Homeschool Update!

For the past couple of years we have being using MFW as our core curriculum. We have enjoyed it thus far, the teachers manual has been extremely helpful to me with all that we are juggling. In order to make things "easier" I used all the recommended material for english, spelling and math. For english primary language lessons was suggested, spelling is Rod and Staff, and math is Singapore. The primary focus with MFW is cultivating a Charlotte Mason approach. While I admire the Charlotte Mason approach I have found that it may not be the best fit for our family. This was a hard conclusion to come to but when you find that both yourself and child are frustrated things may need to change to better suit your family.

With this realization and relocating to a new state I have begun to contemplate what I would like our school year to look like next year. The potential state we are moving to is very open and flexible with homeschooling. With this in mind I have begun to consider our curriculum for next year. The biggest change I will be making is to piece together a curriculum versus using a boxed curriculum. In another post I will share more of what we plan to use. A couple of small changes we have made are switching math curriculum. When I was taught math a strong emphasis was placed on math facts utilizing tough math once those were memorized, we would then build upon those facts. I found using Singapore Math Pic Pic was not grasping the basic math facts with this realization we began to make some changes. Although we tried using flash cards for math facts this was often interpreted or we would just altogether leave it out. After some online searching I found a website http://www.aplusmath.com/ with online flashcards. This has been such a handy tool so that she can practice while I tend to other matters. This is usually done during meal prep times. We have also switched to Horizons Math. Another change we made is to use only copy work versus dictation and narration.

One question I have for your homeschooling Mama's what do you using for language arts once your child is reading? My thoughts are to use explode the code, handwriting grammar (still researching), continue with rod and staff spelling, and schedule daily reading. I have also considered using pathway readers. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Also do you teach your children cursive handwriting?

It's Time....

After a long hiatus I thought I would considering blogging again. You may ask yourself what ignited me to come out of my long hibernation? This is simple; I have enjoyed belonging to a group on Facebook and have come to the realization that as a Matushka in the Orthodox Church you can be somewhat isolated. Being a stay at home homeschooling mother can also contribute to this isolation. Having this online relationships have been such a joy to me and I would like to be able to share  more than a few lines you share on Facebook. 

Without further ado I would like to get you a little caught up with our family's happenings. We are in our third and final year of seminary. There is so much to say about the seminary experience it truly is a spiritual blessing albeit a struggle at times. We have an idea of where we are headed but is no official yet. I hope to share our relocation with you if time permits. 

Hubby just celebrated his year anniversary as clergy. Since the whirlwind of that first ordination we have also celebrated his ordination to the priesthood. He is still discerning where his furture lies in the military. He's looking forward to graduation and what the furture may hold for him. 

The children are all growing and changing so quickly it's hard to capture it all. My goal is to use this blog to document some of these changes so that I can look back at these memories. Having four children has really given me a case of mommy brain and I can't seem to remember all that I would like to. We are continuing to homeschool and are making progress.

There are lots that I would like to share on this blog. If time permits I will try to post on a regular basis.