New Semester

Once again I see it has been a week since I posted. This past week has been very productive, I am happy to say! In fact, I feel like we are finally in a good rhythym, something we were really lacking this entire past year. Of course it helped that we had NOWHERE to go in 5 mornings. Well, actually I did have to run Luke to the orthodontist's for a quick check Thursday, but even that was at 11:30, and I only took him. But that was it!

As we start this new "summer term", I have begun doing some school with Anna and Grace. All it is is a preschool workbook from Sam's. They already know their colors and most of their shapes, but it's good practice in tracing and coloring in the lines. I notice they have much better fine motor skills than the boys did at their ages. The girls don't really know all their letters yet, or the sounds that go with them, so this should help with that. Really they just like the attention, LOL. We usually read some books together too. I picked up a copy of Madeline in a free box at the end of our co-op, and that is Anna's new absolute favorite. We read that at least once every day. Nathan and I went to the library last night, and I got out some different ones so that I wouldn't go crazy, LOL.

In the fall, I am planning on doing Phonics Pathways with Anna (and I am sure Grace will be right there), and starting Saxon 1. I'm not sure what to do with Grace for that. Maybe I can find some other something to do with her to she doesn't feel left out because I just don't think she needs to start Saxon at 3. For one thing, once the girls get to the hardcover Saxon books, I only have 1 copy! So they can't be doing the same book at the same time!

After Anna and Grace's "schoolwork", I read Leading Little Ones to God. We started this in September and I read it sporadically this past year. Then we are once again praying through Operation World, which is another thing that went by the wayside with our lack of a set daily routine. I do miss having the maps on the wall when we search out the days country and try to find the capital. I'm keeping my eye out for another set of maps at Sam's so I can have them up on the wall again, but still have the ones on the table. We are still reviewing the CC memory work, especially the timeline (and the presidents for the younger boys, since Nathan and Luke already knew those well). We're also working on Philippians 2, which we started I think maybe a year ago, but never got very far. We just started over!

I've also started going through Famous Men of Rome with everyone. I've had this forever, along with the Memoria Press teacher's guide, but we've never gotten around to it. I figured it would be a good thing to go through over the summer, and so far the boys are loving it! I want Nathan and Luke to take the National Latin Exam in another year or 2, so we need to focus some on Roman history and mythology. This is a good intro. The teacher's guide has comprehension questions, vocabulary, maps, and other activities.

For everything else, we will just keep plugging away. Caleb and Jonathan still have a little ways to go to finish their math books for the year (Saxon 2 and 1 respectively). They'll probably finish in August, then move right into their next books. We've got a few more lessons in First Language Lessons and Prima Latina as well.

Nathan is finishing Algebra 1/2 this week, and he'll go right into Algebra 1. No sense in letting all that learning fall out his ears! I just want to say that Nathan actually did every single lesson in his book, including all the extra topic at the end of the book, which introduced among other things, transformational geometry, polynomials, advanced graphing, and some trig concepts. I know I never actually completed 100% of any math book when I was in school!

Luke is close to finishing his Saxon 7/6 book, and he will go right into Nathan's Algebra 1/2 book. Good thing Nathan is finishing it up!

They are both still working through First Form Latin. They didn't get as far as I had hoped this year, but we'll just keep at it. I want to go into Henle when they finish, and I think we'll be able to move quickly through that, since they will have had this good strong introduction to it with FFL. I haven't done FFL with them, but I want to keep learning more, so I am planning on doing Henle with them. They will be ahead of me, though, so it will be a challenge! I wish I had kept up with Latin this past year. Oh well, something had to go. It might as well have been Latin!

Both boys are only about halfway through their Rod and Staff grammar books for this year, I would say. They'll keep on going, but I am not sure what to do for Nathan next year, after he finishes R&S 7. This is one thing I want to look at during the NOVA conference in July. I may get R&S 8, or I might try something new. Nathan has been doing R&S since 3rd grade, and he has an EXTREMELY solid grammar background. I love R&S! But maybe he doesn't need it again for 8th grade. It does take a lot of time. Really, a lot of his diagramming is stuff I remember learning in high school with Mr. Sundburg! I think if he can just keep fresh with his knowledge, maybe he doesn't need another whole year of it. But then the anal part of me thinks, "It would be so much cleaner to stop after 8th grade . . . I am sure Nathan will read this in the morning, and I know what he will say: "Anything else!" LOL!

So that's where we are. I am feeling so much more organized and productive. Having a routine does that for you! I hope next year will not be so crazy and draining like this past one!