I have got to stop...

Finding really interesting reprints of old books and adding them to my cart over at Amazon. You might remember sometime ago when I found these books. And then I was thrilled to find this book, which combines them all at an excellent price. Yesterday, waiting in vain for an email, I browsed Amazon some more, and An Old Fashioned Education. Somehow, between the two, I found a few more tempting items for next year....

For Elf, who is very interested in the world of bugs, I found...

Then, for American History, I found this series (there are 4)...

Now, having read through part of this over at Project Gutenburg, I am aware that Native Americans aren't portrayed very fully, at least in the first chapter. I could add in something for that, because other than that, I love the tone of the writing, and so do the kids (we read through the first three chapters). Immensely more appealing than many of the books out there on American history. I had planned on doing American history for two years, then back to world history with the book below (though plans may change by then)... Anyhow, with four books in the American Stories series, I could do two a year, with extra read-alouds on points of interest, hands-on projects, etc.

I went ahead and ordered the following book, used of course, to preview as a possible resource for a narrative version of Native American history. We'll see!

Then of course there are these...








Yes, I am aware that these books are available for free online, which is part of the dilemma. Do I buy the books themselves, or do I download them and print them out when I get a laser printer sometime in August? Figuring out the comparative prices isn't easy. And I do love books, actual books, that are bound, and can be held. Hmmmm.... I think I may stick with Amazon.

Also in my browsing, I found something that I like better than Saxon Math 2 for Fairy. I found MEP: Mathematics Enhancement Programme, from the Centre for Innovation in Mathematics Teaching (yes, it's British). It is a FREE curriculum, that looks both challenging and interesting. While An Old Fashioned Education recommends using Year 3 for second grade, many of the people on message boards who have actually used it recommend shifting the opposite direction. After looking through several hundred pages, I think I could start Fairy with workbook 1B and move forward at her pace from there. Of course, it is not entirely free in that I would have to print it out. But, since it is black and white, it would be cheap enough to do on a laser printer. I want to look at it for Elf too, though I do like the looks of Saxon 5/4.

I do need to stop finding cool old books though. For a cheap homeschool education, this could get expensive!

Summer schooling...

As our summer progresses, I've made a few changes to my original plans for light summer school. For the most part, we're sticking to the intent of the original plans, just changing the materials used.

Elf is currently working through Math Mammoth multiplication, doing 2 or so pages daily. He is also reading for about half an hour daily and is at the moment deep into Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. He's also busy with Snap Circuits, and the microscope he recently took apart, cleaned, and put back together. He works off and on writing and illustrating a comic strip he's creating.

Fairy is using MathSteps level 2 for review over the summer. She loves the simplicity of it, and yesterday did 6 pages with no prompting! We're continuing work in The Reading Lesson, which she also loves, and best of all, seems to be working! She also spends a lot of time playing with fairy dolls, making "potions" in the garden, and drawing. I'm reading Ramona and Her Father to her. She's really excited about the Ramona movie coming out this month!

Both signed up for our library's summer reading challenge. We've completed 4 weeks so far, and the kids just earned their free book bags. I finally bit the bullet and got them their own library cards - they always look so proud going up to the checkout counter with them! The librarian (our favorite one) gave me quite a compliment last week: she said it was wonderful to see a parent setting such a good example for her kids with reading, and obviously they are growing to love reading too. I got ahold of Swallows and Amazons to start reading aloud this week as we wrap up Mary Poppins. And we'll be starting The Witches on audio cd, as we've just about reached the end of Matilda.

We officially start up schooling again in 4 weeks. Now that I finally have made all my curriculum decisions, I'm really looking forward to it. There are a few things I still need to buy before then, but the list isn't too bad. I plan to start with math, language arts, history, science and music/art appreciation, then add in grammar and geography a little later.

And that's what we're up to! I had asked for more hours at work, but am not getting them due to the fact that our sales are down 7.5% compared to last year. So instead we're gardening, cleaning out the house (those baby clothes have got to go!), and relaxing. Hope your summers are going well!