First Day of School...

wow! it is august already! i am soooo excited to start with our first day of school, i am blogging about it a day early :) i realized that i hadn't posted my curriculum choices yet, so i thought i would start with that and then (hopefully) do weekly summaries about our days...

tic-tac is 6, going on 7 in december. we homeschooled very, very loosely with him last year, hit many bumps in the road, and basically, i gave up trying to follow our Sonlight curriculum. it was just too much and didn't have any clear connections between subjects. my husband and i talked, reviewed and basically gave it up to God, and then he let me choose what we would be using this fall and we chose:

Tapestry of Grace as our core unit study
Horizons math (he still has to finish last year's workbooks before i feel good about purchsing anything new)
Handwriting Without Tears
Sonlight Science K (i really liked their resources!)
Truth and Grace/Catechism for Boys and Girls
Put On workbook put out by DoorPosts
The 21 Rules of this House (i will edit and let you know the publisher when i get a chance).
Luke, a bible study put out by Community Bible Study

it seems like a lot, but i have our schedule blocked out pretty nicely. we plan on going year-round this time since it is so blessed hot here in the valley during the summer and we don't have a pool :) i felt like we really could have gotten a lot done these last few months if i had just gotten my act together!

i am also really trying to focus on biblical characteristics and godly living this year. i hope to see some significant growth in each of my children (and ME!) this year as we dig into the bible together and learn verses, and write God's Word into our hearts.

for bonobo, as he just turned 4 in april, we are really taking it easy, but i don't want him to feel left out. he is eager to read just like his older brother, and i hope to use an adapted workbox system to foster some independent study on his part. his core curriculum is

Five in a Row...if you haven't ever checked out this curriculum, i HIGHLY recommend that you do. it is inexpensive, and encourages children to get completely involved in the story. you read the book (all priceless selections) every day for five days and then each day focus on a different aspect of study (social studies, geography, art, music, math, science, etc)...even has suggested field trips! i LOVE it!!! we have been able to get several of the books ahead of time from the library.

Explode the Code, primer A, B, C
stinkerbell is only 2, but i went ahead and got Before Five in a Row for her since she is showing so much interest in reading books. i am also working on her Tot Trays for her to work on her own with fun toys while i am occupied with the boys.

that is our curriculum in a nutshell. ha! i will let you know how it is all going as soon as i come up to breathe!!!

have a great first day of school :)