His Course Load:
Math - Little Guy has been working through two of the Life of Fred mathematics series. He completed book the fractions book and the decimals and percentages book.
Zoology - Our homeschool co-op offered this class. He loved taking this with all of his friends. Just last week they took an end of year field trip to New Orleans. They visited the Audubon butterfly garden, the Insectarium and the Aquarium.
Writer's Express - A curriculum that introduces writing skills. It covered everything from poetry, essays, letters, reports, stories, journaling, and note taking.
American History - Little Guy did a biography study of great men of US history.
English/Grammar - We have been using Easy Grammar forever, but this year I added this English Grammar 101.
Spelling - Being a part of the spelling bee is the primary focus of our spelling curriculum. I firmly believe that reading encourages better spelling which is why I insist on daily reading.
Reading - One of my big goals for Little Guy this year was in reading. He has an amazing reading level, but he never wanted to read on his reading level. When he looked at a book, if it looked too big he let it overwhelm him. My friend in Atlanta made a casual statement about organizing lesson plans that sparked an idea for me with his reading. I picked a book and gave him two weeks to read it (which is really a long time). I divided the pages by 14 and listed that on a piece of paper and taped inside the front cover of the book. Each day he read a section of pages and marked it off. He could read more than one section if he wanted, but he had to mark it off. By giving him "bite size" pieces, he realized that it was more doable than he thought. Now handing him a 350 page book isn't overwhelming to him at all. He asks when his deadline is and he breaks it down in his head. He is often done in just a day or two, but he likes knowing that he has a set amount of time if he needs it.
Music Theory - Another class which he took through CurrClick, both boys took this class of basic music concepts. It gave them basic musical knowledge of notes, clefs, time signatures, notes of the piano, accidentals, half and whole steps, etc...
Geography - This hasn't been a curriculum as much as a book which Little Guy has worked on to keep working on his geography skills.
P.E. - Little Guy also took bowling club and 4H shooting sports. He also participated in CrossFit. He LOVES it!
This is our third year to homeschool and definitely the most challenging for Little Guy and I. I take full responsibility for that. Big Guy's learning style comes more naturally to me and it is easier for me to figure out how to give him what he needs academically where as that is not so with Little Guy. He and I can ask each other the same exact question, but mean two entirely different things. I have flashbacks to doing Algebra with my Daddy in the 7th grade. *smile* The only problem is I am still the dummy in the situation. Daddy is brilliant and now I have just replaced Little Guy in the equation as the brilliant one!
I am not complaining though. I am glad he is so smart, but as we all know, school only gets more challenging from here!
Although it makes me sad to see how fast time is passing, I can't wait to see where God is leading my sweet boys!
1 comment:
He's got a lot going on!
They can't help but turn out to be great men with such a good mom to help them along the way.
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