Back to School 2019 - JJ's Junior Year

Traditional breakfast: Toaster Strudel and a banana

Today was the start of  JJ's Junior year. He has a good load of courses again this year; but won't be doing everything all at the same time. David and I (with a bit of input from JJ also) came up with a course of study that will hopefully be challenging, but not too boring, for a visual, hands-on learner.

This is what we have chosen to use for his curricula this year:

• World History Overview (1 credit) - Drive Thru History's Ancient History, and The History of the Modern World textbook are the spines we will branch out from.
• World Geography (1/2 credit) - The Geography Coloring Book by Wynn Kapit. (This may sound like a children's book, but it's for all ages. The coloring provides practice in paying attention to detail, and also helps memorization of geographical locations.)
• Algebra I (1 credit) -We will be starting with SchoolYourself.com, a FREE online curriculum that covers the basics, and might also use other online resources for more help and/or practice.  
• English/Writing Instruction (1 credit) - Jump In, by Apologia - A workbook for reluctant OR eager writers that teaches how to write persuasive papers, expository essays, descriptions, narration, and poetry. For Vocabulary, we will be going over 1000 High Frequency Words as  listed on K12 Reader, as well as covering one new word per day from 100 Words Every High School Graduate Should Know.
• Foreign Language: Tok Pisin (AKA Talk Pidgin, one of the three official languages of Papua New Guinea (1 credit) - UTalk.com
• Bible (1/2 credit) - We will be doing this with Dad in the evenings. Our spine is Drive Thru History's DVD series of "The Gospels"
• Physical Education (1/2 credit) - A membership to a Teen strength and fitness class at a local gym. He did this last year and loved it, so will be continuing this year as well. Classes are held 2x per week starting in September.  
• Nutrition & Health (1/2 credit) - Using a variety of resources, including Janice VanCleave's Food and Nutrition for Every Kid and several Milliken worksheets on Nutrition. 
• Career Exploration (1/2 credit) - Using the 7 Sisters Career Exploration curriculum.
• Extracurricular - Strategy Club with a friend.

We are looking forward to a great school year!

Back to School 2018 - JJ's Sophomore Year

Wednesday, August 22, 2018 - We had a "back-to-school breakfast" of a Toaster Strudel, half of a banana, and a cup of coffee. 

JJ was being camera shy. 
He wasn't thrilled about starting back to school.

But his cat, Sofie, tends to make him smile.

This is JJ's Sophomore year. We have quite a line-up of subjects for him to do, but I think it will be a good year. Over the summer, I did a lot of researching and planning to come up with a course of study that will hopefully be challenging, yet enjoyable. We have learned that he is a visual learner, and also enjoys working with his hands, so I tried to tailor his studies with those styles of learning in mind.

This is what we have chosen to use for his curriculum this year:

• American History - I made my own lesson plans using a variety of resources, including Drive Thru History and America The Story of Us.
• Biology - Again, I made my own lesson plans with a mix of resources, using the Biology 101 DVD curriculum as the core.
  
• Basic Math & Pre-Algebra -We are trying CTC Math online curriculum this year.
• English/Grammar - Queen Homeschool's Language Lessons for the Secondary Child Vol. 2
• Composition - Igniting Your Writing II
• Spelling - K12 Reader's FREE High School Spelling Words (36 Week Program)
• Intro to Logic - The Fallacy Detective
• Fundamentals of Drawing - Lamb's Book of Art II
• Bible - The Pauline Epistles
• Physical Education - A membership to a Teen class at a local gym. Classes will be held 2x per week starting in September. 

I hope to share more about each of these subjects in the coming months to let you know how things are working out for us.

Have a great school year!

Back to School 2017: The Beginning of JJ's Freshman Year

Our first day of school this year was Monday, August 21st. We took a field trip with some friends of ours to Southern IL to see the 2017 Solar Eclipse. Totality only lasted a couple of minutes, but it was an incredible sight to see! The pictures do not even come close to showing what it was really like.

Then, on Tuesday, we started easing back into our book work. Since EL has graduated, we only have JJ to do official school with this year, although EL is still doing some light schoolwork to help keep her mind active.

JJ is now a High School Freshman!

We started our day on Tuesday with Toaster Strudels for breakfast, one of our favorite treats.

Then, I had the kids write "Thank you" notes for the gifts they received for graduation. I also had JJ write a short field trip report from Monday's trip to see the eclipse.

The next two days (Wednesday and Thursday), we added Spelling, Grammar, and Spanish. Then, next week, we will add a couple more subjects.

