First Week of Kindergarten!

Well, it's that time again.  I was a bit more apprehensive this time to get school started.  In fact, I bumped it back a week out of anxiety.  My son is in kindergarten and it makes me nervous to think that this year counts.  Not that preschool didn't, but this year we're accountable for what we teach.

I planned my lessons in advance and took advantage of a local used curriculum sale where I scored Saxon Math and Reading lessons and materials for a combined total of $40.  Pretty good deal, right?  The Reading is similar to the "letter a day" concept, and we're going to supplement with addition state requirements.  The Math is 3rd grade level and I'm going to work through it as is for as long as my son is interested.

I've also added Bible Studies and a geography lessons where we built a car and take "trips" around the US learning about different states.  I wanted to start music but I'm having trouble working it in.  In addition to our planned school, my son is doing soccer and gymnastics as well as a co-op that teaches science, pe, art and history.

So yeah, it's a lot.

But the first week went pretty well.  As I figured, all my hard work and planning got basically thrown out the window immediately as my son had a mind of his own and things he wanted to learn that I hadn't planned.  That's fine with me as long as we hit the math and reading I have planned. 

I'm looking forward to posting some projects and lessons we did, although it may be a few more days.  We've just been so busy! 

On a side note, if you aren't signed up for couponmom.com, I highly recommend.  School supplies are on sale now and coupon mom provides tons of additional coupons.  This is the time of year that we get totally stocked on markers and paints, which tend to get used up rather quickly in my house.

Also, if you're thinking of using Saxon, I'll keep posting about how I like the curriculum as the year goes on.

Ok, that's all for now!  Happy first day of homeschool!

Clearly not organized

Clearly, by my lack of blogging, I'm not really organized.  I'm working on it.  :)

Back to it!

June is coming to an end and with that brings homeschool curriculum fairs.  I recently attended one, searching specifically for Life of Fred math books.  I came away with two complete Saxon curriculums, one for reading and one for math, plus a whole bunch of useful booklets.

I didn't intend to teach from a curriculum.  In fact, I received TONS of advise saying NOT to buy a curriculum for kindergarten.  So what changed my mind?  Well, I spent my son's preschool years designing my own curriculum.  It was fun, for both of us, but it was overwhelming.  As you can tell from some of my previous blogs, I sometimes felt a bit rattled by the whole process.  So I decided to help myself out a bit.  Now, I only have reading and math taken care of with Saxon.  My son is in a homeschool group that will teach him science (the human body and astronomy), history (the classics), art and physical education.  The rest is still up to me, and I'll be designing my own curriculum for those subjects.

I'll be teaching Bible, Music, and Geography along with reading and math.  I really love science and would like to teach that as well, but we'll see how the homeschool science class goes. 

The Common Core has also been an issue.  So many states have adopted it, and I will be looking through the requirements in detail and deciding what I need to incorporate into my teaching. 

So that's where I am right now with homeschooling.  I'll be doing some planning and remodeling of this blog, moving all the preK stuff to one tab, that sort of thing.

Stay tuned!

A Light in the Darkness

I love to write...clearly.  I just finished my first novel entitled A Light in the Darkness.  It's a Christian Suspense Romance novel about coming to Christ in the face of tragic events.  Here's a taste:

"Her throat started to close. She could barely register the information before a sense of dread coursed through her body, one that she long ago bottled away. She pushed the emotion out of her mind and forced herself to breathe...in...out...in...out"

 Lily Stover always protects her younger brother from harm, except for now. After receiving a phone call informing Lily that her brother suffered from a viscous attack, Lily travels to the Byron Ranch, the crime scene, intent on revenge. Brett Byron, owner of Byron Ranch, insists on teaming up with Lily and investigating together. Reluctantly, Lily agrees but can she trust this stranger? Can Brett break down Lily's emotional walls that she's spent years guarding? Will they be able to find the attacker before he or she strikes again?

If you're interested in checking it out, or buying my book, please just click on the "Buy Now" icon to the right!  I hope you enjoy the story!

We're Getting a Make Over!

Come back in a few months to see all the changes as we transition from preK to K!  Note:  some lessons will be erased from the site.

Summer Reading Challenge

We've slowed down in the past month.  Haven't really done a whole lot, not on a schedule.  But I wanted to keep up my son's reading so we started a summer reading challenge.  As a family, we have to read 100 books by August 1st and if we do, we'll celebrate with some sort of family related prize.

This means that my son has to read books independently, and my husband and I also have to read books in order to get to the grand total of 100.  Hopefully, this will encourage everyone to start doing more reading!!

School House Rock!

I LOVE School House Rock!  I learned my mulitiplcation tables by memorizing their songs so you can imagine how pumped I am that my son is FINALLY into them!  Check it out: