Figured I would come out of my pregnancy hibernation to share some updates...
I can't believe that I'm only about 10 or 11 weeks from meeting my newest little one. Oh how I wish I could share with you whether I'm having a boy or girl, but this baby has absolutely refused to reveal itself to us in spite of multiple ultrasounds. It's becoming routine for me to tell people that hopefully we'll find out "at next month's ultrasound." But if I don't find out in 2 weeks, we're going to be officially Team Green on this child. The doctor says what we've seen looks more like a boy than a girl, but he's still not completely sure. Either way, baby is getting a red plaid bear and moose nursery. If it's a girl, we'll just add a few bows here and there.
Not only are we in baby mode again, but we're back on the homeschool saddle for this school year. We've almost completed three weeks of 1st grade! This year is going light years better than last year--partly because I'm not a rookie mom making rookie mistakes, and partly because my little guy is much more engaged this year.
After the tears and headaches of last spring, I decided to change up our curriculum. I still like the idea of a Charlotte Mason combined with a classical approach, but I'm not committing myself to a "style" this year. I threw out half of the Memoria Press plan for 2nd grade (our guy is a year ahead), and decided that we'll revisit their curriculum in junior high when we're ready to dive more into a classical study. I still really like some aspects of the curriculum, but I can honestly say that phonics was discouraging and we're not ready for the American cursive that is pervasive in all their 1st and 2nd grade workbooks.
Since I'm a bit more systematic in my own approach to learning, I decided to choose curriculum on a subject-by-subject basis. A year ago, I would have died at the thought of "customizing" my own plan. But as it turns out, I don't follow guidelines so well myself, and pre-prepared teacher lesson plans kind of get on my nerves (if you're a professional educator, I'm sure this statement makes you cringe). Anyway, starting from scratch with each subject has been loads of fun.
For now, we're using the following books for these subjects:
- Bible- God's Great Covenant OT (1) by Classical Academic Press
- Spelling- 2nd grade spelling by BJU Press
- English- 2nd grade English by BJU Press (coordinates with spelling)
- Math- grade 3 by Rod & Staff
- Social Studies- grade 2 by Rod & Staff
- Science- Grade 1 by Christian Liberty Press; Homeschool Zoo classes once per month; and a homeschool class at a local nature preserve once a week (how many kids get to go on a 60 minute hike in the woods every week?!)
- Writing- Handwriting Without Tears, 1st grade
- Reading- we're spending our first quarter reading science books for kids; we've also incorporated weekly book reports
- PE- Jr. PGA golf tournaments; will sign up for basketball this winter
How are we going to pull all of this off with a new baby? Who knows?! We'll figure it out. 12 weeks ago I would have told you that I would be too sick to homeschool in August, but here we are.
I really want to document our school experiences more, so I'll try to do better. But with Baby #4 coming so soon, I'm not making any promises. Just know that I haven't forgot y'all. Can't wait to share stories about life as a family of 6. (And no, there will be no bump pictures for you. I'm not sicko enough to think that's cute. If you really want to know what my little self looks like pregnant, you'll have to call my mom. Otherwise, you'll just have to wait for pics of the baby...)
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