If I had to define our first year of official homeschooling, I'd have to say it was a success. It wasn't what I expected it to be, and the successes weren't along the path I had originally chosen, but we arrived none the less.
I didn't like Right Start Math. But I'm planning on using the next level for the coming year. The first level, "A", simply jumped around too much in the lessons for me. Some where along the way, I ditched it for Math Mammoth, which my worksheet lover adored, but I didn't feel like I was properly teaching. So onto level B we go.
I curriculum hopped like crazy in the phonics arena. I finally settled on Logic of English Foundations and found my phonics curriculum soul mate. It's colorful and fun, it holds my hand, it tells me what to do if my student is struggling, it gets us moving...I just love it. Laila, who turned 4 last month, is gleefully reading CVC words. Her older brother is too, but there's a lot less "glee" going on with him at this point. I fear that I started him out before he was ready and harmed his self confidence in the process. Never again.
We didn't use the Elemental Science at all. And I can't say for sure why. Instead we did a few interest-led unit studies & it worked out just fine.
Halfway through the school year I felt like we were lacking consistency. What I realized was that we were consistently doing school 4 days a week & so that's what I continued to do, only with more mindfulness. Mondays were dedicated to recuperating from the weekend & getting the house back to neutral.
I'm really excited for what's in store for this coming school year. More on that soon.
