Not sure quite when that happened, time just flies by so quickly and I forgot all about this.
Lets see:
I was having problems with staying focused on the kids lessons.I would find something new and try it then move on to something else. This has got to stop for my sake as well as theirs.
SOOO>>>
I have downloaded the planner at www.homeschooltracker.com to try to keep me on track. With that, I am waiting for SOS math for the eldest. The workbook ends up being nothing but a fight as he cannot seem to concentrate long enough to complete one problem. 2 hours of math is just not needed. I pray this will work. A side benefit that I have found for the past few weeks, my oldest does not fight as much, because I can print out his "to do" list and he just gets to it...
We are using American Heritage for American History, and I am supplimenting with additional reading and projects. For world history we are working Mystery of History vol 1, I had been using that then veered away, but this is the easiest for me when working with all 3 kiddos, and they asked if we can go back to it.
For Science we have started Apologia's Zoology 1. My mom bought me that and Zoology 2 and Astronomy for Christmas. (Thank you mom!).
Spelling and Vocabulary is through Houghton Mifflin for the older 2, Since the youngest is learning to read, I am compling lists through Spellingcity.com...the kids love working on that site for review, and I have been having them do their tests there, so that I can print out the lists and scores.
Today we started "The Narrow Way" character curriculum. I like it I hope the kids do. As well as this we do morning devotionals and bible reading while they eat breakfast.
For the youngest we are still working the How to teach your child to read in 100 lessons, we are almost done with that.I supplement with Abeka readers that I already have and McGuffeys Primer. The older 2 also read from McGuffeys (levels 2 and 4 respectively), and independent reading that they narrate back to me (the older one does not know it yet, but he will be starting book reports.
We are also reading together. Today we finished Adam and his Kin...what a fun book. We are discussing what next(I want them to have some input, but I have a list to limit their selections.)
The kids had a wonderful Christmas, my mom (their great-Nana) came up along with my sister and one of her sons (17). As much as I enjoyed the holidays, it will be nice to settle back into a normal routine.
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I was happy to discover your blog today. I was unable to find a contact link. I hope it's OK that I'm contacting you through a public comment. I read you are using Spelling City today in your blog. I've also developed an educational program for Windows called SpellQuizzer that helps children learn their spelling and vocabulary words. It really helped my children with their weekly spelling lists.
ReplyDeleteSpellingCity is indeed an excellent free tool for teachers and parents. But there are some advantages that SpellQuizzer offers over SpellingCity.com:
- SpellQuizzer doesn't require an open Internet connection. Many homeschoolers prefer not to have their young children working on a computer with an open Internet connection due to all the undesirable material that is on the Internet. With SpellQuizzer there is no need to expose children to the world wide web.
- SpellingCity.com doesn't have recordings of all the words one might wish to practice. For those it does have the sentences used aren't personalized. With SpellQuizzer you can make spelling lists for literally any words (or even facts) you wish your child to practice with.
- The recordings you make are in your voice rather than a stranger's. And you can personalize the recordings and even make them funny with an amusing sentence or funny voice. I always try to throw in some funny ones for my daughters such as "Handsome: Your daddy is the most handsome man on earth." That one got snickers. :-)
SpellingCity.com may well be around for ever. Or it may go down for good tomorrow. There's no way to know for certain. A person who purchases a license for SpellQuizzer has the software for life whether I stay in business or not.
As I said, SpellingCity.com is an excellent free resource and I don't mean to attack it in any way with what I've said above. I'm only pointing out reasons one might prefer a product like SpellQuizzer. I would appreciate your reviewing SpellQuizzer in Learning is a Full Time Job. If you would like to host a giveaway for one of your readers I'd be happy to provide a free license to the winner. You can learn more about the program at http://www.SpellQuizzer.com. There's a video demo you can watch at http://www.spellquizzer.com/SpellQuizzer-Demo.htm and a community site where SpellQuizzer users can share their spelling lists with one another (http://www.SpellQuizzer.com/Community).. Finally, there's a page targeted to homeschooling families at http://www.spellquizzer.com/spelling-software-for-homeschoolers.htm. I'd be happy to send you a complimentary license for the software. Please let me know if you are interested.
By the way, I also read that you are using Houghton Mifflin. I have some free downloadable spelling lists for Houghton Mifflin grades 4 and 5 at http://www.spellquizzer.com/Spelling-Lists.htm.
Thank you very much!
Dan Hite
TedCo Software
http://www.SpellQuizzer.com