Reorganizing Sonlight

Almost three years ago, I shared my method to organizing our Sonlight Core Instructor's Guides.  However, since then, Sonlight has completely remodeled their Instructor's Guides, which means I had to do some remodeling of how I organize things.

I'll be honest, I'm not a huge fan of the remodel on Sonlight's part.  However, I am still a huge fan of Sonlight, so I'm working with it.  For those who don't know, the changes were basically taking the notes for each week and placing them behind the schedule pages, whereas previously the notes were sorted by each book.  Also, in Core D and beyond, LA is included with the notes.  What this means for me is, 1. a lot of flipping, as we don't always stay on schedule for each book, so now I have to flip back and forth between weeks, and 2. a very cluttered (to me) notes section, due to the LA I don't use mashed in there with everything else.  I am very visual, and it was becoming very difficult for me to smoothly use my notes.

So, I got brave.  I colored all over my IG.  First, I scribbled out all of the notes for LA.  I really hesitated with this, because it just seems... wrong... to scribble in an IG!  But, it's mine, so I might as well make it work for me, right?  And since we don't use the LA at all (tried it, quickly realized it didn't fit us), I'm not losing anything by scribbling.

Scribbling done, I then went on to color-code (yes, there's a similar theme with my previous method!) the different note sections.  History notes are highlighted in green.  Read-Aloud notes in Purple, and Reader notes in pink.  I don't highlight the Bible notes simply because I rarely use them.

Here's an example of what I mean:

This way, even though I still have to flip around the pages, my eye easily falls right to the section I'm needing to see, rather than trying to scan through everything with little differentiation.  For some reason, the headers they provided just weren't enough for me.

I still don't love it as much as I loved the older IG's, but I'm happy to have found something that works to make the new IGs less cluttered and frustrating to use!

And speaking of Sonlight, we're now doing 3 Cores - Core F for Isaac and Ezra, Core A with Joel and Nathan, and we're finishing up Core P 3/4 with Judah and Rachel and about to move into Core P 4/5, sometime in June.  Despite my less than thrilled feelings about their IG changes, we still LOVE Sonlight.  I was talking about a different curriculum a few weeks ago, and one of the children said, "Mom!  Don't switch from Sonlight!  We'll miss all the awesome books!"   That about says it all, for me!

Homeschooling with Morning Sickness

As you may have gathered from my last post... we're expecting baby #7!  Which is a convenient excuse for my lack of blogging. And cooking. And cleaning. And... basically anything that requires more than lying on the couch! 

I am a little over 10 weeks now, and morning sickness has definitely dominated my life for the past 6 of those.  However, as any mother knows, when there are other children in the house, it's not so easy for mama to be stuck on the couch.  Especially when several of those children are school-aged and mama is the teacher!  So I thought I'd share a little on how school goes when I'm sidelined.

Basically, we just simplify.  This is rough for me, as I am a checklist kind of girl, and get a sense of accomplishment when I can get to the end of the day and see that we've done everything.  But the Lord has taught me so much in this area, mostly through periods of morning sickness - that my value and my worth is not based on my accomplishments!  So it is OK to let things go in necessary seasons.

My method of homeschooling makes this really, really easy.  First, I eliminate the subjects that need my one-on-one focus (for us, this is Spelling and Writing).  Since they are "minor" topics anyway, I have no concerns about dropping them for a while.  Second, my independent work assignment sheets allow the big kids to continue moving ahead with their work - they're not waiting around for me to direct them, and filling them out requires very minimal effort on my part.  The one difficulty I have run into is checking and going over their work everyday.  Since Fridays are light days for us and the boys don't have any independent work then, I've been waiting until Friday to meet and go over the week's work.  It's not ideal (especially when there's several days of material they've made errors on and have to go back and fix!), but again, this is for a season, so it works for now.

Thirdly... Sonlight!  I can do Bible, History, Read-Alouds and Science (excluding experiments) all from the couch.  Not only that, but their awesome Instructor's Guides make it literally "open and go".  I do not have to plan, I do not have to stress about getting things together, I do not have to hunt around for extra materials.  I keep everything I need for 6 weeks in a basket next to the couch.  So. Easy.  I mean, unbelievably easy.  I honestly believe that with any other curriculum, I'd be totally out of the game and nothing would be getting accomplished.  But Sonlight has made it really, really easy to keep on trucking.  Have I mentioned that it's really easy?  Maybe Sonlight should steal Staples' logo.

