Flash Cards

I am always making flash cards for something. Lately it has been for sight sounds or easy reading words to help boost the girls in reading. Dragonfly is loving flash card drills too.

Flash cards are a great way to drill, play games, create sentences and learn to spell.

Teacher Conferences

I had conferences with Butterfly and Ladybug's teachers. Both are excelling in Reading which just thrills me! I focus a lot of time on reading because I think it is really important. Butterfly is tied for the most books read this year in her class and Ladybug is in the advanced readers club. They are reading Biscuit books right now so they called themselves The Biscuit Club.

Apparently I need to focus a little more time on Math. They are both doing well in math but it isn't really easy for them either.

I had originally wanted to wait until March before ordering in curriculum for next year but decided to go ahead and order Math-U-see to use now with all of the girls. I think they could all use a little more work in this area. PF has an hour of math homework every  night so I will probably only be working with her on her days off and weekends until next year.

All of my girls also need help with handwriting. They come by this problem honestly because both their parents have horrible handwriting. I ordered them Handwriting without Tears to help with this.

So afternoons will consist of:
*school homework
*Math-U-See
*Sight Word Flash cards
*Handwriting without tears
*Reading
*Sensory Therapy
*Playtime
*Chores
*Piano practice

They are busy girls!

Curriculum for Next Year

So far this is the curriculum I have decided on for next year:

*In My Father's World year 1
*Spelling Power
*Handwriting Without Tears (we will start this before next year)
*Chinese made Easy for Kids
*Abeka K for the youngest
*Math-U-See
*Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons

Still considering Language Arts curriculum.

Getting Ready

So I have decided to start blogging on this blog again. This year has been an absolute change for me. My girls are in public school but it is temporary. We will be starting our new school year in June of 2011. Maybe an usual time to start a year but with homeschooling we can be flexible. We have some vacations planned for the fall so we need to get started early so we don't fall behind.

So until June, I will be blogging about what I am doing to prepare for a new school year. I also thought it would be fun to share some of their projects, papers and stories from public school. Even though they are not at home with me all the time, we are still working on many things at home as well. Learning is a constant!

Panorama

PF has been learning about Thanksgiving at school and this was a project she had to do about Indians. She chose the Cherokee Indians.

This gives you a slight view of the inside, can't get everything with the camera. She created the whole thing on her own. Hers was one of the best and it is now displayed in the Library. She felt so honored to be picked to have hers on display.

Switched on Schoolhouse

PF started 5th grade this week using SOS. It is a computer based curriculum which is what we were looking for, for this year. This curriculum has had its challenges already but we are working out the issues and pushing forward. So far I am really liking it and we have gained a new level of structure. I believe I will gain a better idea of how PF is doing on her schoolwork.....it is nice to be reassured.

To answer another question you may be asking....yes we started the new school year in June. We will be moving at the end of July and then finishing the move in the fall according to when we find a house. We tried taking a break last summer and that backfired so we are working at a lighter pace and taking breaks when necessary this year.