Homeschool Open House 2007!
Tiany, over at Less of Me ~ More Of Him, is hosting a Homeschool Open House! It sounded like so much fun, I just had to join in 
I can’t wait to read what others are doing in their homeschool because I know that I will learn something from them.
I have written about our homeschool before, and you can look at various articles I have written if you click on the Homeschool link on the side bar of this website. There you can read about how we started homeschooling 7 years ago, what kind of curriculum we use, and a bit more detail of what we were doing last year. I thought for the Homeschool Open House I would write a bit about what we have been doing this year, 2007.
This year has been a really unsettled year in which I have almost come to believe that I am an unschooler! Thank goodness there are so many different methods of education and we don’t have to be rigid in sticking to only one! I do believe God calls us to use different curricula and methods at different stages of our homeschool journey.
For those of you who are new here, I have three children - Daniel 13, Elizabeth 11 and Matthew 9. We live in Australia right now, but have been in the Middle East for the past two and a half years. The past three months we have been settling back into life here, which has had its ups and downs Our school year goes from January to December and we take breaks whenever we need them - not when the public schools have their holidays, so I guess you could say that we school year round.
This year we made a few changes in our basic curriculum. I like to make sure the children get the “basics” in every day - ie the three R’s : reading, writing and ‘rithmetic As I have mentioned before, as soon as we hit the Middle School years, we have struggled with finding a good Math curriculum that suits us. This year I found one! Yay! Daniel started using Teaching Textbooks Pre-Algebra when we got back to Australia. I love it and so does he, which is the main thing of course!! I have ordered the Grade 6 one for Elizabeth which we will start with slowly (she is in Grade 5 and struggles a bit with Math). At the moment I am concentrating with her learning her Math facts well. Matthew is still doing basic Math with various workbooks that we already had.
The children have been doing a lot of copywork for English this year. I have been using The Harp and the Laurel Wreath by Laura Berquist which has great selections of poetry and other copywork just ready to go. I also pick up things along the way, like the plaque at a caravan park we went to that said:
All was Beauty Here…
Come friend, enjoy your picnic at your ease
Beside the creek beneath the spreading trees
But leave no traces of your wayside meal-
No empty bags, nor scattered orange peel
No broken bottles littered through the grass
Others may view this with distaste - and pass
So let it not be said, and to your shame,
That all was beauty here - until you came.
Other copywork could include Daniel writing “I will not steal Na, I will not steal Na…” twenty times (”Na” is Matt’s cuddly sheep that he sleeps with and that Daniel loves to pinch and hide just to be annoying…..).
Reading is something I can’t stop the children from doing. They are always asking to go to the library, and read and re-read the books we have here at home. At times we go through spurts of reading certain series - last month it was all our Trixie Beldens… This week Elizabeth has started on the Boxcar children. Daniel always reaches for the Hardy Boys when he has run out of things to read. Robyn gave me hardcover books of the Bobbsey Twins which Daniel devoured in no time. I truly believe that as long as the children are reading, they are learning.
A few weeks ago they were playing Junior Trivial Pursuit, and Elizabeth came running in to me, saying:
“Oh, thanks Mum, for making me read about the Wright brothers! Because I read it, I got this answer right!!”
I don’t know about you, but I don’t often get my children running in and thanking me for making them learn something, so I was quite amused!
On top of the basics I am trying to get in Art, Science, History and languages other than English. We are going to start Latin (I say this every week..!). Art mostly comes in the form of making lapbooks and doing projects. We are doing the second book of Story of the World for History. We’ve just done the chapter on China and we opened our Ancient China Treasure Chest that we got from Sonlight. We had lots of fun with that!
For Science Daniel is doing Apologia 7 and Elizabeth and Matthew are doing Exploring Creation with Astronomy . We are really enjoying both of these Science books as they fit in well with our notebooking way of learning. We do some narration, some copywork, and some project work.
We haven’t started any sports yet since we’ve been back. We were doing a lot of swimming while we were overseas, but we need to wait till we have a car before we can get involved in something here.
I think that sums up how we are doing so far this year! If you have any questions about any of the things I have written, don’t hesitate to ask. And don’t forget to join in on the Homeschool Open House yourself! There are prizes to be won, and lots of things to learn, so check it out here:
August 1st, 2007 at 8:08 pm
Thamk you so much for sharing a glimpse into your homeschool life. It sounds like you are doing something very similar to what we will be doing this year. My 5th Grade daughter will be doing the SL year that has the China Treasure Chest in it, and she is doing Exploring Creation through Botany for her science. We will also be giving Teaching Textbooks a try for the first time this year.
August 1st, 2007 at 9:16 pm
Thanks for sharing your day. It sounds similar to ours. Isn’t it great that we can be flexible about how we learn!
I tried to teach French to the kids for about a year as it was a language I learned in school and had some retention of. I finally gave it up. I just wasn’t qualified to teach it. I hope you have much better luck with your language endeavors!
August 1st, 2007 at 10:16 pm
Thank you so much for inviting us into your open house!! Your lapbooks are lovely!!
August 1st, 2007 at 10:39 pm
Oh, we just started using Teaching Textbooks too!! I love it!! I love what you are doing and how you shared about your changes in moving. Flexibility’s the great thing about homeschooling, isn’t it? Thanks for sharing!