We are using an eclectic mix of different curriculum for JJ this year, which includes the following:

• IL History & US Geography - State History from a Christian Perspective
• Survey of Geology & Archaeology (Earth Science) - Master Books
• Math (Heading into Pre-Algebra this year) - Teaching Textbooks
• Spelling - Sequential Spelling
• Grammar - Easy Grammar Plus
• Composition - Igniting Your Writing
• Spanish - Rosetta Stone

I will try to update as we progress and let you know how things are going with these options.

Keep us in your prayers, and have a great school year!

Back to School 2016

Monday, August 22nd, was the first day back to school for us. JJ is in 8th grade this year, and EL is in 12th. I kept things light this first week back, and just wanted to get us back into a routine.

For the past 7 years, we have used My Father's World for our main curriculum (which included History, Science, Bible, Art and Music). I loved MFW but, this year, we are trying something different. I wanted to focus on Civics/Government for our History lessons this year, so we are switching to Notgrass History: Uncle Sam & You (which includes Civics/Government, Bible, and Language Arts). We will be starting this curriculum on Monday, with all of us working and learning together. It looks like it will be a fun and interesting year.

For independent work, JJ will be using:

Apologia Science, with a focus on Astronomy 
Queen Language Lessons, for the Secondary Child-Vol. 1
ACE Math

We will see how things go with these curriculum, and may need to tweak things here and there if they are not working for us.

I am also going to be working with JJ one-on-one with a new Spelling program. About three years ago, JJ was evaluated at a Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic, and it was determined he has developmental delays in the areas of Reading and Spelling. He seems to have several symptoms of Dyslexia, although there was not enough information at the time of testing to make this type of diagnosis. Since that time, we have continued to work with JJ and he has made great improvement with his reading. However, he continues to struggle significantly with Spelling. So, over the Summer, I did some research on different ways to help him with that, and decided on using All About Spelling. We are going back to the basics (starting with level 1), and hope to see some results.

As for EL, this will be our last year of formally educating her. Besides the Notgrass curriculum, she will be using: 

ACE Science 
Queen Language Lessons, for the Very Young-Vol. 2
Explode the Code
Spectrum Math

As I am able, I will try to update on how things are going with our curriculum. 

Have a great school year!

Back to School 2015: A Peek Into Our Day

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Today was our first day back to school for the 2015-2016 school year. I kept it light and fun today, as it was mostly just to get us back into a routine. Here is a little peek into what our day was like:

7:00 a.m. - EL and I made our beds and took our showers
7:30 a.m. - JJ's wake-up call
8:00 a.m. - Breakfast and Devotions (We used Growing with Jesus by Andy Holmes)

I usually allow the kids to choose something special for our first day back to school breakfast. In the past, the most asked for choice has been PANCAKES. But, last year, they decided to have BAKED OATMEAL. And, this year, the choice was TOASTER STRUDELS and YOGURT. Very simple, and something they love.

8:30 a.m. - Clean up breakfast, brush teeth, then free time until 9:00.
9:00 a.m. - Exercises (Today we marched and moved to Lego Lord's Army)
9:30 a.m. - School Time (Seat Work)

For our seat work today, we went over a brief overview of our schedule for the year, the kids filled out some "All About Me" pages for their notebooks, did an August back-to-school word search, practiced A's and B's in cursive, and did a little Math:  EL worked on a couple pages in our Usborne Dot to Dot Book, and JJ reviewed his multiplication (1's - 4's) in a Twin Sister's Wipe-Clean workbook.

11:30 a.m. - Seat work done for the day, and time for Lunch
After lunch was chores and free time.

Day one done and all went well.  (We'll see how things go once the seat work gets a little more challenging.)

Have a great and productive school year!

Back to School 2014

 

On August 19th, we started back to school with a light schedule. We spent a few days doing some "All About Me" pages, a basic family tree, learning about IL State history, and did some reading and  other simple projects to get us back into a routine. 

 

JJ was acting goofy here. He often says he doesn't like school; but, our first week went fine. I think, deep down, he really does like having (or maybe even needs) a more strict routine to help keep him busy and knowing what to expect. During the Summer, he often told me he was bored.

Our first-day-back-to-school breakfast tradition is usually pancakes. But, this year, the kids decided they wanted Baked Oatmeal. See the recipe below...

BAKED OATMEAL

 

3 cups dry oatmeal (2 cups quick cooking oats, 1 cup Old-fashioned)
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips (or raisins)
1/2 cup applesauce
2 eggs
1 cup milk

 

Mix all together. Pour into a 9x9 square pan. Bake 30-35 minutes at 350 until firm and slightly browned. Serve warm. 

 

Double the recipe for a 9x13 pan. 

 

 

Our First Week Back To School

Our first week back to a regular school routine had its ups and downs. The first day (Tuesday) went really well, as I kept it fairly light and fun. We started our day with pancakes (this has been a tradition for us for the past 3 years).

Then, I made a list on the whiteboard of the things we were going to accomplish.

