Hazel"nut" Academy Update

Language Arts: Princess Poodle continues to work on her Spelling Workout A independently. It is really too easy for her but I didn't want to skip it. I am not sure if we will continue on to level B or not. Spelling is a subject that baffles me. Writing with Ease Level One is going well with a little tweaking. Princess Poodle is getting better every week at picking out the most important parts of a passage and turning these thoughts into a narration. She is also doing well on very simple dication that we do a couple of times a week to prepare her for next year. I have let poetry memorization slide and thus far this year we have only learned two new poems. Mental note: put new fervor into this. We will be picking back up with FLL when we return from Fall Break. It correlates with WWE and is easy to implement along side it.

Math: Saxon 2: We are still working on math fact drills, the most recent being the plus nines. Princess Poodle is thriving with her facts now that the timer is gone. I must admit that this is not a very fun subject to teach.

History: American History has been a big hit around here. We started the Mayflower/Pilgrims this week. We have made Pilgrim puppets, read lots of living books, and watched a video on William Bradford. We are using some elements of History Pockets for this unit. I believe the kids will like having a pilgrim history pocket to pull from and play with when we are done.

Science: science is on hold for now except at her co-op where she is learning about cells.

Theology/Bible: I am impressed with the kids ability to learn the catechism questions and answers and I know this is an important foundation. I feel something is lacking in this area of our schooling. Papa was supposed to handle this but the demands of his work, SS class, and other responsibilities has this being pushed out. The kids do learn verses for Awana each week but something is missing. I am praying about this. Is it virtue education, is it modeling, or perhaps it is just the fruit of the Spirit that seems absent from school too often.

PreK: Triple H has learned his letter sounds. Is just about finished with the pre explode the code series. I have him learning the Ferris Wheel song from SSRW which should help with blending in the future. He can sound out some three letter words but not with great consistency yet. Today I took him to storytime at the library while big sister was in co-op. I also feel something is missing here. He joins in for science and history and therefore gets to do projects etc. Am I just worrying too much. I mean he knows his letters,his sounds, his shapes, etc. what need is there for a pre-K program. I just want to teach him to read ..when they can read everyones job gets easier and more fun. But I can't help but feel something is missing here too. Perhaps it is more storybooks. I keep saying that I will pull out my FIAR and do a book a week with a couple of activities for him but when would I do this? Next year I plan to do a geography study with the kids for history and I know how these books will work in then. But for now I have a blank. I am seeing a genuine need for a curriculum that can be multi-age in nature. My history plans for this year as well as my science plans accomplish this fairly well.

Myself: I am making the effort to read more. I have recently discovered Augustine's Confessions. Wow! Beautiful..soul searching stuff. I can't believe that I have in 33 years somehow missed reading this. I am also reading Andreoloa's Charlotte Mason Companion. So far it is a great read and is reaffirming something I feel God has been calling me to. I have this ever present struggle between creating a rigorous yet gentle learning environment. This book is addressing the gentle part of the equation.

Homeschooling Train of Thoughts: latin next year?,, I want to I want to. Cursive handwriting...I don't want to but I need to. Galloping the Globe for our geo/cultural studies...I think this might work along with tons of living books and some world art and cooking books. Fall break is needed. Sleep will make homeschooling better. Nature study needs to be more often. This week we will go on Thursday as long as it isn't lightening. Moving Triple H from letter sounds to blending..when will the lightbulb go off for him? Princess Poodle is more emtional this year. Balance challenge and victory.