideal place to learn without destroying those very traits that I love about him.
Excited on the first day of school.
Drake was taking a break and played with Levi for a few minutes. Getting out the dried beans keeps Levi occupied for a L-O-N-G time! (As does filling the sink with bubble water...)
Experiencing fox ears...having large ears really does help you hear better!
That yellow strip at the top of the wall is our history timeline, labeled 5000 BC to 0. (It goes around the dining room and just barely into the kitchen.) This year in history we're doing ancient history, or "Creation to Christ". History is Drake's favorite subject so far, and definitely mine too! It's amazing to actually study history in order and see how the Old Testament lines up with other events and civilizations around the world!
Close-up of our timeline after the first three days. (There are a lot more timeline figures now!)
Hmmm...
It's a "minibeast trap" - our first flopped science experiement. What is the only minibeast ("bug") you can attract in Florida? Ants. We were hoping that maybe we could catch a beetle or something if we checked it early in the morning. Nope. 
Drake writing in "cuneiform". (Not really; just pretending. Cuneiform is the oldest known written language, produced by the oldest known civilization, the Sumerians. Cuneiform was actually an alphabet - unlike Egyptian hieroglyphics or Chinese characters - but it had 600 letters!) Drake had fun with this one, and dried his "cuneiform tablet" in the sun to keep.***
Anyway, that's a brief overview of our first few weeks of school. Drake's birthday was on Monday, and he's SEVEN years old now! (How did this happen??!?) His party will be this Saturday, and I'm hoping to post birthday pictures when "birthday week" is officially over.
6 comments:
Happy to hear home school is going well...way to go Melonie & Drake (Levi too, as cooperation is also needed on your part!) Love all the pics (as always)...Drake sure has a nice tan (happy 7th birthday Drake...Ben has been asking to visit you!) He insisted on celebrating his 6 1/2 birthday in July (don't know where he got that from.) The boys start school on the 1st...Ben is the only one of the boys that's excited but that's pretty normal. Oh, and I'm excited too! Skyler's a little apprehensive about Middle School but we attended his open house last week and his homeroom teacher (special needs) is absoutely wonderful...she will be there to help him in some of his classes and there will be 2 others so he will have someone there in every class (including lunch.) I think it's going to be a great year for him. As for Chance...we'll see. I'm hoping we find out who his teacher is today. I'm so happy to be done with school supply shopping...it is sooooo not my favorite thing!
A great post! I am so excited for Drake that you are homeschooling! I feel like he would have been squished in a traditional school type setting... I feel that way about Libby, too. Hey, Brandon's sister Emily (a teacher) suggested using shaving cream on a surface to let them write words in for learning phonics. Sounds fun! You can go first. :-) You are the BEST mommy to those boys!
Hooray! So glad that homeschooling has gotten off to a good start and ESPECIALLY that Drake is enjoying it and experiencing learning as fun and satisfying. :) Kudos to you for being willing to educate "the hard way" for the good of your kiddo!
Drake looks so grown up!! Glad to hear that homeschooling is going so well and that you are all enjoying it so much!
Dear, Dear Melonie, Its when you wake up and all your kids are in their 30s that you really wonder how that happens... well suz WILL be 30 in a few days!
Melonie, I was just catching up on your blog. I am thrilled to hear how well everything is going for you! I am especially excited about the homeschooling projects you have been doing. I suspect you will enjoy it even more after you get settled in the new place. I don't you will come anywhere near us, but if you need a place to stop near Vegas, let us know! It would be fun to meet!
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