1, 2, 3, Go!

It has begun. After a brief but wonderful August break, we have hit the books again. We began our school year on Labor Day. I thought it fitting that we labor on Labor Day. This starts our 21st year of home schooling. It doesn’t matter how many years we do this, every year brings new excitement, new challenges and new adventures. Even though the school room looks the same and the teacher is the same and the students are the same, the whole family gets excited to start a new year.

What’s new this year?

• We’re attempting a more Charlotte Mason approach to our home schooling. Not 100% CM but leaning more that direction.
• Although I have 3 students, my 16 year old is being more independent in his studies this year. The plan is for us to work together on only one subject — Advanced Math. He will also join us for part of our reading (Bible and Poetry).
• We are experimenting with adding a couple more students to part of our day. More about this later.
• Timothy opted out of co-op and my string orchestra. He will be teaching private violin and cello lessons during this time.

What has stayed the same?

• Timothy still spends most of Monday at SFA for his cello lesson, PWYO rehearsal and Orchestra of the Pines rehearsal.
• Jonathan and Benjamin and I spend Tuesday afternoon at our Charlotte Mason co-op. This year, I am teaching Latin to 2 different levels of students and the music class I’ve taught for the past 3 years.
• The East Texas Home School String Orchestra still rehearses at the Huntington Housing Authority on Wednesday afternoons. This year we have 15 in the beginning orchestra. There are nine or ten in the other 2 orchestras.
• Danny and Timothy will still be spending Thursday afternoons at Mr Morgan’s to learn how to make instruments. Danny is making me a violin and Timothy is still working on his cello.
• I will still be teaching private lessons on Thursday afternoon. I have 8 students this year.

What about our curriculum?

• Timothy is using Notgrass’ Government and Economics, Writing Strands Level 6 and 7, Apologia’s Physics and Saxon Adv Math.
• Jonathan is using Saxon 76, LLATL Tan Book, Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek!,
• Benjamin is using Saxon 54, Handwriting Without Tears, Evan-moor’s Spelling.
• Jonathan and Benjamin are studying birds with Burgess’ Bird Book and Apologia’s Flying Creatures, David McCauley’s City, Jean Fritz’ 100 Years Around The World, Genevieve Foster’s World of Christopher Columbus.
• They are also doing a 2 year study of the Bible based on Bob Waldron’s 17 periods of the Bible.
• They have started a history timeline book similar to The Book of Centuries but with my own design.
• In co-op, they are using (and I’m teaching) Latin’s Not So Tough! and reading Augustus Caesar’s World. They are reading Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, learning various handicrafts, poetry, art appreciation, music appreciation, sight singing as well as hymns/patriotic songs/folk songs.

What about those 2 extra kids?

A friend and sister in Christ is not only raising her grandchildren, she is home schooling them. Her plate is very full. Her mother-in-law has Alzheimer’s and is living with them. To most people, that would be a full-time job in itself but she is willingly and cheerfully taking care of generations on either side of her. She is, in my eyes, a super woman.

I have offered to help her with some of the home schooling. We are giving it a try this week. It’s working great on my end. The kids are well behaved and attentive to what we’re doing. The plan is for them to stay about an hour and participate in our Bible studies, as well as the history and science studies mentioned above. Hopefully this arrangement can continue but with the gas prices as high as they are, it is going to be a challenge. This family lives pretty far out in the country.

What is the saying? No good deed goes unrewarded? I began to see an unexpected benefit of having these two kids be part of our school day. As I mentioned above, they live out in the country. My boys are being raised by their citified parents. We just don’t do as much outdoors as I would like for us to. My extra students are introducing my indoor boys to the world of outdoors. They were catching lizards and frogs today and my 11 year was having the time of his life. So, while their grandmother and I fine tune the arrangement, all 4 of the kids are benefiting already.

Our new school year is off to a good start. While May seems a long way off, I know it will be here before I know it. I hope to make everyday count so when I look back at our year I can say that we had a successful year.