Curriculum, Etc...

Today's blog will be about what materials I'm using with my third grader.... I must admit my tastes are changing in the four short months we have been homeschooling. I cannot stress how much we LOVE Sonlight! We are using the CORE 3 literature and history and have been so impressed. I feel like my child is getting such quality literature and is soaking up every bit of it. For the past week we have been reading The Witch of Blackbird Pond and I must admit I am enthralled with the book, too! I don't ever recall learning about the beginnings of our country is such depth at such a young age. In fact, I feel like I am learning about it for the first time. It makes me even more upset about the current healthcare legislation -- BUT, I digress.

Horizons Math has been working quite well for us, too. My daughter is not a fan of math, but I like Horizons' spiral format and how it introduces concepts slowly and keeps reviewing them for a long time. I can also say that Handwriting Without Tears is an excellent way to teach handwriting. One of my biggest gripes with the public school was the lack of penmanship instruction, so we have slowly been learning cursive, and it is so beautiful!

We are feeling our way around with the science books provided by Sonlight... I've heard some not so good things about them, and I tend to agree that the lack of hands on activities for science is disappointing. So, I've been supplementing that on my own. Both of my children love the Usborne Mysteries and Marvels of Nature internet linked book about animals. We always do science together and my five year old son loves it and gains a lot from it as well.

Sequential Spelling is our spelling text and I've been very impressed with it and it introduces smaller words and then turns them into larger words. It also presents some rather obscure words (do you know what a LOUT is?) which we have had fun looking up in the dictionary and trying to use in common speech.

I have appreciated having the time and flexibility to fully delve into some other areas that I feel are important for children to learn about. My daughter has taken art classes from a wonderful art instructor in our area, and continues to take piano lessons as well. Our community also offers a homeschool PE class, which she attends two days each week.

So, all in all I feel that we are doing great! I won't lie - it has been a difficult adjustment for me, but it is so true that after a few months you fall into a routine and everyone settles down. I hope to expand my blog posts, because I have seen some informative and encouraging homeschool bloggers out there, and I would like this to me one day!

For now, I have a five year old boy laying under the computer desk who is tickling me and pretending to be a dog to get my attention, SO.... I think it is time to go!