A Little Gem I Found For Our School Studies

Excitement abounds.
We have really been struggling with planning language arts for our 8 year old.
We want his introduction to be gentle and not full with lots
of workbook instruction.
After much research, We think we might have found what
we have been looking for.
It is called
The Basic Cozy Grammar Course.

Here is the description that is on their website:
http://www.splashesfromtheriver.com

The Basic Cozy Grammar Course

Imagine learning grammar in front of a cozy fire with soft strains of classical music playing in the background, or on the beach while gulls and eagles soar overhead. Marie will quickly make you feel at home in her cozy beachside cottage. In this "living textbook", while she walks you through her cottage and around the grounds, she walks you through the rules and concepts of basic English grammar in a whimsical, fun-loving way.

Doesn't that sound fun?

We also ordered the punctuation course too.

Our school blue print is coming along nicely---finally. I will post our blue print soon.

Many blessings.

My Other Blog--- My Time/Girl Time

It is my running blog, my recovery running blog,
it is a my time/ girl time blog.

Planning Update

Still working on our upcoming school year.
Planning process is slow this year.
Hoping to be done by the end of July.
I will post our blueprint then.
Enjoying our hot, lazy days of Summer.
Many blessings.

Planning Time of Year

It is July.
Since our new school year usually starts mid August,
I thought it might be time to start
the planning process.
Yes, probably late starting by most standards,
but it is what it is.
Really enjoying our Summer. Smiles.

Starting point:
Gathered resources we have collected
at various events like home school conferences
and used book sales.
Sorted through and stacked or bookmarked
what looked interesting.

Schedule?
Time to think about how we want
our schedule, I use that word loosely, to look.
Do we want daily, weekly or monthly goals?
We have tried all three.
What seemed to work well for us after much tweaking,
was 3 week goals.
Now, this applies to my oldest, 8 year old son only.
These goals will be for his
math, reading/language arts, history, and science.
Since he is 8 yrs old now, he has a little more
of what is called "formal" learning, loosely formal
in our home. Smiles again.

Daily rhythm:
This is the core substance of our home.
My children thrive with a daily rhythm and so do I.
We have a daily rhythm in place right now, but with the upcoming
Fall activities, this will need to change somewhat.

Still pondering on how our daily rhythm will look.

Toddler time:
With our daily living, new things are introduced gently
to the twins.
Unstructured play, unstructured outdoor play
is their main course.
But, should I start doing more?
A little more structure?
Through song and dance, the twins know their ABC's,
numbers to ten, and colors.
With the exception of the Summer months,
we have a painting, a baking, and a crafting day,
these are part of our daily rhythm.
Reading aloud and together, we do.
Should I do more?
My answer for now is no.
I might have a color, a number be our focus for the week, maybe.
Tried this before and I did not continue to follow through.
It felt so unnatural to me, tooooo much like "school".
No, for now I will let things happen.

Well, much to be done.
Still in that pondering stage.
I think I will tackle World and American history first.
Will keep you posted with what
our 2010-2011 blueprint will look like.
Knowing tweaking is a home schooling right.
Many blessings.