I will say that there have been some weeks in which only independent work has gotten done, or only our Sonlight portions.  That's me letting go of perfection and surviving the day.  By now I've learned that this truly is just a season, and it will pass (no matter how dreadfully long it seems to last!) so I try not to let discouragement catch up with me.  I try to keep this mindset for all areas of living during this time.  Yes, we may be eating more processed meals, or simple things that children can fix.  The house looks like it has been cleaned by children, well, because it has.  But as long as we stay on top of dishes and laundry, things run pretty well.  And let me say, having older children is such a huge blessing!  It is incredible to see the fruit of the hard work of teaching chores and obedience when they were younger!

I am praying that in a few short weeks I will be back on my feet and running things at "top speed" again, but for now, I think we're all appreciating the simplicity!

Seven Quick Takes Friday - Volume 11

I didn't do any Quick Takes in August, so I have to start out with a little celebration!  Ezra turned 9 last month!  It was a very fun day, as Michael surprised him by taking the day off so they could spend some one-on-one Daddy/Son time.  He tries to fit in a special day with each of the boys on their birthdays, but usually it has to wait for the weekend.  It's a fun tradition that they all look forward to and makes their birthdays even more wonderful for them.  Here's the happy birthday boy!

His presents consisted of a new Disc Golf disc, and legos galore. He said it was the "best birthday EVER!" but I think he says that every year! 

And of course, in the last month, Rachel passed her 7 month marker!  She's starting to think about crawling - she can get to hands and knees pretty quickly, but is still figuring out what to do other than rock back and forth.  She'll be getting it soon, I can tell!  She wants to be on the go!  It also seems like she's getting a tooth in... there's been a lot of swelling, bubble blowing, and more nighttime wakings, so it seems like it is on the verge of popping out!  She's also started solids - she isn't all that interested, however, so I'm just taking it slow and letting her have fun with it.  She likes the spoon more than the food on the spoon!

Rachel's first time on the swing!

I wanted to share some beautiful handiwork made by my friend, Amy.  She hand makes custom picture frames, and they are goregous!  Here's the one she made for Rachel - I gave her free reign to do what she wanted, and it was absolutely perfect.  I'm still having trouble deciding what picture I want to use in it!

And here's one she did for Judah when he was born!

You can see more of her handiwork at her blog!  These make wonderful gifts, for all sorts of occasions!

Check out this super cool video!  It's really awesome, and convinces me ever more so that life was truly created with such intricacy and detail by an incredible creative and amazing God!

This week, we finally finished up the last of Sonlight's Core D!  We had finished it a little unevenly, as we got ahead of schedule in some areas and behind in others... but now everything is complete!  It was a great year, and I love Sonlight as much as I did when we first started, a little over a year ago.  We're going to take a week to get organized and then we move onto Core E!

I have to confess, my "getting up early and exercising" progress has fallen totally to the wayside.  A number of circumstances (including a loss of air conditioning for 2 weeks, followed by house guests for another week) really threw me off. So I'm a little nervous about getting back into my running plan and seeing how far behind I've fallen.  Will I have to start from scratch again?  I guess there's only one way to find out... and that's to just give it a go!  I'm mentally preparing myself to get on the ball starting next week.  I'll also admit that I'm not totally excited about it!  But I know that I always feel better when I'm making that time.

This weekend, our marriage will be hitting it's teenage years!  Sunday we will celebrate 13 years!  God has certainly brought us through many ups and downs, and we've (literally) grown up together as we've grown closer to Him.  I am thankful beyond what I can express for Michael and his love and leadership!

Here we are on that day!

And here we are at wedding, just last week:

(Michael was the best man in a cowboy-themed wedding, hence the hat!)

Boy, do the years fly by!

Friday Funny - Vegetarians?

Did you know that the ancient Israelites were vegetarians?  According to Judah, our 2-year old Bible Historian, it's true!

For the last memory verse of Sonlight Core D, the boys are memorizing Psalm 42.  We recite it every morning, and also listen to it in song.  Judah can sing the entire song (how amazing is music in the way of helping memorization?).

The actual version of verse 4 goes like this:

These things I remember,

as I pour out my soul within me

how I used to go along with the throng

and lead them in procession to the house of God

with a voice of joy and thanksgiving,

a multitude keeping festival.

Judah's version goes like this:

These things I remember,

as I pour out my soul within me

how I used to go along with the throng

and lead them in procession to the house of God

with a voice of joy and thanksgiving,

a multitude eating vegetables.

The way he says it in his sweet little 2-year old voice just gets me every time!  I've tried desperately to get it on video, but as soon as the camera comes out, he plays shy.  Trust me, it is beyond cute!

Not-Back-to-School Blog Hop - 2011-2012 Curriculum Plans!

