Homeschooling Update

Shhhh....she's sleeping......and her lips aren't moving. She is, however, making noise. Yes, she snores. My, how I love that noise maker!

I thought I'd give you a little homeschooling update. We are several weeks into our fall semester and it is going well, although, Miss G will tell you she hates to "do" school. Once we get going in the mornings she really gets into it, going so far as to hug and kiss her "History" binder.

In my continuing effort to upgrade my level of organization to Miss G's advanced level, we have made great strides this week in our scheduling. I now know not only what we're doing for the day but more importantly, according to Miss G, at what time we will do these things and in what order. The main subject that Miss G is focusing on this school year is reading. We are using "The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading" by Jessie Wise and Sara Buffington for our reading curriculum. Miss G is doing very well with it. I really like it too. The lessons are brief but thorough with reinforcement of previous lessons built into each subsequent lesson.

After we have concluded the daily lesson we also read short, mommy-made-up sentences to reinforce what we've just learned.

An example...

No! Grandma did not fib.

After Miss G finishes reading the sentence, we, of course, debate the sentence.

Miss G reads, "If I am six, I am big."

"Mommy, that's not true. You're not big when you're six. You have to be much older to be big. Jay (a little boy at church) is six and he's not big."

Next sentence, "The big hog bit him."

"Did it bite Daddy? Who did the big hog bite? I hope it wasn't Daddy."

Another sentence, "All the bad pigs bit all the good hens."

"Why would the pigs bite the hens? They shouldn't bite the hens. That would hurt them."

"Mommy fed the pig on the bed."

"Mommy! You shouldn't feed the pig in bed. That would make a mess. How would a pig get up in your bed? Did you pick it up? Daddy wouldn't like crumbs in his bed."

I'm not sure that Ms. Wise and Ms. Buffington intended to include debating principles into their beginning reading curriculum, but that's what happens at our house. Crossover curriculum....that's what I like to call it. Incorporating multiple subjects at once is a goal of mine....not really....I just made that up. Education is not a destination....it's a journey. (Does that sound better?) Oh well...we'll keep trudging forward. Something is working. Miss G is reading and that is NOT debatable.