1.  Introduction to our new school year (our schedule, our new curriculum, what to expect, etc.)
2.  Fill out an "About Me" page for their notebooks
3.  Handwriting
4.  Reading with Mom (this was a quick word recognition test for each of them)
5.  Get pictures ready (the kids took some pictures for a local photo contest, so we needed to get them framed and ready to take to the library.)

And, that was it. Day one down... feeling good... ready for day two!

 

Day two (Wednesday), was an entirely different story. I added some more work and a certain 5th grade boy had the attitude of:

 

1.  Why do we need to do school anyway!?

2.  This is boring!

3.  I don't like to write!

4.  This is too hard!

 

I kept my cool this year (unlike years past when I let my emotions get the better of me). However, I did end up firmly explaining to my son that it is a REQUIREMENT for him to do school. He could choose to cooperate with me and do school at home, or we could send him to the public school where things would be MUCH different and much less desirable for him. As we finished school that day, I was feeling like a failure as a mom and as a homeschooler; but, my son did eventually apologize for his behavior and agreed to do better.

 

That led us to day three (Thursday). No problems whatsoever! We finished our work with smiles and hugs. Then, took a field trip to a nearby nature center for their Homeschool Naturalist Program.

 

Today (Friday), we finished our first week by reviewing the 7 days of Creation, and eating a large sugar cookie decorated to look like the Earth. I remember doing something similar to this when we were doing the "Exploring Countries and Cultures" curriculum and learning about MAPS & GLOBES. It was fun to do it again.

 

Now, to enjoy the weekend and start fresh again on Monday morning.

 

Today's First Day of School (2012-13) Went Well!

Yesterday was supposed to have been our first day back to school, but our youngest came down with a fever and headache on Sunday night and ended up spending all day on the couch on Monday.

Thankfully, it was a short-lived virus. So, we were able to have our first day TODAY!

This past week, I had kept reminding the kids that we would be starting school again soon, and our routine was going to become a lot more structured than it was during the Summer months. I believe this helped to prepare them for what was to come. I also let them know about a few fun things we would be doing on our first day. It ended up going VERY well.

We started our day out with the traditional pancake breakfast we have at the start of each year.

Then, I read a chapter from book 3 of The Scripture Sleuth series that a friend let us borrow. There are 5 books in the series and we have already read books 1 and 2. The kids (or, at least Coyote) were looking forward to beginning book 3, so I told them we would start it on the first day of school.

After that, I went through our new schedule/routine, including the kids' new chore charts, and showed them what to expect this year. Then, they each did a lesson in their Explode the Code books, their Math books, and did some silent reading from a new book of interest. I figured that was enough for the first day. We will add more as the days go by, and should be ready to start our main curriculum from My Father's World on Monday.

One last thing I did to help bring some excitement was make a "fidget box" this year. It is filled with miscellaneous sensory-type of toys that the kids can choose from as they listen to me during lesson times.

Most of the items came from the kids' own toybox, but I also added a few new things to make it more interesting. We have things like magnetic sculptures, squishy balls/stress balls, Thinking putty (sort of like Silly Putty), and various other little toys to keep fidgetty hands busy and little minds more open and able to pay attention.

Today went so much better than I ever expected, and I am so happy for the way the Lord continues to provide wisdom for me, as well as some much-needed encouragement. 

If you are a mom and/or a teacher, I hope your school year is off to a great start as well. What things have YOU done to help get your kids excited about starting school?

First Day of 2011-2012 School Year

As you can see by the white board behind the kids, our first day of this school year was on Thursday, August 25th. We were planning on beginning Wednesday, the 24th, but had a change of plans due to Road Runner's consultation with a Physical Therapist (More on that later).

So, on Thursday morning, we had homemade pancakes for breakfast. This is a big deal for us around here because I don't normally fix breakfast. We aren't big breakfast eaters and usually just have a bowl of cold cereal with milk, or toast with a piece of fruit. In cooler weather, I will make oatmeal or Cream of Wheat (and I think we will be eating a lot more of that this year, due to the cost of cold cereal these days). But, anyway, I wanted to make our first day back to school a special day, so I made pancakes.

After breakfast, we did our morning chores, then got to work at the school table. We started using a CALENDAR BOOK this year from Christian Light Publications. It helps the kids understand more about days, weeks, months, years, seasons, and weather. 

Then, the kids began working on an "All About Me" book. We used some of the FREE printables from ALPHABET SOUP and KID PRINTABLES. This was an enjoyable way to record some memories, while getting the kids back into the "swing" of sitting down to do school work. 

