Bryce's art project for today was this totem pole drawing.  He did a wonderful job, I think!

Scotty, I was NOT so happy with him.  He did great on the drawing.  Then he got tired and didn't really want to color is, so he scribbled over it with green and called it done.  I was so disappointed and he knew it!  Oh well...let's hope next week is better.

Bryce is really struggling with CLE Reading. It is a great program, and we are doing it a whole grade level behind, but he is really struggling to get through the reading. I am so sad about it too! I am not sure what to do for him. It seems to be the vocabulary that he just can't hang with. His spelling is SO BAD and it really affects his ability to write a cohesive paragraph. In ps, they didn't teach Bryce to decode words phonetically. Unfortunately, this has caused a LOT of issues in his reading and especially in his level of understanding.

At this point, I am not sure whether I should try the R&S reading on a 4th grade level or go down to CLE reading on a 3rd grade level. I don't want to sit and read it to him - that defeats the purpose. He can read the stories, but the harder vocabulary throws him. Gosh, what a quandry.

Today was not the best homeschool day ever.  It ended a "Where is your focus" themed first week back to school.  So, in the spirit of keeping this blog from ever being bogged down with the negative, I decided to find something I really love about my boys and post that instead. 

Both of my fellas love to do art.  Bryce is into drawing.  He would rather draw and color with different techniques than via any other medium.  Today, I found his "Draw Write Now" art book.  He has been keeping this all year and he adds a new picture each school week.  We started this about nine weeks into this school year (when we dropped HOD with him).  Here are a few of his pictures - in order from the first to the most recent.    I love them!

And here is one of Scotty's art projects for today.  This is one from his HOD Little Hearts.  We have been talking about all of the miracles that Jesus performed in the short time he was here on Earth.  One such miracle was when he calmed the storm at sea.  This picture is the boat at sea after Jesus calmed the storm.

Well, thanks to all of this wonderful wintery precipitation, all of our fun outside activities were cancelled for this week.  We were all looking forward to getting back out in the world and having some fun and now our patience is going to have to have to hang on a bit longer.  The snow is falling now and it looks to be even worse than the beginning of the week as far as expected accumulations.

Today I started really thinking about next year's curriculum.  Scotty is going to be starting some of his second grade material before the end of this school year, so I had to get on the ball.  Besides, who doesn't love picking curriculum?  I am such a junkie.  I have to have something to obsess over and, well, curriculum is better than worrying about my health or the freaking swine flu! 

Here is the lineup so far.  This may change come 2010-2011, but here is the thought for now.

Bryce – Grade 6

R&S Reading 6

R&S English 5

R&S History 6

R&S Science 6

R&S Spelling 5

R&S Bible 5

R&S Music 6

Speedy Spanish 2

CLE Math 5/6                                     

DWN or Artpac

Read alouds randomly selected

Scotty – Grade 2

R&S English 2

R&S Spelling 2

R&S Health and Manners 2

CLE Reading 2

CLE Math 2

CLE Science 2

CLE Social Studies 2

CLE Bible 2                                                            

French (3^rd book)  

Pentime 3

DWN     

Now...if only I can convince Bryce he doesn't want to go live with his dad when he turns 12. 

Okay, so I am feeling like chatting about the kids' schooling and I have no other place to do it than here. I took a long break. First of all, I don't care for the new style of hsjournal and I hate trying to add pictures now. However, when the urge to chatter comes on, we tend to overlook such small things.

The first MAJOR change for us is that I feel like my curriculum is finally where I want it to be. The kids are learning and advancing and I am so glad to finally find what is working for them.

Bryce is using the following for 5th grade:

R&S History 5, R&S Science 5, R&S English 4, R&S Spelling 4, CLE Reading 4, R&S Music, Draw Write Now - American Indians/Pilgrims, CLE Bible, CLE Math (finishing 4th, starting 5th), Read Alouds from HOD Bigger Hearts for His Glory, Poetry from HOD Bigger, Typing Instructor for Kids, Speedy Spanish 1, States and Capitals.  He also does Tae-Kwon-Do 3 times a week and takes art and US Geography in Co-op.

Scotty is finishing up 1st grade and using the following:

CLE LA 1, Phonics Pathways, Explode the Code book 4, CLE Math 1, CLE Science 1, CLE Social Studies 1, CLE Reading 1, R&S Art, Pentime 2 cursive, Hooked on French, HOD Little Hearts Biblical History and read alouds, Map Skills Geography.  In Co-op, he does Art and Gymnastics.

The other thing I am excited about is starting the kids back in co-op.  We took a semester off in the fall - mostly due to all of the flu virus going around.  However, the kids and I all really need the time outside the house and around other people with similar interests.  I think it will do wonders for our mental states.  Unfortunately, this first week back, we have had nothing but snow, snow, and some more snow.  Most things have been cancelled.    That is okay, though - there is always next week, right???  At least that is what I keep telling myself.

