Home School, Here We Come!

Since we made the decision to Home School Charlie, it seems I am even more aware of teaching opportunities and moments. So yesterday was a great day for us to be excited about learning something. Charlie found a snail outside and wanted to keep it. So I "babysat" while he went outside to put sand in a tub. Then he wanted to make a house for it and put a roof on the tub. We tried a magazine, but it wasn't long enough. So I thought of foil, and he put enough over the box to cover it. Then he asked for a box. I sent him out to the garage where we have what seems to be a never-ending supply of empty boxes. He found one and asked me to cut off the flaps. Then he asked for tape. The next thing I knew he had taped the flaps together to make a house-like roof for his snail. He added leaves, and made a "bed" for the snail in the sand with his finger. So I had to get a picture. BTW, the snail's name is Rex.However, today I was informed that Rex has somehow disappeared. Well, it was a good exercise for us and I think a trial-run for me because my Mom wants to get the kids Hermit Crabs for Christmas. Lord, help me!


Speaking of Home School, our curriculum came today! We are so excited! It was like Christmas opening the box. The kids immediately began looking through the books. Their favorites are a science book called "What's Inside You?" and another science book called the "First Encyclopedia of Animals." Madeline also loved "The Beginner's Bible," and Charlie was excited to have a whole story about penguins called "Mr. Popper's Penguins." I am, however, a little overwhelmed at the size of the Instructor's Guides and Study Guides. I'll definitely have to have some preparation time. So I put all the books together on our shelves, and here is a picture of Charlie's Home School study area:

The books along the bottom shelf are the History, Science, Read-Alouds and Readers along with the two Science Kits for experiments. The HUGE blue binder on the middle shelf is the History, LA, and Readers Instructor's Guide and Study Guides. Yikes! There is also a Science Guide. And the tubs hold our school supplies and the top holds all the workbooks- Bible, Handwriting, Math, Art, etc. I am actually anxious to get started. And we are already ahead- the very first Read-Aloud is "Charlotte's Web," which we read this summer.

In case you are interested in where Home School Curriculum comes from, ours came from Sonlight. It is Bible based and teaches History from Creation to the Fall of Rome. It teaches Creation Science and concentrates on "real life" books instead of textbooks. The student learns by reading about real-life places and people, and then incorperating such skills as Geography, Science, Grammar, Spelling, etc. It also concentrates on helping the student foster a love for reading by having the parents read books aloud to them as well as by having them read books themselves.

To this Core Curriculum, we have added Handwriting and Math that Sonlight recommends. The Handwriting is called "A Reason for Handwriting." It is manuscript handwriting based on the Scriptures. All the exercises involve writing Bible verses. And the Math curriculum is Horizons Math. It uses a spiral technique which builds on previous skills learned. Charlie already likes it because the pages are colored instead of the "white ones" he had at school.

Our Bible Curriculum consists of a few things. Sonlight has one called "Leading Little Ones to God." But along with that, we have purchased a few other things. They include a text from Bob Jones University called "A Father's Care," and a Baptist Catechism called "Truth and Grace" which we began last Fall. In addition to these I have collected a few Devotionals for boys.

Finally, Charlie loves to draw and color, so I am going to teach him art once a week or so. Our art book is "How to Teach Art to Children."

So that is our Curriculum in a nutshell. It includes History, Science Language Arts, Reading, Math, Art, and Bible. Iwill also post these in a sidebar soon. I know it seems like a lot, but each day may only consist of a few hours total of school time. And not every subject is done every day. So it is a learning experience for all and I will take you on the ride with us. Enjoy!