Month One in Review

It's hard to believe we have one month of schooling under our belts already. I don't know if it's because the children are getting older or they're (finally) getting used to the routine of schooling, but things have gone remarkably well!

All of us are loving The Mystery of History II. So much so that I think we're on week five in it. I'm looking forward to doing one of the bigger crafts with them soon and when we do I'll post pics.

We're also loving our science curriculum, Considering God's Creation. We're a little ahead in this book too. Being ahead is okay though because then once in awhile we can get side tracked or take teacher health days (for mom's lovely migraines that seem to be rearing their ugly head again). I think we're going to have to jump ahead a bit soon though to the unit on plants, as they have to do several flower cross sections and with the way the weather has been lately, I'm not sure how much longer the flowers will be happily blooming.

With the increasingly poorer weather, they're beginning to beg not to do their nature journals. (Heather, thank you so much for posting photos of yours regularly. It was/is a real encouragement to me to get us working on ours!) At this time of the year going outdoors means donning various outerwear -- shoes and sweaters. Last week though, Beans still laid out on the blanket and did some of her work outside, so we're hoping for an Indian summer yet.

Squirt has once again come to a bit of a standstill in her reading, so we're working on flash cards for a bit again. It's coming slow, but sure, but often it all depends on her attitude. If she is not in the mood, she is not in the mood.

Bub is currently working through two different math curricula. He is doing algebra as well as consumer math. The consumer math was giving him a bit of a difficult time initially, but now that he sees how much it relates to real life, he's working hard to understand it and get it done.

He is also working very hard at his writing this year. I may be a little biased because I'm his mom, but I think he is doing an excellent job and his writing skills have jumped by leaps and bounds since we started using the Write Shop program. It's a little more work for me, but now that I have the hang of the marking, I'm quite enjoying it myself.


We are in a good routine of me (mostly -- I sometimes sneak off to wash dishes or fold laundry) supervising until noon and after that those who are not finished their work must work on their own until it is complete.

Beginning next week on Tuesdays and Thursdays we will add French classes into our day which will mix it up a bit, but I love their French teacher and her classes are fabulous! I often think I should be taking them with the kids.

Well, that's it in a nutshell. Busy? Yes! Boring? Definitely not! I'm looking forward to seeing what else we can accomplish this year!