August 1st, 2007 at 11:20 pm
This sounds so interesting. And I know what you mean about starting Latin!
August 1st, 2007 at 11:25 pm
Hello! I loved reading about your homeschool! Thanks for sharing that poem too =) Thanks for the link to Teaching Textbooks…I have not heard of them and I am going to check it out.
Have a blessed day!
Theresa
#14 on the list =)
August 2nd, 2007 at 12:47 am
It’s very nice to meet you. Thanks for sharing!
August 2nd, 2007 at 3:14 am
Wow, you’re my first blog from Australia! My family loves Australia and would love to visit one day! I love Trixie Beldon. I still have my copies from when I was a girl!
Thank you for sharing!
Be Blessed!
August 2nd, 2007 at 4:20 am
I really enjoyed reading about your day! This openhouse is so much fun. Holly
August 2nd, 2007 at 5:16 am
Thank you for sharing your homeschool with us! I have a hard time finding a math program that I like also. I really enjoyed your post - I’ll be back to read more of your blog.
August 2nd, 2007 at 6:23 am
Thanks for sharing! I love the english copywork.
God Bless
Jess~
August 2nd, 2007 at 8:49 am
I love Apologia! My oldest has gone all the way through Physics with it. We know the woman who wrote their Marine Biology one . . . she teaches science to home schoolers and we are one of the blessed who get to go!
Thanks for the reminder on the Trixie Belden series. I can’t keep my girls in books! It’s so hard to find books with GOOD characters, respectful children, and actual consequences to disobedience. Also, there are far too many books portraying parents as idiots and children as wiser.
August 2nd, 2007 at 10:21 am
Thanks for sharing. Is that Core-5 your doing? If so I can’t wait to do that core with my kiddos.
Blessings,
Linda
August 2nd, 2007 at 10:48 am
Hi Linda,
I am not doing Core - 5 exactly…! I started with Core 2 (which was just right for my middle child at the time and I thought I could make it easier or harder for the others), then decided to pick and choose books from Core 5 & 6 for our next year. It was hard getting books into the Middle East, especially Christian ones. I would like to do Core 7 next year since I will have two children in that age group.
Thanks for dropping by
Love,
Joy
August 2nd, 2007 at 12:40 pm
Thanks for sharing with us your homeschool. It has been so much fun reading how everyone homeschool.
Have a blessed week.
Many Blessings,
Lynn (mcgyver959701) Camelot Homestead Academy
August 2nd, 2007 at 12:45 pm
Thank you for participating in the Open House! It has been such fun putting it together and this is the icing on the cake for me, visiting you all! Wonderful post!
When you get a chance please email me so I can get some gifts to you!
Hugs & Blessings,
Tiany
Tiany@cox.net
August 2nd, 2007 at 12:53 pm
Thank you for sharing your how you homeschool with us! I will have to check out the math curriculum you are using!
Kelli
August 2nd, 2007 at 1:47 pm
I popped over from Tiany’s Open House. Thanks for sharing your homeschool journey with us! I’ll be back to check out your archives. Have a blessed school year!
August 3rd, 2007 at 5:00 am
I really enjoy getting a glimpse into other’s homeschools. Thanks for sharing.
Have a great year!
JoAnn
August 3rd, 2007 at 1:07 pm
I’ve enjoyed reading about your homeschool!
I had to laugh at the unschooler comment you made. We tend to sometimes lean towards unschooling, somehow, too. I, too, can’t seem to stop my children from reading (not that I want to *Ü*). They love to read, read, and read some more. We have used Teaching Textbooks, too, and my daughter loved it. We, also, use Apologia and love it as well. Sonlight carries a wonderful schedule plan for Apologia sciences! We have found it quite helpful.
I’ve enjoyed visiting you. And thank you so much for visiting me for our homeschool open house!
It’s so delightful to ‘meet’ others. ;o)
~ Christina
August 3rd, 2007 at 1:45 pm
Great post! Thanks for sharing!
August 5th, 2007 at 1:45 am
Thanks for sharing ! I will be starting lap books this year. (0= I will have to come back this year and see how you are enjoying all your plans.
God Bless
August 5th, 2007 at 5:53 am
Thanks for sharing a peek into your family’s HS. (0= I love hearing what others are doing.
God Bless
In Him
August 8th, 2007 at 10:57 am
Thank you for sharing your homeschool!
We are going to be doing Story of the World book 2 and Exploring Creation with Astronomy also.
~Lynn #60 on list.
August 8th, 2007 at 9:02 pm
Thanks for telling us about your family and how you school - I love to read about how God works differently in different families. Have a wonderful week!
Melissa
August 9th, 2007 at 10:48 am
Hi
I really enjoyed getting to know your family. I love what your children are currently reading. My children read them all too. I liked your copy work too, especially “I will not steal Na”
Priceless!
Because of Jesus, Bobbie
August 13th, 2007 at 2:18 am
Thanks so much for sharing your day with us!! I’ll be thinking of you as you settle back in.
http://theshadesofpink.blogspot.com/2007/08/homeschool-open-house.html
August 14th, 2007 at 9:28 am
Hi Joy
Great to visit you again. The Open House has been good to be able to get overviews of what people do. Have a wodnerful week!
Belinda
August 14th, 2007 at 9:29 am
I wonder what “wodnerful” is like? Hope you have it anyways!
Oh dear for type-o’s!
Belinda