My first year of teaching at home I taught "SEAL" first grade and "NFL" kindergarten. We also had a 1 yo daughter, "Horse Girl" and a 4 month old daughter, "Nurse". I have a degree in Elementary Education and had already taught K-5 for two years on the island of Guam where I met my husband. "SEAL" had attended a local private K-5 program. I had been interested in teaching him at home all along, but my husband's reaction was not positive at first. "SEAL" wanted to stay home b/c we were leaving for school close to 7:00 each morning. Finances became an issue, so my husband decided to give home education a try. His mind has been changed forever.
We have been educating our children since September 11, 2001. Yes, our first day of school was on 9/11! My husband called me while we were working on making flags, and he asked me, "Are you watching tv?" At the time that seemed like a really dumb question, but the tv stayed on a lot over the next few days. Needless to say "formal" schoolwork didn't get off to the best start, but we learned a lot during those difficult days for America.
Our first year I used Bob Jones Press curriculum, because I like their products and was familiar with them already. That first year was pretty decent in my opinion. Somewhere along the way we switched to HomeSat. I was very pleased with the teachers on HomeSat. I still think they are great! Watching their lessons taught me much about teaching early math.
I went through some health issues, as well as pregnancies, and although we continued home schooling it was not as structured an organized as I felt it should be. My kids were doing well in Science and History particularly, but we were a bit behind with Math. "NFL" knew how to read but did not enjoy it. When "NFL" was in the fifth grade we purchased the Robinson Curriculum. We followed much of the RC philosophy, but we have not used their reading lists. I know one of the first big changes was that of reading for an hour every day. Six months later, "NFL" followed me around Wal-Mart as I shopped....reading his book as he walked. That was HUGE for our family! My husband stated that if that was the only positive change that came from our curriculum switch that it was worth it. : ) I like it when dads see the benefits of home education!
Since the Robinson Curriculum used Saxon Math, we made the switch also. My original "ruling" was that if they scored below a 90% on a lesson, they had to correct the problem and redo the lesson the next day. Needless to say we had some attitude issues at the beginning. We also trudged SLOWLY through Saxon 6/5 and Saxon 7/6. Now we are still using Saxon Math, and we are pleased with the thorough coverage of mathematics in the whole series of Saxon. I do not use the newest consumable Saxon books but the earlier edition hardback books and paper. (My husband wanted them to do all of their math work on graph paper, and that has made their work so much neater!)
As a result of reading Dr. Art Reed's newsletters I no longer require 90% on every lesson. I do require it on tests though! "SEAL" finished Algebra 1/2 in April and is working diligently on Algebra 1. He is already halfway though the book and consistently getting 90% or higher - frequently 100%. My girls are just starting Saxon 5/4, and they have gotten off to a much better start. "SEAL", "NFL", and "Horse Girl" are all planning to finish a whole math book between now and the beginning of next school year!
For history and science, I continued using BJUP textbooks. In general the children just worked through them on their own in elementary school during their reading time. (Reading time increases slightly with each grade level.) When "NFL" and "SEAL" reached high school we were introduced to the Apologia Science curriculum, and we gradually switched all high school texts. "SEAL" has commented several times how he enjoys Apologia Science and understands their textbooks so much more.
This year we went to a homeschool conference, and I discovered the Apologia elementary science books. My friend loaned me her copies of Astronomy and Botany. "Horse Girl" and "Nurse" are interested in science again! "Nurse" asked if she could stop the 4th grade science text she was using and begin Botany. This summer "Horse Girl" (going into 6th grade) is doing Astronomy on her own, and "Nurse" (going into 5th grade) is studying Botany on her own! Next year "Horse Girl", "Nurse", "Spunky!" (2nd grade), and "Gentleman" (K-5) will be doing Anatomy & Physiology together! I am ready to start the next school year right now. Well, if I had all the books purchased I would be.
I think this post is long enough, but in future posts I will be sharing how we home school now in each subject area. I would love to hear from my friends about their teaching goals and ideas. Please share in the comments regularly.
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