Our 2012-2013 School Year

I was challenged by my Grateful friend to tell about our home school for this year.  Of course, she was more wise than I and divided her postings into 3 different ones.  All of mine will be reduced into one.

First of all, our school is actually called Rock Castle Academy.  My husband came up with the name of Rock Castle Ranch for our property years ago and we use it for all types of things.

We started school a couple of weeks ago, but are just beginning to get in full swing.

My students are:

My boy (looking a bit goofy) will be turning 15 in 12 days (egads).  He is doing 10th grade work.

My girl is 10 years old and is doing 8th grade school work.  (She has her own long story on that one.)

We do history, science, Greek, spelling, Bible and Easy Grammar together.  They have separate math, Wordly Wise, and critical thinking books.

Together we are using Notgrass Publishing's "Exploring World History" (so far I am enjoying this one!); Apologia's Biology; Elementary Greek is the title of the book in which we are starting on Year Two (of 3); spelling on Spelling City (online); and Easy Grammar.

For Bible, last year we started reading a book called "Parallel Gospels in Harmony".  We only ready short passages (and spent a lot of time talking about them), so we didn't finish it.  We are working on finishing that one and then we will start on the "Victor Journey Through the Bible".

For math the kids are using Math U See.  He is finishing up Algebra I and will head into Geometry soon.  She has just started Algebra I.  We made the switch to this curriculum last year and have found it a good fit for our family.

For Critical Thinking, she is doing Analogies 1 and 2 this year and he is doing one called "Critical Thinking: Readings in Nonfiction, High School".  They also have to read and document at least two current events each week.

The history has writing assignments that they will be doing, and they both practice writing skills in their personal (very supervised) blogs.  His is Creator's Son and hers is A Kid's Life.

Our school space is....our house.  Mostly the dining room.  

This buffet belonged to my husband's grandmother, so I feel so privileged to be able to use it.  His books are on the left, hers on the far right, in the middle are the ones we use together.  So of our most used resources are on the middle shelf.

Last year, when we started learning Greek, I actually broke down and purchased a workbook for myself.  I wasn't going to learn it like I wanted to unless I made myself do so.  It was one of the best purchases of the year.  Therefore, I didn't even hesitate to purchase mine for this year, too.  It has made a difference in getting Greek done each week, too. :-D

I do have an extra shelf in a corner that we keep notebooks, dictionary, spare books for later in the year, papers, our "finished shelf", etc.

 Then, we also use our sofa quite a bit.  Since we do History and Biology together, we like reading it aloud together.  It takes us longer to do that because we are constantly talking about the lessons, but we all enjoy it.  I don't read it all to them.  We take turns reading aloud, so they get that practice, too.

And then, of course, the kids spend a lot of time reading on their own.  Sometimes in not so conventional ways.

 I suppose this marks our official 12th year of homeschooling.  I very diligently did Pre-Kinder with him so that counts as one year.  I have loved every bit of it.  Yes, we have our days (and occasionally a week) where it is tougher than other times.  However, after teaching in a public school for 12 years before my boy was born, I am SO convinced that they would not be as wonderful if they weren't at home.

The Lord has been so faithful to guide Dad and I each and every step of the way.  When we forget to ask, He thumps us and puts us all back in line.  

Summer Project

I think my children are strange.  Maybe that is why I like them so much.

On our last official school day, my son brought me a spiral notebook that we had worked on maybe two years ago.  It was a writing project, just for funnsies.

The basic gist of the project is for us to switch off in writing a story together.  I started writing a story that I thought he would enjoy.  I write my portion setting up a scene change or a plot change.  (We often try to leave cliff hangers for one another.)  Then I leave the notebook out for him and he takes over for a bit.

Creator's Son's story notebook

He has to keep the same story line and work it from that point, guiding the plot in a direction that he more prefers.

Yes,  Firefly and I are doing one also.  For some reason, the son and daughter have EXTREMELY different types of stories going.  Ha!

 

Firefly's story notebook

As I said, we had started this idea a couple of years ago.  So when we picked it back up last month, we had to start whole new stories. 

They are challenging me even more than ever before.  They know so much more about their topics than I do.  I think they are having as much fun stumping Mom as they are doing the writing itself.

It is one of those small things that I can do to let them know that they are important to me and I am trying to keep up with them.

We are not doing any spelling or grammar corrections.  (I am making note of spelling words to put on the list when we get back in school.)  I am watching for those things.  (I do make those corrections and instructions before each they post each blog, however.)  We are keeping this light and fun.

Now I just have to make sure I keep up with it.

Watching

This morning I had yet another opportunity to watch my daughter think. It is amazing to watch. I always come away flabbergasted, impressed, and humbled.

She had her violin lesson this morning. She is working on a new piece of music that is a bit difficult. Her instructor would play a phrase and then my girl would listen and finger along and then repeat it. For the most part it was cut and dry. No problems. Of course, I am sitting across the room and don't know what the music really looks like.

They reached a section that was a little harder. Some instruction was given. The instructor played first. It was difficult and she sweetly asked my girl if she wanted to hear it again first. My girl readily agreed. This time while she was fingering with the second playing, at the right spot for her, she glanced over to see how the instructor was fingering a certain note. I was blown away. That is a LOT of attention to detail! And we still mark her as an 8 year old! Of course, this is one of those instances where her sixth grade skills kicked in, but I am not even sure that most sixth graders care that much.

While she plays a section with her instructor, she is constantly matching tones and fixing any that she misses, and even changes bow direction without prompting. It is sweet to watch the instructor do those secret smiles, when my girl isn't looking, that mean she thought she would get tricked but she got it.

Of course, I get to see some of those times during a regular homeschool day, but in those outside classes where they are pushing her more than I might be willing to try, it really impresses me. I can watch the wheels spinning and the connections being made.

It is quite humbling to see. Thank you Lord for the opportunity to watch your creation in action. You are a good God!

Little Girls

Last week, my boy went to spend the week with Grandma and PaPa. He got to watch the new baby chicks, shot his gun some and generally relax and be lazy.

My girl, on the other hand, was home with Mom appreciating that she is not always an only child. To keep herself occupied, she decided to play with her favorite babies. She has never really like baby dolls, but she has always adored stuffed animal babies.

Out came the Pet Shop VIP collection. They ALL had to be part of a massive, two day photo shoot. What fun it was! The babies loved the attention, and my girl's creative juices were stretched.

I am not allowed enough space to show you all of the pictures, but here are a few to give you an idea.

And now you can get a taste of the gigantic undertaking this project was, since each was photographed individually and with their own settings.

Singing in the Rain

My girl has now finished her 5th year of tap dance. What fun she has! We have really be blessed with the dance studio where she takes classes.

Last Friday night was her recital. She was in dance number 32 out of 37. It is a busy studio that does tap, jazz, lyrical, ballet, hip hop, cheerleading and competitive cheerleading.

Taking pictures in that big auditorium is quite a chore as this one shows. And I don't know how to do the red-eye reduction.



Therefore, we took pictures at home of sections of her dance to "Singing in the Rain".

We are proud of our dancer and the work and joy she puts into all that she does.