100th Post!

Wow, its hard to believe I've posted 100 blogs already!  Granted, it hasn't been on a regular basis or about a consistent subject like it needs to be to get a good follow-ship...but I have enjoyed it and that's what matters.  Its interesting to go back and read what struck my interest at different points in my life.  And if anyone is wondering, yes, I am still a Ron and Rand Paul fan!

So, onto my life at the moment.  We have started back home schooling after the winter break, and Monday was tough.  But I was patient and consistent and I won the battle :)

We are continuing with the same subjects, with just a few changes.  We hit our ceiling pretty fast with the ocarina, so turned to piano when I got a free 2 months on KinderBach.  When that ran out, I found Piano Lessons 4 Children and used it to transition to our full-sized keyboard from the miniature that sufficed to learn the keys.  DS enjoyed playing Jingle Bells over the holidays for everyone.  Also, we are about done going through Salsa episodes for Spanish, so I just found a great deal on LiveMocha so we will be incorporating that as well, although it is geared towards older children and adults.

We completed "A Child's Garden of Verses" and have moved on to "When We Were Very Young" for poetry - usually one poem a day, plus memorization of a favorite.  In phonics, we have finished all 8 advanced books on Progressive Phonics and are now working and reviewing our way through the Tanglewood reading program (click under "Really Reading" and download pdf) and using some free Scholastic worksheets for reading that I found.  For math, I am continuing to use the worksheets from Funnix Math, but when my old laptop died, the program went with it!  To keep us on track, I am supplementing with Scholastic worksheets and math games from softschools.  I love how their games are broken up by grade and lesson, and they offer free worksheets as well.

For history, geography and literature, we are continuing to read Our Island Story, Parables of Nature, the Bible, Shakespeare, Fifty Famous Stories Retold, fairy tales, Aesop's Fables, d'Aulaire books (next up: George Washington) and Paddle to the Sea.  For science, we are bird watching, reading the Handbook of Nature Study and the Burgess Bird Book (love to use this resource with the reading), and spending time outside whenever possible.  Unfortunately, most of our outdoor time is spent on the trampoline instead of calmly investigating nature, but I'll take what I can get.  Now that is has turned cold (quite suddenly, I might add), I'm going to look into better winter clothing again so we can get back out there!

Copywork is getting easier for him - he will now write entire sentences without throwing a fit, although the way he holds his pencil still makes me cringe and he refuses to try a different grip.  We are copying phrases, poems, and Bible verses that I create using WorksheetWorks.  Speaking of which - we have memorized quite a few!  Not quite the one a week I was hoping for, probably about half of that, but its way more than he was learning before (zero), so I am pleased.

In other news, we have started our juice fast and I'm feeling a little strange but not too bad yet!  Watch for a separate post about how we are trying to be healthier in 2012!