Back to School

Well, we've been back to homeschooling in earnest for the past 7 weeks, which explains the lack of new blog posts. It didn't take us long to get back into the groove and things have been going very well.

Avery has a new "system" this year; instead of giving her a daily list, I've essentially given her a syllabus and deadlines for the amount of work I'd like her to complete each week. Then she is responsible for managing her own time. So far, it has gone very well. We've had a few wrinkles, but she's learning how to juggle it all, which is the whole point! Her course load includes: early modern history, pre-algebra, earth science, Latin, literature, grammar, geography, and art. She's also doing debate this year (not that she needs the encouragement!), book club, writing group, and she spends most of her free time studying music. In addition to playing the violin, she has also been teaching herself piano and has become surprisingly proficient!

Rhys's work load hasn't changed too much this year, but I am trying to have him do more writing. He has come a long way in OT and really has pretty nice handwriting! He tries very hard, and we're so proud of the strides he's made. I've also been really impressed with how well he's reading. He hasn't turned into the bookworm that his sister is, but he can read pretty much anything now. He has a goal of reading a novel a week and has been plugging away at it. His work load consists of: early modern history, math, earth science, reading, grammar, spelling, geography, and art. I also do read-alouds with both boys, and we always have fun with that.

Griffin is kindergarten-aged this year, but we're taking things very slowly. Besides working a little on the three R's, we're using Five in a Row. It's a unit study approach, using a different picture book as a spine each week and incorporating activities associated with the books. For instance, when we read Make Way for Ducklings, Griffin made a duck life cycle wheel, we watched duck videos on Youtube, he illustrated a duck poem by Ogden Nash, and we went to feed the ducks at the park. We have all been having a great time with it!

Here are a few pictures from our first seven weeks:

Griffin and Avery working on a project together:

Griffin making crepes to wrap up our study of Madeline and France.

Griffin's "Metro City" plan after reading Katy and the Big Snow.


Rhys's weather vane.


The Great Fire of London.


Griffin making an apple pie with Bill after reading How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World.