Today was back to school for most kids but not for us! We had a "not back to school" day at the Ontario Science Centre with some fellow homeschoolers. It was also Nate's birthday so I didn't want to start school on his birthday! We were originally planning on going to Centre Island for a beach picnic but the weather was gloomy and cold so we opted for an indoor activity. The kids had a blast! It is such a cool place. We've been several times this year and the kids don't get bored of it. Here are some pics of the adventure:
Caitlin fit herself into the lockers when we first arrived (and ended up getting her fingers pinched of course).
Caleb and Matthew at the "supermarket"
Caleb was so excited that he found tree frogs. He's been watching "Nature's Deadliest" on Netflix lately and has been a fan of tree frogs ever since he learned about them.
Watching the electricity show
Electric kids!!
Watching the sponges get sucked up a vacuum and shot out into the air. She played with this for a long time.
All the "not back to school" kiddos :)
My colourful girl
The birthday boy
So tomorrow we start school. I am excited and nervous. I really want to learn from my mistakes from last year and make this year awesome.
My main academic goals for this year are to teach Nate to be more of an independent learner, teach Caleb to read more fluently and letter/number recognition for Caitlin. But my biggest mission is to make this family a family that seeks the Lord first in everything. We are starting our days with bible lessons and bible memory verses. I am also committing to getting up before the kids and having my own quiet time with God to set my focus. I am praying and trusting that God will guide and direct us and give us all great success!!
I'm really excited about our curriculum choices for this year. We are continuing with Math U See for both Nate and Caleb. Nate is doing Gamma and Caleb is doing Alpha. I think that Nate will be able to breeze through Gamma and start Delta part way through the year to get "caught up".
I've chosen curriculum that can be adapted for different age groups for our geography, French and history lessons. For geography, we will be using Galloping Around the Globe. It is a unit study curriculum. We are going to start with a general overview of the world and geographical terms. We are going to make passports and "stamp" them as we learn about each new country. I will also be incorporating social studies into our unit studies as we learn about the people of the countries as well.
For history I have chosen Story of the World volume 1. Some of our friends are also using this and we are planning in doing some of the activities in the book together on co-op days.
Our french program is called Le Francais Facile. I was a little disappointed with it when I first looked at it but I'm changing my opinion as I look deeper. I'm glad that the kids will be learning a second language this year. Hopefully I will remember enough from my grade school days to help them develop fluency.
Language arts will be taught with the Spalding Writing Road to Reading program. We had bought the main book back when Tim was homeschooling Nate for grade 1 and never implemented it. I tried several times to read through the book last year and found it very disjointed and hard to piece together. This year we purchased the home educators kit which came with a teacher's manual. It is awesome! I can't wait to finally implement this program and be able to learn the foundations of the English language along with the kids!!
We are using Apologia's Exploring Creation: Human Anatomy and Physiology for Science. It is also a book that was previously purchased and sat on our shelf. I am committing to not letting it go to waste. It will be used two times per week!
I will also be alternating piano lessons and art lessons using piano books we got from Grandma Bauman and Draw Write Now.
Tuesday afternoons will be our coop days and we will go to a drop in gym time every other Friday.
We have one field trip per month scheduled from now until December (the Toronto Zoo, Brooks Farm for fall harvest, Ripley's aquarium and a pioneer village Christmas).
Woohoo!! I am really hoping that we will get into a routine and have fun learning. My theme for this year is "Go For It" (this phrase appeared on my scrabble tiles recently and it has stuck with me).
No comments:
Post a Comment