School Update

School is going well so far, sort of...

In a mere 5 weeks time, I have decided that the curriculum I'm using is written in a way that isn't working for me

I now spend a decent amount of time each Sunday evening re-writing the lesson plans in a way that I can decipher in the midst of the whining and general noise that I wade through each morning

This new method is working quite nicely for me, but is making me think about using some other curriculum next year (such as Ambleside Online, which is FREE!)

The kids are enjoying being taught at home, and are already showing a more positive and tolerant attitude towards each other.

We've loosened up quite a bit with the school portion of our daily schedule, sometimes starting Alec on math or another "workbook subject" before breakfast.

We're still finishing around noon, which is great, but leaves way too much of the day still unstructured.  I'm working on that...

For any of you readers that are home schoolers, or are interested, here are the things we're using:

Math-U-See (we LOVE this!!)

Handwriting Without Tears (we LOVE this, too!)

My Father's World (I like the textbooks a lot, but the lesson plans leave much to be desired!)

Teach Your Child To Read in 100 Easy Lessons (I'm not sold on this yet, but I've been told it's awesome)

Pathway Readers (adorable, simple early readers)

I'm also incorporating several books from the Ambleside Online reading list for Alec (who is mostly in third grade)

I'm working on redoing our daily schedule, I'm sort of really into studying the way things naturally happen and then making a schedule that fits into those perameters.  That way, it's much less stress, and more likely that the schedule will be followed.
I'll post it when I'm finished.

For now, I will leave you with this delightful little snippet from Frog and Toad are Friends (Arnold Lobel)


"Think of it," said Frog.  "We will skip through the meadows and run through the woods and swim in the river.  In the evenings we will sit right here on this front porch and count the stars." 
"You can count them, Frog," said Toad.  "I will be too tired."