Winter School

School was back in session, effective yesterday.  Aside from a potty training toddler who had three accidents in the space of 1 hour, it was the best "first day" I can remember in our homeschool history.  I love the benefits of that break right smack dab in the middle of the school year.  Aside from the quality family time it provides, it gives our minds a break from the rigors of a structured school day and it gives me a few weeks to ponder what is working and what needs to change.  

This has been a happy and productive school year thus far.  We've completed five months of school (approximately 20 weeks) and we have four months left (exactly 15 weeks-- I counted!).  

We loved the scripture memory box  idea that we implemented this year.  I like, especially, that is is portable and we can review our day's verses even if we are traveling in the van. As a result of the enthusiasm the kids showed for the Names of Jesus Advent Cards we used during December, we are beginning our own set of Names of Jesus Learning and Memory Cards now and we'll pick up our daily Bible reading plan for children again when we're done.

We picked up in  The Mystery of History  right where we left off.  We're studying the kings of Israel and Judah, as well as the early days of Athens and Sparta. I don't think we'll be done with this volume until sometime next year.  I'm amazed that the author suggests completing the entire book in a year or less! 

Gavin is absolutely loving an inexpensive workbook I ordered for the kids to share this year: Maps,  Charts, and Graphs: States and Regions.  We read the lessons out loud and the three oldest kids take turns answering the questions.  Gavin has asked that I get him his own book next year so he can answer all the questions.

For the first time in Gavin's six years of homeschooling, I am 100% happy with his math curriculum.  We are using Saxon Math 65 and it is a perfect fit.  He reads the short lessons on his own  (great for fostering comprehension skills) and then works only the odd-numbered problems.  I've found this to be enough to learn the skills without  bogging him down.  We do not use the tests, but we do a modified version of the drill sheets that the curriculum provides. 

Maddie and Owen are continuing their new skill of multiplication.  I worked through Times Tales  (book, not DVD) with them right before Christmas and was reminded of how wonderfully amazing it is.  Memorizing multiplication facts in 2 weeks?!  Yes, thank you.

Strange though it sounds, we'll be finishing science for the year by the end of the month!  We are studying astronomy.  We've read books on the moon, the sun, and stars as well as observing the night sky and sketching in our science notebooks. When we finish our list of books about planets, we'll have completed everything I planned.  The health unit that we completed during the summer also contributed to our science credit, as does the  book about machines that Gavin and Brian read in January.

I have been dragging my feet about art for this winter/spring session.  We studied Mary Cassatt in the fall and loved her work, but I was uninspired when I went to pick another artist.  I had almost decided on Georgia O'Keeffe, but a blogging friend told me her family had strongly disliked studying O'Keeffe.  I hemmed and hawed for weeks, and finally settled on... Georgia O'Keeffe.  I was swayed by a story book about O'Keeffe I saw on display at the library.  I've already told myself that when we add in all the art projects we've done since August, we probably have enough art credit for the year, even if we abandon Georgia O'Keeffe after a month! 

We'll round our our year with a gym class taught by college students at one of the local universities, our small monthly co-op, extensive reading, sewing, Legos, and penpal correspondence.

What are you learning in your homeschool?  Are you beginning anything new?