Week 6: September 21-25
I’m loving homeschooling so far! The mornings can be challenging and frustrating, but at the end of the day, I think to myself, I love this. I’m not thinking, What have I gotten myself into? I’m not cut out for this. Truthfully, I actually had those thoughts regularly, shortly (or maybe 6 months?!) after welcoming Molly into the world. Maybe that’s why I have felt at peace with homeschooling. As a parent, I don’t currently have doubts about whether or not I should have had children. And while I sometimes struggle with my ability to live a life worthy of my calling as a mother, I know being “cut out for it” has nothing to do with it. That’s why the hindrances–the impatience, unmet expectations, anger, exhaustion, the unknown, disappointment in curriculum–none of it has left me second-guessing the decision to educate my children at home. Like I’ve said in several previous posts, others who have gone before me made me very aware of the bumpy road ahead. It’s no secret that a typical homeschool day doesn’t look like the pictures on Pinterest.
I love being a part of Molly’s learning, of guiding and teaching her in these beginning stages of reading and writing and math skills. And I love learning alongside Molly–the Spanish, art appreciation, poetry, nature study, classical music and great composers, the things of which I know very little, the things I must learn too. I love witnessing the “aha” moments, when what was such a struggle one day clicks the next, and she shouts, “I did it! I can do it! I’m getting to be a big kid!” with a profound look of satisfaction on her face.
I love when Mac tries to recite poems with us. He really does! And I love wondering if his sudden use of complete sentences has anything to do with his sudden exposure, which is unlike anything he experienced before, to the expressive language we’ve found in poetry, read-alouds, and music. I love that he hums along to the classical music we’ve been listening to, and I love that he sometimes walks into the room and says, “Hola.”
Yes, I’m loving homeschooling.
Our Week in Review
Morning Basket Activities:
- Breakfast-time Bible lesson: The Jesus Storybook Bible—“The Present”; The Ology–#26 “Jesus Is the Sacrifice We Need”; Bible App for Kids–“Abraham’s Big Test”; coloring page from Bible App website
- Memory verse: “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.” -Hebrews 10:23
- Memory verse song: Seeds Family Worship: Trust, “He Is Faithful”
- Virtue: Responsibility
- Memory Work: “A Child’s Prayer” from Poems and Prayers for the Very Young; The Pledge of Allegiance, address, phone number
- Hymn of the month: “Great Is Thy Faithfulness”
- Morning binder: Molly is completing this herself (weather, calendar, days in school [number sense])
- Music: I just make it a point to play a variety of music. During the 15 minutes of independent work, we cycle through the following throughout the week–Beethoven’s Wig: Sing Along Symphonies (mostly in the car), patriotic songs, folk songs, Spanish songs, nursery rhyme songs.
Reading: Logic of English—Foundations Level A, Lessons 11-13
- Phonemic awareness: initial sounds, initial consonant blends, segmenting, vowel sounds
- Handwriting: cursive qu
- Phonics: reading qu /kw/
Math: Dimensions Math (by Singapore Math) Level KA, Lessons 3-7 to 3-11
- Writing numerals 6 to 10
- Ordinal positions
- One more than
Spanish: Calico Spanish–Level A, Unit 2
Read-Aloud: Old Mother West Wind
Science: Exploring Nature with Children, The Autumnal Equinox
Art:
- Read Lines That Wiggle
- Line watercolor painting
Social Studies:
- What People Do All Day
- Family roles illustrations