The kids are really on track with their studies this year and I think that is really due to the curriculum choices.  I hate it, but the textbook style really fits Bryce.  It surely has something to do with all the years he spent in public school.  He is learning more with the R&S History and Science than he did with any other curriculum we used - and we used some great ones (like NOEO!).  Scotty is just starting his journey and I am not sure where we will end up with History and Science.  I know that he is a scholar in English so far - not so much with the math.  Bryce does well in math, History and Science whereas Scotty does well in Reading, English, and Spelling. 

Scotty started cursive writing this week.  We started it in the fall and he just wasn't ready, so we put it away for a bit.  He got to the point in his Pentime Handwriting (2) that he has now started learning cursive.  The transition has been natural and wonderful this time.  He sat down today and did the most beautiful 6 year old just starting cursive handwriting I have ever seen.  LOL  Of course, I am not biased at all either..right?    I will have to post a picture after I take one and manage to get it from the camera to the computer.  My little USB thingie in the camera broke and now I have to take the SD card out everytime.  What a PITA!

Updated with picture:

He is doing his Bible verse memory work from Heart of Dakota.  I am sorry it is sideways - I can't seem to change it either.    Oh well...you get the idea.  The manual asks them to run and move while saying the memory verse.  That is perfect for my little busy body. 

BLHFHG Memory Verse

It occurred to me that, while I always took pics of my overall workbox shelf to show, I must have not really shown how we used them.  I have read several blogs lately where people posted pictures of what is IN the workboxes.  So...I thought I would do the same. 

 He is working on box 1 right now, so here is a closeup of box 2.

Here you can see his first 15 minute break tab.

On books, especially ones where he has to read specific pages alone, I put a sticky note with the exact assignment so it is "grab and go."

You can see his 2nd 15 minute break here.

We are truly enjoying using these.  It takes more planning on my part, but the benefits so far exceed any extra work I may have to do. 

Bigger with Entensions and DITHR:

Bryce will be 10 in less than a week and he started Bigger Hearts with Extensions and DITHR this week.  Oh my!  We are so in love with this.  You just have no idea the change I have seen in this child with regard to school work using HOD plus workboxes.  He spent his week in History up to his eyeballs and loved every second of it!  This child is the biggest history buff and I couldn't have chosen a better approach for him.  Together, we are reading George Rogers Clark.  On his own in extensions, he is reading about Pedro and Columbus and we are also reading about them in History.  On top of that, in DITHR, he is reading Jed Smith.  He has told me so many neat and fascinating facts about these people and their lives. 

Here is just a sample of his work in DITHR.  This is a child who wouldn't write or be creative at all for me last year.  Look at how he is eating this up!

Science Notebooking

Columbus' Map

Our Experiences with Beyond:

Some of my favorite moments from this week using beyond with my 5, almost 6 year old has been the reading.  He curls in my lap as we read Squanto, the stories in American Pioneers and Patriots, and the Bible.  The Science is *just enough* for him.  He loves doing the experiments most of all.    The biggest surprise has been his reading aloud abilities.  I worried about starting the Emerging Readers with him (mostly due to his age, not ability).  Now, he is breezing through is daily readings in The Early Readers Bible.  He enjoys reading the questions and answering them himself too.    I feel like, with HOD, we are able to use all of the curriculum that we dearly love (CLE, Handwriting, etc) but enrich it completely.  Like I said above, I couldn't be more pleased with our experiences thus far.    Here are some pictures of my little fella and some of his work from the week. 

Timeline

Poetry picture

A Sentence about himself - copywork

Spelling words used in a sentence (more copywork)

Poetry Copywork

And my favorite...his shield.  He wanted me to write on it for him, so I did.  He did the decorating around the edges.  That was a wonderful activity...even if it will be used as a "Transformers Shield" henceforth.  LOL

I have had a few requests for some pictures, so here is my effort.  LOL

This morning, Bryce had to write down the continents/oceans on notecards and then place them where they would go on a globe.  We were supposed to do this on a ball or balloon, but we did it on the globe instead.  When we were finished, Bryce said, "wow...that globe looks freaky."  So here is my "freaky" globe with my goofy kids. 

A few more:

Here is my store stash so far.  I am going to get some candy to put in there today (we have store tomorrow), but for now, it is just these little goodies. 

And my storage thingie.  I like the sticker on the front almost as much as I like the idea of the store.  LOL

Here are a few pics of the chore packs.  The have worked really well for us, so far. 

Those are the cards I trade in and out.  Here is the pack they take with them as they do their chores.  The chores are numbered so they make sure to do them in order.

And...Scotty said that if I was going to post pictures on my blog, I had to add this picture of the little house he made.    He loves little things and this is now the house for all of his mini toys.