I found this poor old blog, this evening. I had forgotten I had had it. I enjoyed looking back at the 10 old posts I had done on here. Made me want to do new ones! We'll see if I can find the time to keep up with it, this time! LOL!!!
A lot has happened in our life, since April of 2010.
We used the Living Books Curriculum for that year, then went back to CLE. As much as we loved it, we just couldn't make it work for us. We could do CLE, and even though none of us enjoyed it, it worked for us. So, we plodded through it. We stuck with Math-U-See, though. It is a wonderful math curriculum, and it has served us well, over the past few years.
But, we have found a new curriculum for the rest of our work! I have to say, IT IS AWESOME!!! It has everything I could want, in a curriculum, and it is TOTALLY FREE for us to use!!!
It is called EASY PEASY, and let me tell you, IT IS!!! It is all done online, so I don't have to worry about where to put all the workbooks and such. I have printed all the pages they need for the whole year, but It hasn't taken up to much space!
Today was our 1st Day of the 2013-2014 School Year!!
Bright and Early on the First Day!!
First Day Complete!!
Lane is in 8th grade, now. He is learning High School Spanish, so he will be able to count that as a Credit for High School. He also is doing 9th Grade English, so that can go on the Transcript, as well.
He's REALLY (WINK! WINK!) looking forward to the Shakespeare!!
He's learning American History, from Post Civil War to Now, Chemistry and Physic in Science, as well as Art and Music Appreciation (which ties into the History Lessons), Bible Reading (he's working on the book of John, then will also be doing Revelation and all the Prophets in the OT), Computer Skills, Thinking Skills, P.E., and Health.
He's not especially thrilled about all the Composers and Songs he has to listen to for Music, but he'll get over it! LOL!!! He would like to learn another language, besides Spanish, but I told him, I wanted him to learn the Spanish first, then he could work on another one. Spanish is almost a necessary language to learn in our area. He thinks German would be a cool language to learn. I'd also like all of them to learn American Sign Language, as well. I found a free Website for that as well, so maybe we'll find time for that, too.
Lane Hard at Work on His Vocabulary Words
Lane is now 14, and he is such an awesome helper. If I am busy helping Blake with his work, and Landon needs something (or vice versa), he is very willing to help them out.
He's also started Volunteering at the Hospital with Dad, once a month. He thinks he might want to do Heating and Air, like Dad. He's very much into Christian Music (all kinds), and still LOVES to read. He has also discovered Computer Games, so I'm having to limit his computer time, especially since all school work is on the computer, except Math. He enjoys Skyping and playing said Computer Games with his 15yo Cousin. They have a lot of fun doing that. He will soon begin to write 2or 3 Penpals, from the EASY PEASY Students. I think he'll enjoy that.
Jacob is now in 6th Grade. He is also learning Spanish, this year. For the first few weeks, he'll be learning Latin words, then translating them into English, French, and Spanish . Then he'll move on to just Spanish. He's also doing English, Bible (Starting in Mark, then reading Acts to Jude), American History from Columbus to Civil War, Art and Music Appreciation tied into the History, Zoology in Science, Computer and Thinking Skills, P.E., and Health.
Jacob reading Poems by Carl Sandburg
Jacob is 11 1/2, now. He wants to be grown up, so bad! He can make you laugh so easily. He can be such a good-natured kid. He's not real thrilled about having extra chores, this year. But, he knows he's capable, and if he wants to be grown up, he has to act grown up! LOL!! Jacob also has a couple of new Penpals from EASY PEASY, and is excited about meeting some new boys, his age, from different parts of the Country.
Blake is in 2nd Grade, now. I can't believe he's getting so big! He has really struggled with school, but (the BIGGEST reason we are switching to EASY PEASY) he began to learn to read, this year. EP teaches reading through the McGuffy Readers. We had tried so many things, and when we sat down with that, he was reading in 4 minutes time! I was thrilled!
He'll be doing English, and then all the same things that Jacob is doing (except Spanish), only at a younger level. He had a lot of fun, today, with the work.
While the big boys are reviewing the Epsilon Workbooks, in Math-U-See, and starting the Zeta Books, Blake is doing Beta.
Blake hard at work on his Math
Blake is going to be 9 next month. He is still my crazy (never-know-what-he-might-do-next) kid, but he is also so very sweet! He is so smart when it comes to doing things. He was changing a tire when he was 7! He could do anything he set his mind to. He also is the one that will try ANYTHING, so we have to constantly be watchful, in case he does something dangerous! He's really not afraid of anything! Blake has also got a Penpal from EASY PEASY. I'm hoping it will help with his writing.
Landon is now a Kindergartener!!! Where did the time go?!! He is so excited to be FINALLY doing "Real School", as he calls it. He has watched his brothers do school as long as he can remember, and he's so proud to be doing it with them, now! He is learning to read from the McGuffy Primer, and he's doing his Math from the Math-U-See Primer. He loves it. Today, he did 2 full lessons from each. That was 2 days of English and 2 weeks of Math!
Landon getting ready for Reading
Landon is now 5! He is SO Smart! He is still my Cuddle Boy! Everyday, he has to tell me that he loves me, or his day is ruined! He had to go to the Eye Doctor, today. We've discovered that his eyes don't know how to see very well. That's what the Eye Dr. said. "His eyes just don't know how to see." He'll have to start wearing glasses in a couple of weeks, when they come in. He's very excited.
All in all, we had a great first day. Even with having to start late, because of the Eye Dr. visit. We also had a visit from my Sister's 8yo Son, while she went to the Dentist, this afternoon. I think he was bored, because he'd finished his Schooling for the day, earlier, and my boys were just getting started. So, they couldn't play with him, much. He was good, though, and played on his little hand held game, he'd brought with him.
Well, this post has become a monster of a post, so I think I will close. And although I probably won't post everyday, I sure hope to post more often than once every 3 years! LOL!!!
God Bless you all!
Deut. 6:6&7
