Lionden Landing

We are finishing up the first term of Year 3 with Ambleside .  As I mentioned before, we have struggled this term.  I have been  revising our schedule for next term with the knowledge I have gained from our stumblings.  One of the major advantages in planning this term is knowing the books and the length and difficulty of the readings.  As a student grows within the Charlotte Mason philosophy, they are expected to slowly take on more of the responsibility of learning themselves.  To that end, I get to divvy up.  We will have two books that I read to Froggy and she narrates back.  We have two books I will read to her and we will also have activities that accompany the material.  As usual, we will have one book we will be listening to in the car. And then we have two books that Froggy will read.  One she will read aloud to me and the other ( our biography ), she will read to herself and narrate.

This year has been filled with stumbling blocks.  We are still struggling to finish out our schooling.  Math is done.  We have even started the next math book just because too big a break is not good.  We have accomplished all I had hoped for in Tefillah and Chumash.  But literature, science and history are lagging far behind.  Froggy is much more resistant to sitting and reading with me these days.  D. is a huge distraction and temptation not too read.

Our new school year looks like lots of fun if I can just get organized.  There is lots more going on which makes it even more important to be organized. Here are the things we will be doing on a daily basis.  Between our morning work and our afternoon outings I need to lie down for an hour.  I may do a telling back during that time.  I also need to lie down for an hour after our afternoon outing and before dinner. Ivrit  Parsha Chumash Math Copywork / Dictation /Spelling "Telling Back"  - This is where our Ambleside Readings occur.  This year several days will require two readings. And this is our weekly schedule Monday - Swim Lessons Tuesday - Park Day / Hebrew School Wednesday - PE Class in the morning / Handwork in the afternoon Thursday - 4H or a playdate Friday - Park Day / Shabbat Prep

We won't officially start second grade until Rosh HaShana.  But as we finish up other things we are starting some of our curriculum and I am pulling together all our resources.  We are going to have so much fun.  It is going to be tons of fun because I learned a great deal this past year about what makes it more fun for Froggy.  We are going to do a notebook for the Burgess Animal Book from the very beginning.  Froggy loved putting the pictures of the birds in her Bird Book above her narrations.  I also purchased a guide to help with our Geography study.  I am not sure how much we will use it but it has some ideas for making it fun.  I am still looking for ways to make our Book of centuries more fun and more useful.  I am putting together a clipart file to use with it of all the figures we are going to meet during the year.  That way when we meet them she can just cut them out, glue them into our BOC and add the information she want...

We are just over half way done with math for this year but with summer fever and testing happening all round us, I cannot help looking at the Fall Curriculum. Here is what we will be doing this Fall for our Secular Studies.  I won't plan our Limudi Chodesh until after the conference this Sunday. For Math - We will continue as we have since the very beginning with Singapore Math.  There are tons of great programs out there but this one works for Froggy so we stick with it. For History - We will continue reading An Island Story.  We started it this year and will just continue straight through.  We will also add A Child's History of the World .  We will also start This Country of Ours but this is really more a year 3 book that we just peek into at the end of year 2.  Our Biography this year is supposed to be The Little Duke but I have not yet decided if we will actually do it.  If I can find a biography of comparable quality of a Jewish person, ...

We finished our first semester of Ambleside last week,  I kind of feel like I am "cheating" with this curriculum.  It does not feel like school to me.  It is just "reading".  Froggy enjoys all the stories.  I use our time working on our Ambleside books as rewards for doing other assignments.  Froggy has progressed considerably in her narration skill during the semester.  I don't know if she is retaining any of the stuff we learn.  Ambleside offers guidance on exams but I am not willing to do that.  Either it is sinking in or it isn't.  This is only first grade.  If she does not retain everything that is ok.  The foundation is being lain and creating footholds for future learning.

We officially start school next week.  I have been busy finalizing our schedule for the week and filling all our activity slots.  And at last it is doneThere is something different/special almost every day.  Wednesdays are the worst.  We are going to do lots of picnic in the car these days. Sunday - Hebrew School with Daises immediately following (at least I hope so- no word yet back from the troop) Monday- Swimming Tuesday - Ballet Wednesday - Piano, Learning Club (History/Science/Art) , Drama Thursday - Free day - Yippeee!!!  I specifically left this day free so that I can clean and prepare and go to Park Day with a clean conscious ready for Shabbat. Friday - Park Day

It is August and for me that means setting up our schedule for the new school year.  Froggy is in first grade this year and we are loosely following the Ambleside Year 1 curriculum with some serious modifications. On Ambleside I found a nice planner which I am using to organize and plan our weeks.  It is basically a checklist for the week so I can mark off what I have done and so I can look ahead and see what I need to print or gather. Here is what our year looks like following the suggested Ambleside schedule with personal modifications: DAILY (that we do school - goal is four days a week) Penmanship / Copywork: Handwriting Without Tears , homemade parsha copywork Math:  Singapore Math Level 2 Foreign Language:  Hebrew, using Migdalor L'Gan   and Berhman House Ulpan Bible (=Chumash) Bright Beginnings materials Worksheets from chinuch.org homemade worksheets from both me and Adventures in Mamaland may also add L'shon HaTorah in later in the year...

Sunday morning bright and early I will head to Baltimore for my first ever Jewish Homeschool conference .  Daddy and Froggy are going to spend the day together at the amusement park while I get to go be in my element.  There are lots of panels and I have finally chosen which ones I will attend (mostly) Laying a Foundation: Homeschooling the Young Family Nuts and Bolts of Homeschooling: Getting Started The Marvelous Midos Machine – Your Home Children in a Homeschool Environment: Socially Deprived OR Selectively Engaged? There are two session blocks where I still cannot decide. I still need to pick between  “Choosing to Homeschool: A second generation perspective”  or ” The Monster in the Mind: Acknowledging and Dealing with Burnout”   “Homeschooled Teen Girls Share ” – panel discussion or “Jewish Community and Homeschooling in the Internet Age:  Creating Connections, Networks, and Friends”     There is going to be a vend...