A Few Weeks Into the School Year...

The View from Here:

• We are loving Prima Latina. We surprised Dad today and picked him up for lunch. With no prompting from us, the three oldest busted out the Sanctus before digging into their Happy Meals. Not sure there's anything sweeter - or more strange, judging by the looks given by the other playplace diners - than that.







• I continue to like Saxon Math. It's straightforward, very repetitive, and slow moving. Because Bobo is doing Saxon 2 in first grade, we need it to be all of the above. Elbow, who is doing Pre-K/K, is using the Singapore Earlybird books just because she wants to do math like her sister. Next year I will start her on Saxon 1.







• Going through Story of the World: The Ancients for the second time is just as fun as it was the first go around. The girls like that the coloring pages have been changed a little, and I am constantly amazed that they remember minute details about the older version pages. I'm getting more out of it this time because we're using a time line. The Well-Trained Mind recommends doing this for the logic stage, rather than during the grammar years, but it really helps all of us retain the chapters we've read. I'm using small pictures - either from the actual book or from the computer - and pasting them right on the time line. The visual is indispensible!







• Copywork is new for Elbow and quite exciting. Bobo is not as enthusiastic as she once was (she used to bring it to church to show people), but we plod along and will move on to cursive after she finishes Copybook III.







• I've always loved using McGuffey for oral reading. Still do. The selections are a good length and the old-fashioned 'preachiness' is perfect for my 'by the book' reader.







• We're not making great progress in Exploring Creation through Zoology. I still love the Apologia books, I just never had a two year old BOY at the table before. Working on phonics with Elbow also cuts into the schedule - obvioulsy - quite a bit. We did Exploring Creation through Astronomy last year and really stuck to a weekly schedule. Bobo made a notebook. This year we're taking a more relaxed approach with science. We've been looking up bugs and birds that are of interest to us, or reading a little now and then. I may go back to a more systematic approach soon - not sure.






• We just finished a study of Bach. We read Bach: The Boy from Thuringia, listened to Mr. Bach Comes to Call and the Music Masters Bach CD many times. We narrated and did coloring pages for our book of composers. Next up is Handel.






• We're still looking at prints of Van Gogh for our picture study. No artist details at all; just enjoying some paintings. (Well, I shouldn't say no details at all. It's hard to neglect the cutting off the ear story when the children see pictures of the bandaged head in the art books).






• I'm not satisfied with Spelling Workout B. Let me re-phrase: I'm not convinced it's doing anything for Bobo. Granted, we don't do it as we should (with pre-test, going over words each day). It's a lot of busy work with little bang for the buck. I don't think she retains much of it. We're going to drop Spelling for a while and just work on words she constantly mis-spells in other contexts. We'll pick it up again in a few months.




• Bobo is in her second year of piano lessons. Elbow wants to play the violin; I'm trying to hold her off until she's six. So far, it's not working. She petitioned her Sunday School teacher last weekend for names of teachers and where to get a violin. Her teacher (who has 3 accomplished string players in her brood) was oh-so-eager to oblige. Great. Toddzilla wants to play the banjo - always has. This could get interesting. And expensive.