I'm joining in with Heart of the Matter Online's "Not-Back to School Blog Hop"!  Week 1 is Curriculum Week, so here's a look at what our plans are for the 2011-2012 school year!

We've officially completed our 180 days of school, as required by our state.  Since we prefer to school year-round, we're jumping right into another "year", starting next week.  We still have odds and ends of our 2010-2011 curriculum to finish up, here are our plans for the upcoming year for each of the boys!

I've mentioned this a ton of times, but our main source for Bible, History, and Read-Alouds will be Sonlight's Core E.  We also do Science as a family, and once we've finished up Apologia's Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology, we'll be switching gears and studying electricity, inventions, magnetism and magnification with Sonlight's Science E.  This will be our first year away from Apologia and trying something new, so I'm excited to see how it goes! 

Isaac is 10, and technically be starting 5th grade!  (That's so weird to me, because I have very vivid memories of my 5th grade year, how is it possible that I have a child there now?  Is this how old people feel all the time?)

Here are the subjects he'll be studying in addition to the above:

• Math - Math-U-See's Epsilon, as well as ALEKS for supplementation, and drills using MathRider or Math Facts Now (his choice)
• English - Rod & Staff's English 4 - I have found Rod & Staff's English to be rigorous enough that even though it's technically "behind" his grade, it's quite sufficient.
• Writing - Writing Tales (finishing up Level 1, moving on to Level 2)
• Spelling - All About Spelling, Level 2 and beyond - so far, he's been able to breeze through a couple lessons a week, but I'm sure as we progress, it will slow down some, so I'm just following his lead for now!
• Bible - Core E includes an independent Bible Study, which he'll be using. If need be, we will supplement or switch out with studies from Quiet Times for Kids.
• Spanish - Rosetta Stone, Level 1
• Computer Programming - I purchased KidCoder from the Homeschool Buyer's Co-op for a great price, and Isaac is so excited to get started!

I won't be having him do any more formal handwriting, as his subjects include enough written work now that he gets plenty of practice through that.

Ezra will soon be 9 and is considered a 4th grader now!

He's actually doing almost all of the same things as Isaac, except the levels are different, of course!  Here are the adjustments... everything else is exactly the same:

• Math - Math-U-See Delta, along with ALEKS and drills with Math Facts Now
• English - Rod & Staff English 3
• Reading - along with Core E Readers, he'll also be doing Rod & Staff Reading 3.  This is the last year of formal reading instruction with Rod & Staff for him
• Handwriting - Handwriting Without Tears Cursive - this is doing wonders for him! He would previously struggle through handwriting in tears... this curriculum definitely lives up to it's name!  He loves it and his handwriting is much improved!

Joel is 6.5 and is now officially on our Attendance Form!

I consider him going into 1st grade, so he's got a little bit more "real" schoolwork, but not much.  As I've mentioned before, I prefer to keep things light in the younger years, so they have plenty of time for imaginative play and exploration.  Here's what's on his plate this year:

• Reading and Phonics - he's going to start Rod & Staff's Grade 1 Reading!  He's also chugging along with Reading Kingdom online.  He doesn't particularly care for it anymore, mostly because it is a challenge for him... which I consider a good thing!  Our subscription for that is up in February, and I'm not sure if we'll do anymore online programs after that.
• Math - Math-U-See Alpha
• Handwriting - A Reason for Writing, Book A
• We might venture into All About Spelling, Level 1... depending on time and need
• He'll also be joining in with Nathan's Kindergarten plans (listed below!)

Nathan is 4.5 and sort of Pre-K-ish, I guess?

He spent last year sitting in on Joel's K activities, which has put him a little ahead of the game.  While I don't push a lot of academic stuff at this age, I do love getting into their world through lots of reading aloud and fun activities.  I have to admit, Preschool and Kindergarten are my favorite years to "teach"! Here's what my (very flexible) plans are for Nathan:

• Sonlight P 3/4 - we did this at the beginning of last year with Joel and Nathan, but it's so good it's worth repeating!  We all enjoyed it very much!
• My Father's World Kindergarten - I won't be using the phonics portion, but the Bible and Science activities are lots of fun, and nice, light learning.  Both Joel and Nathan will be joining together for this!
• He'll be starting Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons!  He's almost finished with the Get Ready, Get Set, Go! for the Code books, so he'll be ready very soon.   He's also been doing Click N' Read Phonics (another great buy from the Homeschool Buyer's Co-op) online, and I am very pleased with this program for beginning readers.  He's having a lot of success with it!

