Friday, August 24, 2012

Kept - Week 1


 I am "trying" to do hellomornings.  This week has not gone as I had planned, but when does it?  We have definitely improved, but we are not where I want us to be.




My girls are doing the Kept: 1 Peter Bible Study with me.  I think it will be a great experience for all of us.


I was surprised when I read how Peter acted right after Jesus' death.  One of my girls was touched by how Peter WEPT after he realized what he had done, and Jesus was right and knew all along.

Reading the verses in Acts really touched me and opened my eyes.  When they replied, "Which is right in God's eyes: to listen to you or him," made me realize that I pay attention to much to what people think and not enough to what Jesus would think.


I think we get so burden down with the cares of life that we lose sight of what really is important: serving Jesus.



Thursday, August 23, 2012

Our First Week Back

Our first week back went pretty good.  We still have to work on getting up a littler earlier.  




Baylee is loving the Trail Guide to Learning, Paths of Settlement Guide.  It was a great switch for us.  She can just read each days lesson, nothing complicated, no switching back and forth.

We are supplementing some science.  The guide only has it two days a week, so we are adding BJU Space and Earth the other 3 days.

Baylee is doing Algebra 1/2, and this week was really easy for her.  Granted it is just review, but it made for an easy week.
Her had writing has improved a lot.



Molly is finishing up her BJU World History, Algebra 2, and Excellence in Literature.  She is starting BJU Biology and Rosetta Stone Spanish.  I still have to find an American History curriculum (that we will start in October).
She is also doing typing at www.typingweb.com (It's Free)









These are the bible verses we are learning this week with Hiding His Word from Do Not Depart.  The neat design is from IntentionalMe.  We are also doing the Kept: 1 Peter bible study from Savoring Living Water.

I am not a picture person.  I am going to have to remember to take pictures, and write a more detailed description of our week.

Monday, August 6, 2012

Hello Mornings - Keep it Simple



In Kat's post today, she said keep it simple.  Its even in the Title.  I have tried Hellomornings in the past, and I have not been able to stick with it.  But I think that is because I made it to hard, or if I didn't do something right one day I would just give up. 

So this time I am going to take Kat's advise and Keep It Simple.
  1. I will be doing the bible study with Do Not Depart.
  2. I want to exercise every morning.
  3. And this one might seem a little silly, but I want to make by bed every morning.  It seems like that never gets done on a regular basis.



2012-2013 Curriculum




So here is what we are using for Middle School








We will be using Trail Guide to Learning, Paths of Settlement this year.  This curriculum includes every subject except math.  There are 8-9 sections to be completed every day, they are:  Copywork & Dictation, Reader, Read Aloud, Language Skills, History/Science, States, Doing, Independent Reading, and Enrichment Activity.  I will be supplementing science, grammar, and a little more history since she is in middle school.

To read a post I wrote about my lesson planning with POS click here.

Bible:   Memorizing bible scripture and doing personal bible studies with mom.  I want the girls to learn to study the bible on their own, and not have to follow a curriculum.  I want it to be something they do for the rest of their lives.  Paths of Settlement does have a bible supplement you can buy, but I chose to do my own.

Language Arts:  She will do Analytical Grammar 3 days a week, and POS everyday.

Math:   She will be using Saxon Algebra 1/2.

Science:   2 days a week she will use Paths of Settlement, the other 3 days she will use Bob Jones Space & Earth.




I will also be supplementing with History Odyssey's Modern Times Level 2, but we will do this at a much slower rate than suggested in the lessons. 









Saturday, August 4, 2012

Paths of Settlement - Lesson Planning

We are switching to Geography Matters, Paths of Settlement this year.  It almost seems to easy to believe.  The curriculum includes everything except math.  I am supplementing some science and grammar.

 We have used other curriculum plans that are similar; but they either are to extensive and complicated to follow, or they aren't involved enough.

Baylee can read the Lesson for each day in order, no flipping through pages to find out what to do.  It is self explanatory.   And the activities are just the right amount; not so much that she can't get it all done in a day.


I have highlighted the specific parts that Baylee needs to do in orange, and if she needs to do something in the Middle School Supplement I'll write it in and highlight it pink.  Of course, she needs to read it all, but the assignments I want her to do are in orange.



I wanted a "check list", something I could look at and know she had completed her assignments without flipping through the lessons.  I included her other subjects to; math, music, PE.  When she has completed an assignment she will highlight it.  So I came up with this:


We should start school August 20th, so hopefully I'll have another update on  our first week soon.


Update:
 Okay......after reading several posts on the yahoo group, I began to wonder what the Lesson in a Glance sheets were all about.  So I looked through my guide an found it.



It would save a lot of time to use this and then just have a page with our other subjects on it.  But I am not sure if I like it having every level on there, and it is not as detailed as mine. 

What do think?

Friday, August 3, 2012

Catching Up


So..... I'm going to try this blogging thing one more time.

I've changed the title, and I am going to be working on the look later.

Now to catch up on what we are going to be doing for school this year.

Molly is going to be a virtual student at New Century Technology School in Huntsville, AL. She will have to go to the school for two classes a day (they are medical classes) and she will do the rest at home online.

I like it because she will be accountable to someone else besides me. She really needs that.

Baylee will be using the Trail Guide to Learning, Paths of Settlement. This curriculum has everything we need except math. I will be explaining in detail what we are doing in a later post.