Back to school!

We started our new school year this week! I was going to wait until after we moved, but our moving date got trashed. Long story.

Anyway, back to school! We have a lot of changes this year. We're not starting FIAR just yet. There are only 15 books in volume 3, so there will be plenty of time for that later. I'm incorporating what we had planned (but didn't do) for the summer into the first half of this school year. So far, so good!

Math. Caleb is starting Saxon Kindergarten. He had two lessons this week. I think this is the perfect age for him to do this. Jimmy was bored at this stage, but Caleb is content to play & have fun. Jimmy is starting Abeka Grade 2. We switched from Saxon to Abeka because, while Abeka moves more slowly, it has colorful worksheets. I am hoping that will help keep Jimmy's focus. We did 4 lessons of that this week, and so far he loves it! He did notice that is was a little beneath his abilities, though - I told him that we were just reviewing things before we jumped in. Here's hoping!

Bible. Instead of memorizing verses, I've decided to read longer passages to the boys. After a wonderful workshop where I focused on Psalm 2, I thought the Psalms would be perfect. I read one Psalm each day to them - Psalms 1-4 this week. They're antsy during reading time, especially Caleb, but I think everyone will settle down once the routine is established.

History. This is new. We did a little history last summer, and this was to be our more formal attempt this summer. I am reading The Story of the World, volume 1, to them a chapter at a time. It's a wonderful books full of stories about how ancient life might have been. Jimmy in particular was fascinated by the 3 chapters we've read so far. I'm learning a lot, too!

Spelling. This is also new. This replaces copywork from last year. This is only for Jimmy. I googled lists of spelling words for first graders to start. I also got a list of first grade spelling words from a friend whose son just started second grade (it was his spelling work from last year). The plan is to do 3 words each spelling day. If Jimmy gets the word correct, we move on. If it's wrong, it becomes one of the three words next time. This week's words were drop, at, up, nest, will (repeated), nine, home (to be repeated next week), and bug.

Finally, I added memory work for Jimmy. Since we're not memorizing Bible verses and I want to add in classical style education, I found a memory card set from Classical Conversations, a classical education homeschooling co-op. I am not interested in a co-op just yet, but some of their materials are very useful. The memory cards we'll be using this year are from Cycle 1 and cover History, Math, Geography, Science, & Grammar. (There is also Latin, but we're skipping that.). This week, Jimmy memorized Commandments 1-5 (History), the 1 & 2 tables (Math), 5 parts of the Fertile Crescent (Geography, which also tied into this week's History lessons), the 5 kingdoms of living things (Science), & the definition of "preposition" (Grammar). Not too shabby!

We had school Monday through Thursday this week. I took Friday off since I wasn't feeling well. =( On Wednesday & Thursday, we went to a rummage sale at my in-law's church - the Big R. It was good to get away. The boys still did a great job at school even with the travel. I think we've got a good thing going so far!