Monday, March 17, 2014

Schoolhouse in the City

I feel like it's been about a million years since I've posted over here. For awhile, I just didn't make this space a priority, but also in the interest of full disclosure, we've taken some SERIOUS time off from homeschooling. Like a couple of months. But our family has endured (and survived!) a *huge* season of transition, and I feel like their was so much wisdom in putting down the books during that time. Last Summer, we hit them harder than we did all year and I feel like we'll do the same again this year, so I'm kind of looking at it as a sabbatical we took in lieu of a Summer vacation.

Anyway, now that we're settled- or getting there- in our new home in Brooklyn (notice the change in the header!), we're easing back in. I knew it would be in my best interest to not add everything back in at once, but I did go ahead and order all the Kindergarten curriculum we'll be using for Ann Peyton.

We're using Logic of English (Foundations: Level A) for reading/writing.
Annie has been expressing a big interest in writing out words and reading them, so we went ahead and started this. It's playful and sensory oriented, but still structured enough that I feel like we're making good use of our time. It also includes a handwriting program and I've enjoyed having that all in one package. It starts out pretty slow and I think that's helpful so that we don't get ahead of ourselves. Honestly, I LOATH phonetics, so this is not something I'd been anticipating in a good way- I really think if I ever went back to teaching in a classroom I'd have to teach an upper grade; it's such a source of disdain. But, like I said, the program has been fun and enjoyable so far and I'm less annoyed by the idea of having to teach someone to read now ;)

I also bought Right Start Math to use as our math curriculum this year, but we probably won't start until Summer or maybe even early Fall.
We're still working our way through one of our wonderful Critical Thinking books and I want to finish that. Plus, I thought it would be easier on me to stagger starting the two curriculums, so I could kind of immerse myself in one before starting the other. That said, I'm SO EXCITED about starting this math program. It uses lots of manapulatives which I think will be perfect for Graves (who is very kinesthetic) later and will, at the very least, make it extra fun for Annie. Also, I love that it's very focused on understanding and not just memorizing facts. It seems perfect for the way I'd like to teach math.

As much as I hate "English", I love literature and adding back in chunks of read-aloud time has been maybe the most exciting thing. I picked back up where we left off with our Five in a Row books (I just realized I never blogged about this curriculum and I absolutely need to do it!) and so we're doing that several days a week (usually three or four, instead of five) and we've really been taking advantage of the public libraries here. Annie's been asking a lot of questions about all kind of things that are sort of in the field of science- how she grows, things about her skin and bones, how berries grow, and which animals stay awake during the night. Peyton was very proactive and seized this opportunity, so we've been getting some informational books in addition to our usual fiction. I think she's enjoyed that!

In addition to the library, we joined the Children's Museum here in Brooklyn and became members at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan. I was shocked at how much Annie has already absorbed at The Met and we've just been once. I miss Annie's little school back home, because SO much (ballet, gymnastics, Kindermusik, drama) was offered in one place, but obviously the city has so many fantastic opportunities to take advantage of.

We'll be adding in a few other things (memory work and such) in the next month or so, but not anything huge. Also, I probably won't start anything serious until Summer or maybe even Fall, but I'd like to get a game plan for "pre-school" for Graves in place sooner rather than later. Most likely, we'll focus on tracing and some basic memorizing, learning his letters (names and sounds) and then I'll use that first critical thinking book we used with Annie. I'm also going to try to start back with the weekly Slow and Steady activities.

And that's where we are right now! I'm so excited to be back in the saddle and I think the break helped me feel refreshed and ready to get going with all of this!

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