After lunch, I began stretching exercises on Road Runner's arms. She had recently seen her Pediatrician for a yearly checkup, and I showed the doctor how RR's arms would not completely extend they way they are supposed to, and how her range of motion is compromised. The doctor agreed that RR should be seen by a Physical Therapist to see what can be done about it. I got a call on Tuesday to let me know the appointment was scheduled for Wednesday morning. The PT consulted with us and said her arms (in her elbow area) have lost their elasticity, due to RR's lack of using them. For example, most kids will hang from the monkey bars, throw balls, swim, and run around playing games. RR has never been very active in this way, and her muscles are showing physical signs of it now. (This is typical in many autistics). He then showed me how to do stretching and strengthening exercises with her at home. These exercises need to be done at least 2-3 times per day for a number of weeks - maybe 6 weeks or more. We go back in 2 weeks to see how much progress has been made.  

The first day of these exercises were very hard for both RR and me. She was uncomfortable with the stretching, and I wasn't too sure how far to push her. But, today went much better. RR knows what to expect now, and I have a better idea of what her threshold is. So, I think we are on the right track now. Its just gonna take time. 

Today, we did a repeat of yesterday, but also included review of some math facts (for RR), and telling time (for Coyote). We also did a lesson in our "Home Economics for Homeschoolers" book, and were introduced to the "Fitball Kids" exercise DVD. 

All in all, it was a good first couple of days. Now, we will enjoy the weekend and the beautiful weather before beginning our main curriculum on Monday morning.  

  

First Day of New School Year

We were on vacation a couple of weeks ago. It was a fun and educational time as we visited The Creation Museum in Petersburg, KY; got a tour of an airplane at Lunken Municipal Airport in Cincinnati, OH; and visited the Newport Aquarium in Newport, KY. We also visited with family and friends, and celebrated Road Runner's 12th birthday!

Now, we are home and finally ready to start school. I was originally going to start on Monday, but David so wisely suggested that we wait until Wednesday (today) so we could ease back into it slowly. I was getting over a nasty head cold on Monday, so that didn't bother me one bit!

So, here is a picture I took for our first day back to school....

As you can tell by the picture, the kids weren't exactly thrilled with starting school again. But, they were cooperative for the most part, and we did have a good first day. It'll just take a few days to get back into a routine. We did not start the My Father's World curriculum yet, but will start that next Monday. Today, we did Language Arts, Music, and Sign Language. We are using new material for all of those subjects this year and, so far, I really like them. I'll list everything later on in a separate blog entry, but I really think its going to be a good year!

To update you on the green tomato worm, he formed a cocoon while we were gone on vacation and has been laying on the bottom of the jar for a couple of weeks. Not sure when he is going to emerge. Only time will tell....

Meet the Class

It's my first entry on SONset Academy! We haven't officially started back to school yet (my plan is to begin on August 23rd), but let me introduce you to our class:

My husband, David, is our Principal. He brings wisdom and insight to our school, as well as emotional support on my part. He loves his children and desires to be a part of their lives. I know I would have a hard time schooling the children without his help.

You've already seen a picture of me on the main blog page, so I won't include another. But, I am Victoria. This will be our 6th year of homeschooling. I have learned alot over the years, and still have a long way to go. But, it has mostly been fun teaching our kids and I'm so glad to have the opportunity to do it.

Our daughter, Road Runner, is 12. She loves animals of all kinds, but especially dogs and birds (Road

Runners are a personal favorite of hers). She also enjoys drawing and cutting out pictures, reading books, and watching movies. Her autism brings some special learning needs with it, but she is smart and understands a lot more than I think most of us realize. She has really "blossomed" a lot this past year, and I am looking forward to seeing what the future has in store. It is a blessing to have her for a daughter.

Coyote is 7. He also loves animals, likes to write stories, and is getting especially good at drawing. He is an active boy with an interest in super heroes, science fiction movies, and finding critters in the yard. A mild case of Tourettes Syndrome has caused him some struggles, but he is working through them. He is a joy to have around - funny, sweet, and a best friend and teacher to Road Runner. I am so glad he is a part of our lives. 

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Speaking of critters, I recently purchased a book called "Pets in a Jar" by Seymore Simon and, yesterday, we decided to use it for the first time.  David's parents were here and "Dad" found a large green worm eating the leaves off my tomato plants. The first one, he just stomped on to get rid of it. Then, he took Coyote out to see if they could find another one. They did. Coyote brought it inside to me, while it was still hanging onto a leaf branch. At first, I wanted it OUT of my house. But, then, I remembered the book I bought and figured this might be a good opportunity to watch the worm and learn from it. So, now we have "Claws" (Coyote named him) sitting in a jar in our family room. Coyote reminded me this morning that we needed to go get fresh leaves for Claws so he would have plenty to eat. If you look closely at the jar, you can see him laying on the bottom. It will be interesting to learn more about him, watch him form a cocoon, and hopefully emerge as a moth of some sort. We'll see what happens....