Fall Is Here!

Well, here it is Fall already! I can feel it in the air, and some of the trees have started turning. I just love this time of year! That crispness in the air and driving along the roads with flame-colored leaves parting as I drive gives me back that awe that I had when I first moved here and now take for granted.

Along with Fall comes school again. Well, we actually started August 1. "Start" to me means we start whole lessons in math. During the summer we did 2 or 3 division problems a couple of times a week because he didn't get the concept. And he was always writing almost every day in his "personal" journal, and, of course, I made him read daily. And, of course, "daily" is another of those words that is relative. :)

We did a lot of traveling again this summer. We stayed at my mom's house in California and from there traveled up and down the coast. We camped on the beaches, went to the San Diego Zoo, saw San Francisco and Fisherman's Wharf and rode the cable cars. We also saw the Monterey Aquarium (awesome! I highly recommend it!!) and on the way back down saw sea lions and otter in the kelp off the beaches. In all of this Derek learned a lot, of course. It seems simplistic, but it's travel like this that put him ahead in history, geography and science when he was in public school.

Derek now knows how to swim pretty well and is a beginning diver! Hooray! He learned to surf the waves on a boogie board, too. Being raised in California where it seems EVERYbody knows how to swim, I was a little concerned that Derek wasn't a swimmer. Swimming is not an "extra" to maybe learn; it's a REQUIREMENT in my humble opinion!

So now we've started school. Compared to last year, I am much more calm and sure of myself. When we first started we both were questioning whether Derek was learning anything -- or "enough". I guess it's all the busywork that makes one feel the kids are getting lots of learning. In our home school, we don't do "busywork" or even worksheets. Well, worksheets for math every now and then to help with a concept. But other than that, no busywork.

I use the Robinson Curriculum, but with history being taught in the Classical method -- which means history is taught chronologically. And history is basically taught through reading. Derek reads from a book on the book list for 2 hours every day, writes one page in cursive, and does one lesson in math. I have added to his writing this year by having him do a lesson in grammar (about 10 minutes) and have him do a paragraph of copywork for penmanship practice (plus a list of about 4 or 5 words that he has trouble forming). One day a week that copywork is dictation instead. I feel this is another method of helping him to focus to be able to follow directions. He's doing MUCH BETTER at following directions! The copywork is also from poetry and a science text, so he's getting exposed to those (science for basic concepts like how plants pollinate). His penmanship has GREATLY improved since I incorporated those singled-out words for him to practice! I still read to him at night before bedtime, and that includes short-story books on his reading list (like Aesop's), history (Story of the World with the Bible), and learning about the Church.

The reason I'm much calmer and more confident this year is because I see that he's on target with math and way above reading level (always was above in reading, but now he's REALLY above reading level!). This summer I was looking at Language Arts texts and books that the kids are reading for his grade level in public school, and oh my gosh! Those texts and books all look so babyish for his age! Really gives me confidence to see that!

Science in public school is a joke to us, as all they do is have baby-type stories about animals and such. We subscribe to Ranger Rick and Discovery Kids where he learns much more about science stuff than he would ever even be exposed to in school. Plus, we travel. I don't understand how kids his age are expected to do science experiments; they don't know enough math yet. Maybe a rock collection or something I can see. But an actual experiment? I think until higher math is learned, all any science experiment can be is a project about observation.

Until next time!