Changing a few things, and a progress report of sorts...

Changing: When kids groan every time you bring out a certain resource, it is time to change that resource! So, we're going to try Famous Men of Greece for a while (the gorgeously illustrated Memoria Press version), along with great Dover coloring books, and the Classical Kids Activity Guide, along with the activity guide for SOTW. And we've dropped our homemade biomes studies for the meantime, instead focusing on Elementary Life Science. I know we tend to switch things up more than some families might, but I think that is one of the beauties of homeschooling - the ability to adapt to what works and what doesn't.

Since Fairy is struggling with reading, I also got a copy of Phonics Pathways. We sat down yesterday to start working with it, and I am hopeful that it will work. It is designed for remedial readers, people with difficulties reading, so I think it is a good place to start.

Progress Report: Other than changing a few things around, we are doing well. Saxon Math is working really well for both kids, and Writing Tales is a dream come true for me, since it covers writing, grammar, spelling and vocabulary, all in one! And the kids both still love Explode the Code. Easy Lessons for Teaching Word Families is great too... yesterday it seemed that Fairy finally got the concept that the end doesn't change, just the first letter does! In another week and a half, I plan to bring back in another phonics/writing book for Fairy, and we'll see how she does with that. The great thing is that all the approaches, from Word Families to Oak Meadow, will be covering the same things, and so will complement each other.

We had a great homeschooling day yesterday. I cleared off the table, brought in some flowers (red and purple sage), lit a candle, brewed a pot of tea, and put on some classical guitar music. We covered phonics, reading, copy work, vocabulary, math, geography, and science, doing a project on burrow temperatures that was simple, and a lot of fun. We even played the grammar version of Red Light, Green Light from Writing Tales, which was a ton of fun (and sneakily educational). We didn't make it to 4H since I am still fighting off a cold or something, but I think a day at home was just what we needed, since the last few weeks have been hectic, hectic, hectic.

I am hoping for more of the same today. The kids want to do their Tae-Bo Kicks video, and then I already have history ready to go - complete with coloring pages scanned and printed from Greek Gods and Goddesses... and we'll finish up the science project, plus reading, writing, math, etc. Elf is reading The Fantastic Mr. Fox right now as his assigned book (since the movie comes out later this month) and he loves it. It was always one of my favorite books as a child! Then Fairy has dance later today, and I have the evening OFF! M is cooking dinner too, so maybe I will actually get to relax a bit. Tomorrow we don't have any out-of-the-house plans until Elf has tap in the late afternoon, so I have plans for yet another day of good, solid education.

Hope all is going well for everyone else out there!