Rethinking and Restructuring...

It seems that a good break of a couple of weeks or so is a perfect time to reflect on what we have done thus far in our academic year, and to look ahead at what we would like to accomplish in the remaining weeks before summer - I am not the only one doing this, as I was in fact inspired by a friend to rethink! For counting purposes, we've completed 16 weeks, and have 20 left to go, more or less.

My thoughts...

Bug:
In language arts, I am happy with The Sentence Family, and I like Igniting Your Writing very much. However, we need more consistency with IYW! I also need to be more consistent with spelling... The Natural Speller is a great resource, and I need to take more advantage of that. I am debating if I should use Spelling City... I am reluctant to add to his computer time, or if I should simply work with him on paper each week in this subject.

Mathematically, I think we need a little more consistency too. We've hit a block in Life of Fred, while we brush up on division skills. I'd really like to be more organized with the living math approach. I am thinking maybe a Monday Library/Living Book math day, Tuesday and Thursday worksheet/workbook days, and Wednesday for LOF or perhaps Murderous Maths, then Fridays for Family Math.

He's doing well with studying for the National Mythology exam, so I have no concerns there.

I think he's ready for a little more challenging work when it comes to history and science. He is very much intrigued by prehistory, so I think we'll start off January with
The Early Human World.
the Big Bang, evolution, and a bit of earth science (fossils and all), maybe dusting off an older book/video list, then move into The Early Human World and archeology. I'd eventually love to work with him right through the entire Oxford World in Ancient Times set, since it covers civilizations we have barely touched on, like Ancient China and India, South Asia, and more. I would really love to start using The Story of Science at some point too. Science and history all tied together! We could even tie in our living math with something like this program.

Yes, I am trying semi-organized history and science again. I can't help it!

Cricket:
We're still making slow progress with reading, but I have a feeling that something is about to happen with this. She finally said, just yesterday "I want to be able to read"... something I have been waiting for the past 3 years to hear! So again, consistency (that seems to be my word of the moment, doesn't it?) After the holidays, we'll be moving to the second level in her box of leveled readers, at long, long last. So daily practice. And daily practice with Word Families, and/or Explode the Code.

Mathematically, she's doing well. She even took her Developmental Mathematics book with her to bed the other night, crazy girl! I think she'd thrive with the more organized approach I mentioned above. And I want to do more LOF with her, since there are a number of the elementary level books, and she does well with them.

We're still covering world cultures to some degree, but I'd like to bring her in on the science and history studies I am considering. I am considering the best way to do this, since I think some of the materials Beetle and I will be using might be above her head a little. Hmmmm... any suggestions? I'm reluctant to use Story of the World, but it might be the best option, along with supplemental library books. It is just that the Oxford books will offer so much more depth than SOTW does. Maybe just supplemental books for Cricket? I don't know.

So there you have it... my rethinking and restructuring. It will be interesting to see what the new year brings!