The great thing about homeschooling several children is that I didn't have to buy anything except the Code workbooks for Nathan, and his subscription to Click N' Read (which is a lifetime subscription, so it will be used for all following children!).  If I were trying to afford everything I just listed above in one purchase, it would easily be close to my entire year's homeschool budget!  But I've picked all of them up as we've gone along over the years, and he, being child number 4, is reaping the benefits (as is our bank account!)

Judah is 2,

and will be working on potty training!  Honestly, I think potty training is my least favorite parental duty. But, once it's done, it's always good.  So I have to bite the bullet and get it done!  He's definitely ready now!  He's also at the age where he's into everything (did I say everything?  I mean everything!!),  so we'll be spending our days keeping his little hands and mind busy.  Lots of stories, drawing, music, blocks, outside time and attention!

Rachel will just be doing her thing - growing, learning, eating, sleeping, and getting lots and lots of love!

We're so excited about the upcoming year!

If you are curious to see how this all falls into place during a typical day, be sure to check out my post, "Fitting It All In" - where I explain!  If you're interested in seeing how I organize everyone's assignments, I've got a post on my homemade homeschool assignment sheets, too!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great 2011-2012 homeschool year!

7 Quick Takes Friday - Volume 7

Remember that "my-baby-is-4-months-old-supermom" feeling I mentioned in an earlier Quick Takes, a few weeks ago?  Yes, laugh heartily along with me as we reminisce about all of my goals and excitement.  It didn't last very long.  Go figure!  Well, actually, I've been doing OK in getting up early and exercising, but that whole 31 Days to Clean challenge I was attempting?  I am still on Day 1.  I have read several days worth of challenges, but that's not actually miraculously making my house cleaner.  I wonder why?  And the Good Morning Girls "Ministry of Motherhood Bookclub" readings... well, let's just say they're now on Week 6.  I, however, am just starting Week 4.  So, there you have it!  Hopefully my earlier enthusiasm was an encouragement to someone, and my "back to reality wake up call" can be an encouragement, too.  Either you're in the same boat as me and we're happy that we're not alone, or you're doing better than I am and can feel happy about that fact! ;-)  I just consider myself taking more of the "slow and steady" route, and I'm OK with that.

Speaking of exercise, I've been at it for almost 3 full weeks now!  I've been alternating 3 days of run/walking on the treadmill with 3 days of a strength training video.  Aaaaannnnddd...  I've gained 4 pounds.  Yep!  Yes, yes, I know "muscle weighs more than fat" blah blah blah... but seriously?  There's no way I've gained 4 pounds of muscle in 3 weeks.  I can't even imagine that to be true.  But, honestly... the numbers on the scale aren't my main focus, really.  I want to feel better in my clothing, have more energy, and overall just feel better... and so far... well, the last one is true.  I am feeling better in general.  My energy level hasn't sky rocketed, but that probably has more to do with getting up so crazy early (anywhere from 5-5:30 am) and going to bed way too late (usually between 11 pm - midnight).  But I do love being active and feeling fit enough to BE active, so I'm really glad I've gotten back into a good routine of exercise.

Oh, and I wanted to give a little suggestion for other breastfeeding moms who exercise.  If you've ever tried to nurse in a regular sports bra, you know the amazing skill of acrobatics it can require (especially if you happen to sweat a lot, don't ask me how I know), as well as the overall discomfort it causes.  Well, I have found the perfect sports bra for nursing moms!  It is the Fiona Bra by Moving Comfort.  It is designed to support "fuller figured" women (which often comes with the territory when nursing), closes with hooks in the back (no more over the head wrestling) and also (this is the best part!) has straps that adjust in the front with velcro!  So it acts just like a nursing bra!  They are truly the perfect sports bra.  Another nice thing is that there are several other sports bras made for full-figured women by Moving Comfort that have the same design!  So whatever style or size you need, you an probably find one that suits you!  I do suggest looking around online for a good price - I found several on amazon.com as well as Sierra Trading Post that were about half the suggested retail price.  (Disclaimer:  I get no reimbursement whatsoever for this recommendation - I'm just passing along the tip!)

Isaac, my oldest, just turned 10.5 this month.  I've always made it a point to measure each of the boys on their birthdays as well as their half-birthdays, so that I have a record of growth for every six months.  Well, in the past 6 months since he turned 10, Isaac has been very busy - growing!  He sprouted up 2 whole inches in just 6 months!  That's the biggest growth spurt on the growth chart by far, so far.  I know there are more to come, but it really took me by surprise!  He's just 4 inches shorter than me now!  It's so strange to me when I look at him and get glimpses of how he's changing.  The time has gone by so fast, and sometimes I feel like I am totally, completely unprepared for what the future might hold!  Boy, am I thankful the Lord holds it all in His hands and His wisdom, and will give us all that we need!  Here's my half-grown boy as of late:

This is one picture where he really looks "different" to me - a glimpse of the man he will become!

