Semester 2 of our school year!

We started back with semester 2 of our school year last week.  I was so excited to get back into routine.  I enjoy having a break from school...and so do the kids, but it gets a little crazy without structure around here.  I have a lot of ideas rolling around in my head of what I want to do with my kids this semester...hopefully we can find enough time to do them all.  I love hearing about what others are doing with their kids in their homeschooling journey...and more often than not, friends are asking what kind of curriculum we are using here.  I have not been sold on any package deals for our curriculum and I do not favor any company quiet yet.  I really like how things flowed during our first semester, so I just added a bit to Katelyn's workload, as well as Jocelyn's.

Here is what the kids will be working on this semester!

Jocelyn- 1st Grade

Math:  Same book as first semester.  Things look like it will get a little more complex.  They focus in on borrowing and more detailed counting money problems.  It looks like they are even starting multiplication.

Reading:  I have loved Hooked on Phonics since I started it a few years ago with Joc.  Still love it...and it works for us!

Spelling:  Hooked on Phonics!

Geography:  She learned the 50 states last semester.  This book reviews the states and she will be teaching Katelyn the states.

She will also be working on map skills and world geography.

Language & Writing:  I have her do random things with writing...whether it be write her own little story or make sentences out of random words I give her.  She is also doing a little bit of grammar.

Guitar:  Laugh right now....ok are you done?  No, I don't play the guitar.  No, I am not musically talented....at.all.  I played the piano growing up and pretty much hated every minute of it.  That just wasn't my thing.  So I am teaching Jocelyn how to play the guitar...and I guess myself.  Wish us the best of luck.  We have 1 song down....kind of.

Katelyn: Preschool, Kindergarten & 1 st grade...I really don't know.

Reading & Spelling:  She is also doing Hooked on Phonics...and we both LOVE it.  She looks forward to school every morning.  She is such a motivated learner and has matured quiet a bit over the past school year.  She completed her first workbook in the Hooked on Phonics series, so she is moving onto book #2.  She has started learning words that start with beginnings with sh-, th-, ch-, and wh-.  It is so fun to see her learn new things with excitement.  I then quiz her on her reading words, by having her spell them out.

Math:  She loves Math also.  She was getting kind of bored with the basics of addition and subtraction, so I purchased 1st Grade Math by McRuffy...the same book Jocelyn is in right now.  She was pretty thrilled to tell her grandma that she was going to skip kindergarten...I guess she misunderstood me...we are just moving onto 1st grade Math so she doesn't get bored.

Geography:  She really, really wants to learn all of the states.  Last week she did pretty good with her first four states.  I think she knows all of the names...she just wants to learn how to read them on flashcards and wants to know where they are at on the map.  So she is working through this little workbook.

Both girls:


Sewing:  I am hoping to teach the girls how to sew this semester.  Just basic things like pillows, blankies for their baby dolls, doll clothes...nothing major.  Our first project last week were pillows...and boy were they soooo excited.  Easton even made a little pillow for his "fatman" (Batman).

Cooking:  We did quiet a bit of cooking last semester.  I bought this little program at Barnes and Noble and it should be fun going through the kid friendly recipes.

Science & Astronomy:  We are also going through this Time Life Series book.  Each day there is a new little subject.  The girls really enjoy learning about the world that God has made for us.

Devotions:  We are still working through this devotional book.  There are little memory verses and character lessons for the girls to work on.

Easton: Pre-Preschool
Oh how he wants to be like his sissies!  Ok...not meaning he wants to be a girl.  He is ALL boy.  Loves guns, swords, cars, trains, dirt, rough play...everything little boys like...but he wants to do school as well...so I do school with him.  Last semester we made it through his letters.  He does little activities that we have around the house to reinforce what he has learned so far.

He also wants to learn how to write, so I started having him write his "o's".  He was so proud to tell his daddy that he learned how to write an "o".  So sweet.  I should have taken a picture!

We are also working on his colors.

How much time do we spend on school per day? 

We only do school Monday-Thursday.  We try to start by 9am and usually go until 12pm with a break for snack.  Then we usually eat lunch around 1pm and I nap Easton and Weston at 2pm.  Katelyn has quiet time in her room and playroom, while I work with Jocelyn for another hour or so.  My goal is to be done by 3-3:30pm.   I still LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that I am have the opportunity to homeschool our kiddos. 

Other links:
Our first semester:  HERE  
Our school room here:  HERE
Why I love homeschooling our kids:  HERE

There you have it!  That is what we are doing this semester!