Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Right around the corner

The new school year will be beginning next week. I'm excited. I don't think the kids are. Not that it surprises me. They don't like a lot of busy work.

So this year I'm going way out in left field. This year we're using the Switched-On-Schoolhouse. We picked up a science disc in the spring and tried it out. K loved it right away but J took a little longer to get used to the idea.

When I started putting together the curriculum this year I asked them if they'd like to continue using workbooks or would like to switch to the SOS format. K was all for the SOS format, J was so-so. He wasn't against it, but wasn't excited.

Thankfully, we had some extra income at just the right moment so I could order the curriculum. These programs cost wa-a-a-a-y more than if I put it all together myself. But, I'm hoping the investment will pay off: i.e. they'll enjoy doing their work!

Which now leaves me teaching Bible, Art, Music, and various Social Studies lessons. We will be using SOS for Science, Language Arts, History, Geography, and Spanish. We will continue to use our books for Math.

Using the SOS will free me up quite a bit. Plus, I'll be able to put more into our other lessons, only having those few to plan out. I'm really looking forward to expanding our art and music studies!

Another project we will be working on is blogging. I know that seems odd, but I think the kids will have fun keeping a blog of what they're are doing and feeling from their own perspective. It'll make for some interesting reading, I'm sure! Keeping a blog will also count towards credit in L.A. as well as improving their typing skills. I can't wait to read some of their entries :D

So, until next week!

2 comments:

CB said...

Sounds like a good plan!

We had a FULL week of school, and even though the boys said several times, "I miss summer vacation" and (this is classic) "I can't wait until summer so I can get back to my real life" they worked hard and finished everything I had planned for them.

Caleb and Gabe both got their blogs up and running (with a little help) and I wanted to give their addys to you for J and K: Caleb's is www.thebaldeagle-cb.blogspot.com and Gabe's is www.thebat-gl.blogspot.com .

Right now they are basically acquainting themselves with the keyboard and learning what it means to keep a journal. Hopefully by the end of the year, they will be able to better reflect on life and express themselves effectively in writing. That's my goal!

Love ya,
Jody

team gesink said...

Hello, we wanted to thank you for your support and mention of our curriculum through Alpha Omega Publications. We would appreciate it so much if you would please place a post on your blog to our web site (http://www.aop.com) Thanks so much and we hope you have a great day!

AOP