This makes me think of the lanky teenager he'll soon be, with arms and legs everywhere!  Yikes!

I didn't post about it earlier, but for Mother's Day this year, I got a Kindle!  Woo-hoo!  However, I was a tad disappointed to discover that Kindle books are not all that less expensive than a regular book! :-/  Thankfully, I ran across a blog called "Family Friendly Reads" which lists all of the really inexpensive or FREE Kindle books available.  I check it daily and have gotten some really good books through this site, so I wanted to pass it along to others!

Another great resource I wanted to share with y'all is the Homeschool Buyer's Co-op.  This site is awesome for finding really, really good deals on all kinds of curriculum and homeschool-related things.  I've been able to save almost $100 in just two purchases so far!  They also have lots of free things, so definitely check them out!

Homeschooling's #1 Way to Save

Speaking of school, we finally have a reasonable end in sight for this years' curriculum!  We tend to do more of a year-round type schedule, so most of our "summer break" was taken right after Rachel's birth, but it looks like we'll have a few weeks to enjoy during the actual summer, as well.  We are about to dive into Week 29 of Core D - only 7 weeks left!  The big kids have about 10 weeks left of their independent work subjects (Math, English, etc), and the littles have only 5 weeks left of Sonlight's P 4/5!  Oh, and Joel (6) is only 15 lessons away from finishing off "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons".  We took some breaks from it over the past year, so it seems like it has taken forever to get through it, but the pace has been perfect for Joel.  He recently made the realization that he actually CAN read, and is eager to try reading everything he sees now!  I love when that finally clicks!

I could have actually done a few more points, but then this wouldn't fit into the "7" Quick Takes theme, would it?  So I'll just have to keep you all in suspense and wait until next week. ;-)  Have a blessed weekend!

Our 2nd Annual Sonlight Box Day!

Even though we still have about 14 weeks left of our current Sonlight Core (Core D), I went ahead and purchased our next Core (Core E)! I did this to give me time to pre-read all of the books, as well as make sure things are nice and organized... and also to take advantage of Sonlight's Time Payments option (a great option for those, like myself, on a tighter homeschool budget!).

Thursday was the "due date" for our boxes to arrive, and we all waited with excited anticipation for a sight of the FedEx truck! However, we woke up to different trucks outside! They were making repairs on the fire hydrant outside our house.

After a while, I said to Michael, "I wonder if the FedEx man won't stop because there's so much construction going on?"... literally, within 3 minutes, a FedEx truck came up the road, and parked in the neighbor's driveway. We peeked out the window, and sure enough he saw him hauling two large, very distinct white boxes with blue lettering out of his truck! Michael was kind enough to meet him in the yard to relieve him of his burden - boxes of books are pretty heavy! Here they are, hiding all sorts of wonderful treasures inside!

First, we had to move them to a nice open spot where we'd have room to lay everything out to look at. Joel volunteered to do the heavy work!

And then the opening began! The first box held a surprise that I hadn't told the boys we were getting - a microscope! A real, live, high-quality microscope! They were so excited!

Since the older boys have been showing a lot of interest in inventions and electrical things lately, I decided that we'd go ahead with Sonlight's Core E science for next year, as the main topics covered include inventions and electrcity! We love Apologia and plan to return to it, but I thought it would be nice to teach something they're really wanting to learn, so it should be a fun science year! Here are all of the Science books and kit supplies:

Then came the Core books - book, after book, after book! Here they are, all laid out:

And here they are, sorted into their subject piles:

For a closer look, here are the main history books (there are several that we will use that I already own, so they're not pictured):

Here are the books I'll be reading aloud to the boys (I love them best, because I enjoy the whole experience with them!):

And here are the books they'll be reading by themselves:

Isaac's comment was "Aww, man! Do I really have to wait until next year to be able to read these?!" I explained that "next year" actually meant this fall, so it wasn't going to be too long of a wait ;-)

Here's the rug, covered with all of our Box Day goodies!

After labeling and organizing them, we had the fun of putting them away! Isaac takes a look back over each one:

Oh, and even Nate got something special in this year's box! Time to start some fun pre-reading!

And of course Judah can't be left out of a photo shoot:

We are all very excited and looking forward to another year with Sonlight!

(Oh, and just as a side note, if you're interested in trying Sonlight and happen to use one of my links to make your first purchase over $50, you'll save $5 and I'll get some points, too. It's a win-win situation! ;-) )